I love to expose myself! For models, makeup artists, photographers and designers, staying highly-visible is an important, inexpensive form of promotion. As the old saying goes, “When you don’t advertise, something terrible happens: NOTHING.”
I’ve had so many people contact me over the years, asking for a free photo shoot. (alternate title: “Collaboration.”) With models, they’re usually looking for a free portfolio session under the guise of “mutual portfolio building,” or “I bet you haven’t worked with someone like me yet.” And I bite my tongue and say to myself, “I’ve already photographed a hundred people who look JUST like you. I can’t pay my mortgage with pictures.”
Many times, the request for a free shoot comes with the tease of “exposure.” We all get the guilt-attached, personal variety like friends asking “If you photograph my kids as a favor (or wedding, or whatever), my friends will probably hire you.” But these requests come from larger sources too, likes magazines or major companies that are more than capable of paying for images… but ask for free work anyway. Always with the bait of “it will be great exposure.” I’ve learned to ask, “sounds good, but how are you going to promote me after the photo shoot is over?” I don’t think I’ve ever gotten a response back on that question. I find that birds of a feather flock together, and people who expect free work can only introduce you to more people who expect free work.
I don’t know about you, but I’m over-exposed. I don’t know what to do with it all. I definitely can’t spend it. My banker laughed when I explained the concept of a “trade shoot” to him. (seriously). Over a decade of photography, I’ve photographed something like 1,200 models. My images have been featured on the major network television show Law & Order SVU, watched by potentially millions of people. I’ve had a front-page, full-page image in the Chicago Sun Times that was seen by a circulation of 500,000 readers in a single day. I’ve had multiple billboards along Chicago highways that were seen by god-only-knows how many people over several months. I could list dozens more examples just like these, but it’s not my intent to sound egotistical. I’m trying to make a point here: for each of those major publications, I was paid.
Exposure has always existed, but as of late it seems to have become a disease that has completely infected our industry. And it’s spread outside the normal borders of the model and photography businesss – everyday people seem to know what the letters “TF” mean now. Almost every day, I see ads on Craigslist asking for an unpaid photographer for personal events like birthday parties and weddings. Maybe they’re offering food too, in exchange for portfolio images and the opportunity to shoot their friends and family for free. Which sounds an awful lot like one of my buddies saying, “I’ll buy you pizza and beer if you help me move my couch.”
Good exposure is a GREAT thing. People fawn over the big publication credits. And it sure does feel good to see our work on a magazine cover. But I’ve always found nobody actually promotes you, once they’ve gotten their free images. It’s always up to us to promote ourselves, and to make the most out of whatever exposure opportunity we’ve taken on. I find myself shouting out, “Hey! Check out my latest publication!” all the time to make sure the world knows who the photographer was. I have no love for the blatant self-promotion part of all this, but it’s a necessity.
So when a new model contacts me and offers free modeling, how is that an equal exchange of time and talents? It’s not, and I usually decline. When a tiny publication wants to use my images, I usually say yes. Mostly to be nice, because the person in the image is a client or model friend of mine. But I don’t expect good exposure in return. Your typical small magazine these days is self-published through online companies and only reaches out to a circulation of a few dozen people. Or maybe several hundred readers that mostly consist of the models themselves, their family, friends, fans and stalkers.
Always remember, people can die of exposure too. Pick your projects wisely, my friends.
Onward and upward,
Jim Jurica, BeautyLook Editor
