Ideas of a street photographer on representativeness

Today I want to talk to you about what I think about the “guns available” for a street photographer.

The idea for this post came to me yesterday during a discussion under my post on facebook. And i think can be useful for the readers here to know my opinion.

Website

To count with a website today is seen as something outdated by many photographers who rather rely directly on social networks. But I believe that a website is still today the best business card for those who make photography not just a hobby but a profession.

Having a website is never leaving it to itself but it must be taken care of and must be able to offer dynamic content that can make the site always updated and that it becomes a fixed appointment for many enthusiasts. A website today must be able to offer a blog and, in the case of us photographers, a constant update on the photographic work we do.

A website builds its reputation on content, and compared to being a guest on a platform, you are the creator who is speaking and presenting its space. A website is like your home and should be personal expression. It can appear obsolete especially to those who have never managed to have a good Domain Authority and it becomes a frustrating experience when you get few page visits from the website and you get more from being on a social platform.

But if, on the contrary, your site has a good ranking and is visited daily, it becomes a space that you feel stimulated to take care of and grow every day. To have a portfolio for clients makes the difference many times, also to find opportunities and… still represents something for clients. At least this is still my experience. All over these years clients hired me most of the time because of my website.

To count with a shop inside my personal website defines better than any other thing when a website is not just a space on the internet left alone.

Blog

A blog is the place where a street photographer shows that there is more than just an image creator. The blog allows you to develop a dialogue with an audience. A blog is the place where a photographer can have the opportunity to show his ability to write and where he can make it concrete, evident that his photography comes from something more complex and profound than just taking pictures.

Vlog

In my site there is also a vlog because I believe that nowadays a website must count with a content that is as dynamic as possible and the simple blog where the word takes over the images I felt was not enough. I believe a lot in the vlog to show my daily work as a street photographer, where I am not obliged to make an excessive selection.

Let's not fool ourselves, today with digital cameras we produce a lot of photographic material, a lot if we want imperfect, but I strongly believe that showing this imperfection in the creative flow of a photographer is part of the business card of a modern street photographer.

Videos

After so many years of denial, I began to metabolize and finally start studying in order to delve into this matter too, more complex than one might think and which is certainly a different language from photography and which can also be integrated with the proposal to make us proposers. of more dynamic content.

Today I feel that not only is video part of my creative flow but it also adds to what I can offer in my professional services portfolio.

Social Networks

They are undoubtedly reigning today to reach a wider audience. But social networks are probably the most dangerous environment on the web and you have to be smart to focus only on photography, avoiding inserting yourself in other contexts (for example politics) because many would not understand.

On the other hand, social networks can be a great tool to convey followers to your website.

Prints

Prints can certainly be a source of income. In the case of street photography this often remains confined to a clientele essentially composed of other street photographers, connoisseurs and amateurs of certain images while in the generic market very few are willing to want to put photos with unknown people at home. I feel this is a cultural battle that we have not yet managed to win.

Exhibitions

Art galleries and other spaces where we can exhibit our work are one of the ultimate destinations for us street photographers who always love to show our work to an audience. Despite I love when my work is exhibited in galleries, I believe that alternative spaces to show my work that is essentially focused on public spaces and urbanity is better. This is the rerason why, for example, my first solo exhibition has been proposed in a restaurant completely open that looked directly into the street.

Books

If you ask me, I have always thought that the book is the ideal way to introduce myself. And the most coveted goal. In this sense, I believe it is even superior to exhibitions in galleries or my photos printed. The photos printed in a good book are the best that can happen to my photography.

Clients

As a street photographer I have seen these years how Street Photography allowed me to reach important clients that decided to hire me: from Leica to Burberry, from models to private art collectors that even asked me for personal commissions.

Festivals

I believe festivals to be a great opportunity for your brand to grow exponentially as a photographer and certainly a positive source of encounters with other photographers and professionals in the sector.

Having said that I have also been very critical with the tendency to homogenize too much and carry on an aesthetic trend that limits visions and creativity. It is not a simple matter and I realize that it is often easier to be critical from the outside and therefore I extend a hand to those who work there and dedicate time to events that are still important for photography in general.

Contests and Awards

I have never been a photographer who participates in competitions. I always feel very uncomfortable to enter my photographs in competition because I have the feeling of debasing my photograph by submitting it to a competition, and then I don't think my photography is the one that usually wins in a competition. And also for this reason, perhaps, I have never won famous prizes, and just a couple of low-grip contests.

I would not even dream of highlighting the victory in one of these competitions in the foreground or curriculum because I believe that a photographer should be evaluated for something else.

Now it happens, as in the past, that I have a competition running right on this website: well, I think I am better as competion organizer and judge than participant. I stopped to participate in competition since 2 years, but…recently I submit my work to an Albanian photography contest, because it is free and in collaboration with fiof.

Conclusions

I hope you enjoyed this review of mine. Of course I am taking about me, not pretending anyone agrees with the things expressed here. Let me know what are your ideas, I would love to read them here.