NYC Day Three
New York Times - 14:00
This afternoon started with the New York Times, talking with James Estrin, the photo editor for LensBlog. He talked a lot about how in the past you had to solely be a photographer to make a living, but now you can be a photographer and something else, such as an educator, or coding websites. There are also a greater number of opportunities today, such as self-publishing, either online or in book form. In the past you would have had to take your book around places hoping that somebody would like it, and like you. Now you can just direct those same people online to view your work. James also said that the most successful people were those that were the hungriest, those that wanted it more than others. He said that we should all strive to do what excites us, as that excitement drives us to differentiate ourselves from other photographers. He also recommended that we have two major skills; One we are great at, and one we are good at, as now photographers are more likely to be hired as specialists, unlike in the past where you were more likely to be hired as a generalist. At this point, Rochester Institute of Technology alum, Heather Casey, popped in as we were beginning to talk about picture editing. Heather’s main piece of advise was to make your own fortune, and not to be passive about things. Both Heather and James commented on the fact that in breaking news situations, if the New York Times was physically there, they would usually beat the wire services to publishing an image due to the equipment they use. The final piece of advise we received from this pair was about our senior capstone projects, and that is that if you do the process right, the product will take care of itself.
Esquire - 16:00
After visiting the New York Times, we hustled over to Esquire to meet with Michael Norseng, director of photography. He opened with a piece of advise from his grandfather, which was that no one has a monopoly on truth. We should be accumulating our own knowledge for truth, and not letting others ideas of truth carve out our paths. Michael gave us tips on how to promote ourselves with examples of what other photographers do. These included new promo cards every few months, and sending those to people you have worked with in the past, or that you would like to work with. Also to do email blasts bi-annually (or more frequently!) as an update to have people keep you on their radar. Michael still prefers a printed promo, and equated it to his own record collection. He mentioned how other publishing companies have consolidated their photo editors, and pulled them away from working on only one publication. He’s also always happy to hear criticism, as long as it is done in a respectful manner, and he welcomes it from all members of his team.
Overview
Overall, today seemed to slow down a bit, however as we are visiting four places tomorrow, I’m certain it’ll pick up again. At this point, I’m as confused as ever about what I would like to do…