If you want to regain confidence in commercial photography try producing your own photo shoot. And I don’t mean showing up with a camera and some friends to take whatever pictures come to you. I mean, start with an idea and develop the concept visually, wrangle a team of talented people, plan logistics around a specific date, execute the photos well, push everything through post-production, and if that doesn’t wear you out, promote until you can’t stand it anymore. It takes a village.
Digital photography has brought great power, but as Stan Lee said, with great power comes great responsibility. You have a responsibility to make and show great photos! Of course the price of stock pictures is being driven down to nothing, the market is saturated and a lot of them are terrible. And they’re the reverse of assignment photography – you have to tailor the concept to the photo options you have. So if the photos aren’t good, then your concept isn’t going to magically swoop in and save the day. That is first and foremost why assignment photography is so important – QUALITY.
Fill of Love was released last week, styled by Pamela Duncan Silver and Susan Spungen, with photos by Anna Williams. Just flipping through the photos on the site it is very clear that the assignment made all the difference. With planning, Pamela was able to keep the palette consistent through the entire series, so much so that the only narrative that ties it altogether is visual.
Compare this to the New York Times slideshow on aphrodisiacs. Sure, it is just a normal story for this time of year – see this article from 1990 on the same subject. They collected various recipes that had been previously published, using photos that were taken without a sexual concept in mind. Let’s talk about this oyster shot:
First of all, I can’t believe that the original article was about ‘things to pair with absinthe’ and did not even mention that both of them are aphrodisiacs! This photo was done quickly for a recipe, and then pulled much later for an article that had a different concept entirely. It is no wonder that not only does it not fit a visual theme for the slideshow, but it only applies to the concept in the most obvious way. It is a perfect example the limitations of choosing an image to match the story.
Ok, so this is ridiculous, it is like comparing apples to oranges. One is an assignment by a team of professionals with much planning and direction, while the other is just a web-only feature using pickup for the images. EXACTLY. The power of assignment photography is undeniable, and that is why I sincerely believe that there will always be a need for amazing images tailor made to fit an idea. There will always be a need for artists who are at the top of their field. If you really want to stop someone in their tracks and make them see an idea, sell them a story, then you need the best artists to transform your idea into pictures. And never the other way around.
