The Uncomfortable Truth

“Can I be successful as a photographer?” This question is usually asked of me as an unpublished shooter hands me their portfolio. I usually give them my honest personal assessment of their book, but there is a truth that always seems to go unspoken. Your photographs are a very small part of whether or not you will be successful.

Professional photographers like to think (or at least act like) their work is better than others and that is why they succeed. Most know that there is one key element that is actually far more important than the quality of their images- social skills.

Yes, I said far more important than the quality of their work.

You have to have “game”. Just like courting a potential mate you must also be attractive to a potential client. “Game” can’t really be taught. You either get it or you don’t.

Fellow professionals, especially workshop organizers don’t like to admit this. The truth is that there are many photographers more skilled than them that will never find success at their level. They don’t know how to do business. They may know how to crunch numbers. They may know how to plan and organize. They may be amazing with a camera. They will fail miserably as a photographer because they don’t look right, dress right, speak right, smell right or just plain have people skills.
Your photographic skills are important, but whether they are as important as your people skills can easily be debated. You definitely must be “good enough” to succeed consistently, but we have all seen bad photographs published, and sometimes even lauded.

It’s the same thing as when you were in high school. The cool guys got all the girls. Adults just know how to dress the same game up a little better. A photographer with phenomenal photographic ability that smells bad or looks “uncool” or has a big “creep factor” is going to have a more difficult time getting the jobs. We like to think that it’s all the bottom line when we do business, but the bottom line is not the only factor in who gets a job.

My advice is that as you develop your photographic skills you need to be developing your social skills. You need to learn to little things that seem like they shouldn’t matter, but the truth is that they do.

Wear the uniform. As I teach workshops I amazed at the absolute slobs that show up. They dress in their cheapest logo screaming shirt that they probably won at a local wet t-shirt contest. The “Follow Me to Hooters” t-shirt is accompanied by loose legged short pants that bring attention to what they are exposing with their shorts and not their camera. Why do they dress this way? “It’s hot and this is comfortable.” This very clearly shows that the photographer is more interested in immediate comfort rather than networking and approaching things professionally. “But it’s hot.” Yes, and you are lazy and don’t REALLY care about how you come across to others. “But it’s just a workshop!” Yes, it is. You have just guaranteed that you are just another attendee. This is a reflection of a mindset. It’s a parade of “reasons” why you aren’t standing out on top.

Companies like to hire people that project their image. Models like to work with people that care how they look. Successful photographers are always projecting a hirable image. It isn’t just how you dress though. The most uncomfortable part of all of this is that sometimes the problem isn’t your clothes. Sometimes it is the photographer themselves. Some photographers are just creepy not matter what they do. They shower, shave, say nothing inappropriate and yet that feeling is still there.

“Can I be a successful photographer?” Sometimes it is easy to answer that without ever even looking at that portfolio. That is the uncomfortable truth.