CPW Blogs

"You don't take a photograph, you make it." – Ansel Adams

Dec
15

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Lauren Maccabee

Category: Artists, Jobs, Social Media Tags: , , Leave a Comment

Lauren Maccabee was a former BA Photography Graduate of Brighton University. Maccabee is a portrait, documentary and fashion photographer, based in London. When she came in for our professional practice lecture, she discussed many useful points on how to succeed in the freelance industry.

 

When emailing a potential employer make sure you are brief and that you reply to them either on the same day, or the next day. Ensure you are conversational and remember, you don’t need to be super formal when emailing.

 

Maccabee also informed us of the variations between different kinds of photographic work such as; editorial work. Editorial work involves magazines and online features and is usually low paid, for free or just your supplies covered. However, you have more freedom and can stick to your style of shooting but, the work is often last minute.

 

Whilst discussing commercial work, she informed us that you shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions so you understand the full usage and requirement of the imagery in order to make your client happy.

 

Assisting other photographers is a great way of having a different insight into the industry so, reach out to photographer’s you admire and offer to assist on editorials for free. If you are working in a studio environment, wear black so you don’t mess with the white lighting. Finally, don’t show your work to the client on a shoot when you’re assisting unless the client asks you as, the photographer will see it as disrespectful and some have been known to not work with you again if you do this.

 

Dec
9

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Clare Griffiths – Beepurple

Category: Jobs, Support Services Tags: , , Leave a Comment

Clare Griffiths is a part of the Beepurple careers and employability team. During her discussion she informed us that there are 7 key steps when it comes to succeeding in self-employment:

 

  1. You need to come up with an idea.
  2. You need to research into your chosen market.
  3. You need to write down any ideas.
  4. You need to test and refine your ideas.
  5. You can access business support for help.
  6. Don’t ever stop marketing.
  7. Remember nothing goes to plan, obstacles can get in the way.

 

When generating ideas, you need to ensure your product or service solves a problem and that it has a use that is required by the target market. You also need to remember that sometimes your original idea won’t always be the one you end up creating a business out of, so always be open-minded.

 

Whilst researching your target market ensure you are really clear on who your target market is, and what you feel their specific needs are. Always make sure you listen to your customers and clients as; they will be open to tell you what they need if you just listen.

 

When analysing your ideas, always think about questions like these: Does your product/ service meet your customers needs? Do you have the necessary skills and resources to make your ideas happen? Will you generate enough revenue to cover your costs and create a profit? And many other questions, there will always be questions you need to think about when entering the world of self-employment but, companies like Beepurple are here to guide you on your journey.

Dec
1

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Lindsey Smith

Category: Artists, Jobs Tags: , , , , Leave a Comment

During our lecture this week we were introduced to the guest speaker for the week, Lindsey Smith. Who is Lindsey Smith?

 

Lindsey Smith is a photographic artist and freelance facilitator. What is an arts facilitator? Generally, an arts facilitator is someone who provides resources, knowledge, inspiration and support to people in the community who wish to make and learn about art. Smith engages with various individuals, on all different types of freelance projects which she is invited to participate in to help guide others.

 

During her talk she discussed the six models of practice:

 

  1. Artist as catalyst.
  2. Artist as a provider of new skills and processes.
  3. Artist as facilitator.
  4. Artist as mentor.
  5. Artist as mediator.
  6. Artist as collaborator.

 

In the course of her discussion, Smith pointed out during each of the six models of practice the artist will engage with individuals, communities, societies in arts and culture; as the audience, participant, co-creator or producer.

Nov
17

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The laws of copyright

Category: Jobs, Laws Tags: , , Leave a Comment

You have to consider many factors when it comes to the laws of copyright such as; protecting yourself, protecting others and licensing. It is your responsibility to understand as much as you can about the laws that apply to the area in which you’re working, in order to protect yourself and others.

 

What is copyright? Copyright gives the photographer the exclusive rights to control the use of their work and, copyright gives the copyright owner the ability to pursue those who have made unauthorised copies of their work. In the UK, the copyright is assigned to the author of the work as soon as it is created but, always check the copyright laws in the country you are working in as they are not all the same.

 

What does copyright prevent? Having the copyright prevents others from; copying or distributing your work, renting copies of your work, making adaptions of your work and putting your work online.

 

How do I stop people from using my work? If you post your work online there are many ways of stopping others from using your work such as; you can reduce the file size so that it can’t be printed and you can add a watermark. You can also assert your copyright and you can assert your moral rights. Your work is automatically copyrighted whether you assert it or not, however your moral rights must be asserted for them to apply.

 

At the end of the day, always read into the copyright laws in your country in order to understand and follow them properly.

Nov
10

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How to develop your presentation skills.

Category: Jobs, Presentations Tags: , , Leave a Comment

When developing your presentation skills there are three major details you need to think about… Design, Script and Public speaking.

 

Whilst considering the design and layout of your presentation, you need to think about the imagery and text. Your images need to showcase the work, creating a steady flow and pace of the best work. Make sure to use text sparingly as, you don’t want to cause the presentation to look clustered. Consider using a clean and simple font with a minimal colour palette throughout to avoid distraction.

 

Secondly, when preparing your script, make sure to over-prepare rather than under-prepare so you’re not left stranded for words in front of an audience. If you construct your presentation similar to an essay, it will make it easier for the audience to follow, allowing them to take in the information. Practice makes perfect so, ensure to practice ahead of time in order to figure out your timing and use of your tools.

 

Finally, public speaking consists of three things; confidence and nerves, body language and preparation and practice. In order to build in confidence, you need to practice in situations that make you nervous. It’s okay to be human just practice, practice, practice. On the other hand, body language can be read in many different ways, it can help how you come across to the audience. Standing tall as oppose to pacing can have a major effect on your audience. At the end of the day, always ensure to prepare your materials and test your technology.

Nov
3

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What is an artist’s portfolio?

Category: Artists Tags: , , Leave a Comment

An artist’s portfolio is a collection of an artist’s best work and, is intended to showcase their style and methods of work. A portfolio is used by artists to show potential employers how multiskilled and flexible they are, by showing different examples of current work.

 

A photography portfolio can focus on a single subject or project but, can also show a mixture of workings from throughout their career. Many photographers have the collection consisting of photographs taken with the same type of camera, digital or film. Most photographers use portfolios to show their best work when looking for jobs in the photography industry but, they also use images from their portfolios in their biographies to highlight the type of shows and publications they’ve worked for previously.

 

In comparison to a photography portfolio, an art portfolio is a collection of many skills ranging from painting, poetry, sculpture and many other various art forms. An arts portfolio gives artists the opportunity to show off their artistic skills, experiences and interests and it helps admissions officers decide if you would ‘fit in’ with their brand at their school.

 

What should an artist’s portfolio include? During this blog I have come to find a recurring theme in artists portfolios of including; finished work from various projects and examples of working documents that show your creative process. You also need to include examples that show a range of different skills within your area of specialisation and a range of subject matter across your subject of interest.

 

Oct
27

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Artists in Residency

Category: Artists Tags: Leave a Comment

An artist-in-residency is a chance for artists, curators and all manner of creative people to collectively get away from their everyday lives and work on specified projects within a unique geographic and cultural context.

 

Artist residencies can last anywhere from a week to a year and nearly all residencies are in a set location year in, year out. The teams you work with can range anywhere from 1 to 30 individuals, all of which can be writers or other artists. Depending on the type of residency you do, some residencies have costs and fees which you have to pay yourself whereas, others are paid for by the company you are doing the residency with.

 

Why attend a residency? An artist residency can be a very important step in an artist’s creative career because, it is a place to create new work and collaborate with other like-minded artists and photographers. It also provides artists with the opportunity to live and work in a different region or country. A good website for finding artist residencies is https://resartis.org/listings.

 

When applying for an artist residency you need to remember to thoroughly research the host organisation and, decide what you want to get out of the experience of the residency. Always remember to plan ahead by checking deadline dates and, reading the guidelines of the project carefully. Finally, always keep your CV, artist statement and biography up to date because the host organisation will want to see visual examples of the type of work you do.

Oct
20

By

What is a CV? What is a bio? What is a statement? Why do we need them?

Category: Jobs Tags: , 1 Comment

What is a CV? A curriculum vitae, Latin for ‘course of life’ is a short-written summary of a person’s career achievements, qualifications and education. When writing about oneself, you need to be clear, concise and conventional from the very beginning. A CV is a way of expressing to the employer how you are the perfect fit for the job, a way of highlighting all your relevant skills and past employment. At the end of the day a CV is just a list. It may be a very impressive list but, it is just a list. Be sure to keep it up-to-date and improve on it and, add to it when asked.

 

Biographies, what are they? Well, an artist’s bio is a way to express to your audience who you really are and what your work means to you. In many biographies you tend to find where the artist has come from, the journey through which they came to be where they are now and their many achievements such as; awards, shows and publications.

 

Statements … A statement can be a short introduction to many various things such as; your practice as a whole, a specific body of work, wider concerns, motivations and processes. Statements are useful for many reasons because, they introduce you and your work, they focus your thinking, they can be used for websites and press releases and finally, they are mainly used for the ongoing reflections of the artist.

 

Many people confuse the bio with the statement but, even more confuse the CV with the bio. I hope the concise information I have supplied above will help you with the understanding of the differences between CV’s, bios and statements if you ever find yourself needing to write one.

Oct
13

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What Is Blogging?

Category: Social Media Tags: , , Leave a Comment

What is blogging? Why was it started?

 

After looking over the history of blogging and ‘Students who blog > The Scopes – Otago Polytechnic’ by Rachel Gillies, I’ve come to the conclusion that blogging is a place where authors can catalogue their thoughts on the World Wide Web. (Gillies, 2009) Gillies states this in her post about the students she taught at the Dunedin School of Art at Otago Polytechnic, New Zealand. Having taught them to use their blogs as a place for reflection and development, this has been a common theme in blogs since it started in 1994. I believe, the blog was created to log one’s personal thoughts in a diary-like form around what was happening in their personal life but also on the everyday news of the outside world.

 

‘The Blog’ has changed vastly from 1994-2014. By 2014, the blog was considered ‘dead’ – It stepped aside for social media also known as ‘micro-blogging’ on websites such as Tumblr, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and many more. However, blogging still appears across vast genres on the internet because, in the 2018 Sensis social media report, they found that 68% of all internet users read online reviews and blogs. This shows the blog is still alive in one way or another.

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