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I believe photographers need a good PR agency, and since no one is volunteering to do it for us, we must step up and take on this responsibility. One such area I want to address is a photographer who wants to help use their talent to help humanitarian organizations or faith-based organizations.

Please bear with me as I walk through understanding the elements and then try to put together an action plan for photographers.

The Humanitarian Photographer

If you were to Google the definition of what is a humanitarian photographer, you would not find a definition in everyday places like Webster’s dictionary, Wikipedia or Google. It is a new term used to describe not so much a style as the humanitarian organization.

When you Google “humanitarian photographer,” I have a few friends that will pop up at the very top of the list: Gary S. Chapman and Esther Havens both do humanitarian photography.

You will see every photography style for humanitarian organizations that primarily distribute aid.

Three ways that humanitarian organizations distribute aid

1. Relief
2. Rehabilitation
3. Development

In the book When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, they say, “A helpful first step in thinking about working with the poor in any context is to discern whether the situation calls for relief, rehabilitation, or development. Unfortunately, failing to distinguish among these situations is one of the most common reasons poverty-alleviation efforts often harm.”

They say, “One of the major premises of this book is that until we embrace our mutual brokenness, our work with low-income people is likely to do far more harm than good.”

Relief is the easiest of the three things humanitarian organizations do. It is easier to raise money and distribute materials during a disaster than to do more in-depth rehabilitation or development. However, all three can hurt those trying to help and those receiving the service.

Do you know where I am going with all this? Will I be addressing how entitlement programs are the problem? But, on the other hand, maybe I will talk about how we need income distribution to solve the problem.

What is Poverty?

Wikipedia definition—Poverty is the state of one who lacks a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute Poverty or destitution refers to the deprivation of basic human needs, which commonly include food, water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care, and education. Relative Poverty is defined contextually as economic inequality in the location or society in which people live. In the book When Helping Hurts, “Development expert Robert Chambers argues that the materially poor are trapped by multiple, interconnected factors—insufficient assets, vulnerability, powerlessness, isolation, and physical weakness—that ensnare them like bugs caught in a spider’s web.”

The book says, “Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings.”

Based on this definition, everyone suffers from Poverty in some way.

Where the photographer can help

If broken relationships are the core issue in Poverty, then communication is key to rebuilding these relationships. With the fractured relationship between two people, they must come together and listen to one another.

Often counselors can help with the facilitation of restoration. However, when it comes to groups, this is where I believe the professional communicator refines the role of the counselor and helps each group better communicate and move groups closer together.

Leaders of humanitarian organizations and their donors are often to blame for the failure organization’s goals.

Donor and CEO Problem

A philanthropist decides to give a huge amount to an organization with strings attached. “I want all this gift to go to something and none of it to go to operating costs of the organization” is one such gift.

The organization will often take the gift and reorganize it so that they can use it. Taking an advantage that wasn’t a priority is where the organization fails to educate the donor. A good CEO will inform the donor.

I see way too many humanitarian organizations focus on relief. We can give them food, or we can teach them to fish. Learning to fish is a more significant investment in time but not money.

Photographers must understand the relief, rehabilitation, and development and how this applies to the organization. In addition, they need to have a strategic vision to help an organization achieve its vision.

Way too many photographers want to go and travel to take photos. They are in it for themselves and are hurting and not helping.

Photographers need to know as much as possible about the area a humanitarian organization is addressing. What are other groups working in this area? Are they duplicating efforts? Is their approach helping the long-term goal of no longer being needed?

The expectation is once you start becoming strategic and not just a button pusher of the camera, you will help in ways beyond your camera. For example, you may help leaders of different organizations know about each other. In addition, you may help them network due to your work for different groups.

PR for the photographer

Blogging

One of the ways I am watching photographers with PR for themselves is to tell stories through their blogs and be sure they are letting humanitarian organizations leaders know they are blogging.

If you have a blog, you may want to ask some of those organization leaders to do a guest blog for you.

Newsletter

You can create a printed or online newsletter that you send out to your distribution list. This method is different than the blog; it is pushing your message. A blog pulls people to the content.

Gallery

You can put your coverage up in a gallery and invite humanitarian organization leaders to the show. You can also encourage the humanitarian organizations to have a gallery where you could be there as the artist at the opening to help bring in donors.

Social Media

Get involved in groups. Many humanitarian organizations have active group discussions where a photographer could easily be part of the discussion. Give some tips of your own, or maybe you offer links you discovered as a good resource. Be a part of the discussion.
Hold organizations accountable

I would encourage all of your discussions always to be trying to be sure the organization is helping the problem and not hurting. Sometimes it is just asking a question with an attitude of innocence. Sometimes you may need to call attention a little more forthright. Remember, your purpose is to be part of the solution, not hurt. Ticking everyone off is not the best solution since you will quickly discover yourself no longer a part of the discussion.

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To build a successful and sustainable business, we need to look beyond our own industry and understand the broader landscape. Strong decisions come from seeing how everything connects, not from focusing on just one piece of the puzzle.

In visual communication, three elements always matter:

• Message

• Messenger

• Audience

Message
The message can take many forms. It might be a person, a group of people, a cause, a topic, or even an entire industry. It also includes the ideas, values, and issues attached to that subject.

Messenger
For this discussion, the messenger is the photographer or visual communicator—the person responsible for shaping and delivering the message.

Audience
The audience is the group for whom the images are created. They are the ones receiving, interpreting, and responding to the message.

My advice is simple: explore all three in depth and consider every possible angle for each.

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Become an Expert on the Audience

The more you understand your audience, the better you understand what they need and want. When you truly know them, it becomes much easier to connect your subject to their real lives—how it affects, challenges, or inspires them daily.

Without that understanding, even the strongest images can miss their mark.

Become an Expert Messenger

Being a strong messenger means mastering more than just photography. It means learning all the communication tools available to help you reach your audience—and how your audience communicates with you.

Photography is only one part of the conversation.

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Common Mistakes

In response to my earlier blog post, “Photographers are becoming obsolete, unless …”, many of the comments were overly linear and short-sighted.

Here’s one pretty typical comment:

“… the only thing saving us professionals is a better ability to understand/use composition and lighting.”

This kind of thinking focuses on just one piece of the puzzle. In my opinion, that’s a sure path toward obsolescence.

From comments like this, it’s clear that some photographers have little understanding of their subjects or their audience. You can create an incredible image of an issue—but if the audience has no interest in it, that work isn’t sustainable.

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How Successful Visual Communicators Adapt

Over the course of a long and successful career, visual communicators inevitably change. As they deepen their understanding of subjects, communication tools, and audiences, adjustments are necessary.

Here are three areas where change often happens:

Message

Think of this as your subject matter. Over time, you may discover that your market is shrinking. Your growing understanding of your audience may reveal that fewer people are interested in that topic. When that happens, you need to find a new subject or issue to sustain your career.

Audience

The web is a perfect example of how audiences shift. In the past, you may have only been able to shoot for a local newspaper. Today, you can reach a worldwide audience through blogs, forums, and social media. At the same time, some traditional publications—and their audiences—have disappeared. Adaptation is not optional.

Messenger / Medium

Mediums change, and so must you. You adapted from film to digital. Now you’re adapting again as technology continues to evolve. Staying current with tools and platforms is part of being a professional visual communicator.

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When Mediums and Audiences Blur

Not long ago, a publication was the audience. Today, blogs and social platforms bring the medium much closer to creators, which in turn brings the audience closer.

This closeness allows for dialogue. Communication is no longer one-way. Your audience tells you what they want—and what they think—in real time through comments, shares, and conversations. You no longer need focus groups; the feedback is happening every day.

If you focus only on lighting, composition, and technical skill, you are moving toward obsolescence.

Those who are growing their businesses are expanding their horizons. They’re learning more about the world, becoming experts on their subjects, and paying attention to what truly interests people.

As you deepen your understanding of the message, the messenger, and the audience, you’ll have those “eureka” moments—much like Steve Jobs did when he introduced technology we didn’t even know we needed.

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The Bicycle Wheel Metaphor

 

I think visually, so here’s how I picture this idea in the future: a bicycle wheel.

Each spoke represents a different strength in your business. When the spokes are balanced and under the proper tension, the wheel stays true and wobble-free.

How Many Spokes Do You Have?

In bicycles, fewer spokes can mean speed and efficiency. More spokes usually mean strength and durability.

I often see new faces in the industry gaining attention quickly with fewer spokes. In contrast, those with long, sustainable careers tend to have many spokes—multiple subjects, mediums, and audiences supporting them.

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My Advice

Master a subject.
Master a medium.
Master an audience.

Then add another subject, another medium, and another audience.

If your career feels shaky right now, it may be time to adjust the spokes.

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Shooting a package

This is the bread-and-butter assignment for the editorial/photojournalist. You get a call from an editor who has a story about a person and wants some photos to accompany it.

While hanging out with a person for a week and picking the best images would be great, the budget is not there for those coverages. It is typical to talk with a subject about everything they are doing and stay focused on the story.

A health club’s national office contacted me and wanted me to show how their health club was helping people in the community live healthier lives since becoming involved with the club.

The environmental portrait

I photographed this engineering professor at Georgia Tech. We wanted to show that their clients have significant leadership positions in the community. I knew I needed something that read “Georgia Tech” quickly. Having the sign behind the professor was the thing to work.

I also photographed him at one of the icons for the campus, a steam engine located in the center of campus.

I also wanted to show you that I shot some available light, like this vertical shot. I also wanted you to see why using off-camera flash is so important, as I did in the first two photos. The off-camera flash separates my work from many GWCs [Guy With Camera].

At Work

I took several photos of the subject at work. Here, he is in a team meeting with colleagues. Others are also included in the slide show.

At the Gym

I photographed the subject working out and turned in photos of each activity he did at the gym. Mind you, I shot hundreds of pictures and then had to go through them and eliminate all the ones where his face expressions were just not good or where something blocked a good view of his face.

By the way, to be sure these images were the best color, I used strobes in the gym to help with color, but also freeze him and get the sharpest images I could of him working out. Notice the detail in the instructor’s clothing, which is all black. That is the clue this was not available light.

Click on this to see larger.

I turned in the client 391 images in two folders: 1) Edits & 2) All the photos. They will probably only use three images: 1) portrait, 2) at-work shot, and 3) workout photo.  By shooting as many photos and narrowing them down to capture the best expressions and moments, I can give the art director choices, and they feel like they can have some variety to show in the end to their audience.

The contact sheet above shows just a minimal number of photos that I turned in. After eliminating all the blinks and funny expressions, I wanted you to see this. Hopefully, this will let you know how important it is to shoot enough photos to have a selection that shows off the subject in the best way possible.

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Types of clients

I believe there are two types of clients—Educated and uneducated. I am not talking about how bright the client is or how many degrees they might have. For example, when hiring me, I am talking about their experience working with photographers.

Sometimes, clients will have naive, impracticable, or inappropriate expectations. Most of the time, this is done with clients who need more experience hiring photographers.

I generally have little communication problems with those who hire photographers regularly because they are better at communicating their needs, and we establish a solid paper trail together.

The first place the client relationship needs to be corrected is often in communication. When dissatisfaction about something from the client arises, the best thing you can do is look at the paperwork.

A written contract is best for helping resolve these disputes. The second best to a written contract is written documentation that could be as simple as emails. 

Even with a written contract, the one thing plaguing client relationships is more planning. The better the planning, the better the results and satisfaction for all involved.

With the ability to scout a location and walk through the assignment, it is possible to anticipate all the needs that might arise.

How do you know you have a problem?

Your client will need to tell you about a problem so you can fix it. Sadly, I have found that in my career, many people will never tell you there’s a problem. They don’t hire you again.

If no one ever tells you, there is a good chance your personality turns them off, and they don’t want to fix the situation. I advise seeking counseling; it will be worth every penny you spend knowing how to stop certain behaviors from undermining your career.

If you are lucky and get a customer complaint, this is good for you. Often, this means people think you need to know so you can both correct this and continue to work with them, or they think you need to know so you can avoid this in the future—either way, you see no problem that needs to be addressed.

How to handle the conflict

Listen—the best tool you have is the ability to listen. Listening is not just being quiet. Good listening requires you to respond appropriately to the comments.

Apologize—A genuine apology lets the customer understand that they have been heard and understood. This should be carefully worded. If you don’t feel that you have done anything wrong, then be sure to convey regret for the other person’s experience due to what you did. This is assuming it was unintended. Apologizing for the effect this caused doesn’t mean you will resolve. Be sure you take responsibility for the impact you caused, or it will not be sincerely taken.

Take Action—After apologizing for what has taken place to cause this problem, move on to letting them know you want to correct the problem. You can say, “Obviously, what we have done is very upsetting to you, and you need to know that I am going to get to the bottom of this.”

Take the emotion out—Now that you have expressed your concern with emotion, the next phase is exploring the facts. This is where you are just getting the facts of the situation. Often, clients may state what is wrong and how this complicates their ability to solve the problem they brought you on to help. Remember, sometimes they have already concluded that this is not fixable, and you have wasted their time. The tendency is to fix things quickly, but be sure you fully understand what they think is wrong at this stage. Once you have all the facts laid out, restate them in your own words and ask if everything is correct. It would be best to put it into your own words because it will help them know you heard them and understand.

Empathy and not sympathy—Focus on actions and not words. You need to come to the client with ideas and not problems. Remember, time is money, so don’t waste theirs or yours.

Patience—It is best to stop after getting all the facts and tell them you need time to process if required. “Do you mind if I take a few minutes to see what I/we can do? I will call you back with our ideas in the morning,” this is one way to give you time to process all that you have discovered.

Deliver on your promise—The genuine apology you started with entails a resolution. It would be best if you delivered on this promise to be sincere and complete. Without this, you will undermine your reputation and brand as not trustworthy. 

Fire the client

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2a8TRSgzZY]
When clients have naive, impracticable, or inappropriate expectations, it is time to fire them. Sometimes, ending a relationship with a client is better than making your life miserable.

Here are some things I know I have and other photographers have let their clients go:

Slow or no payment—I have had a few clients where the company policy was to be slow paying, and then I have had clients that had such severe ADD that they regularly forgot to pass along my invoice to the accounts payable department. Use this paragraph with your invoicing to avoid this problem:

Administrative Fee – We are now building into the invoice the cost to repeatedly follow up with accounts payable departments on past due invoices and float the payment cost to our vendors, which requires 30 days’ payment. This fee is approximately 15% of the total invoice. If payment is made within 30 days, you may deduct this amount. A notation will be made to this effect on the invoice.

Lack of boundaries—You have a client that expects to own you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Sometimes, clients do not respect that you have other clients and a personal life. To avoid this, put the times you are available in your contract.

Challenging to work with—They are just tricky to work with. Maybe they tell off-color jokes. Try to say politely but firmly that you don’t appreciate the off-color jokes. You may not get a positive response at first, but you may. You’ll also benefit from speaking your mind and at least getting the message out there for everyone’s consideration.

Poor Time Management—The client has trouble keeping appointments or is constantly late. This can become a problem when it starts to affect your bottom line. You have trouble getting things from the client that you need to complete a job. Be sure your contract spells out that missing deadlines or whatever you need from them that there is some penalty. The problem you are trying to address is doing work and delayed payment due to the client dragging out a project. You can put the full payment into the contract by a specific date if the delay is due to the client missing something.

Unwilling to accept price increases—Over time, your prices need to go up due to increased living costs and other expenses. When the client is reluctant to adjust their budget, you must let them go; you cannot afford to work for them.

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I am in Los Angeles this week on our family vacation. We stopped by our family friend Pam Goldsmith’s for a visit.

I shared how photographers discuss the triangle to describe those working as pros. Many years ago, that triangle base was not as broad as it is today. The tip is still tiny, and many believe it to be smaller for those earning a living as full-time photographers.

Pam Goldsmith then shared how the Professional Musicians Local 47 has about 13,000 members, of which less than 1,000 are doing enough gigs to make a living full-time as a professional musicians.

She said she thinks this number is smaller than the 1,000 and smaller group than years ago.

If photographers had a union

I am not advocating forming a union for the primary purpose of knowing how many of us are working, but the union was created to help people get work in the music industry and for a fair wage.

If we had a union, we would have similar numbers, if not even more members than 13,000. But, even if we, too, helped with regulating rates, we still would have dismal numbers of those who have invested time and money to pursue this as a career.

Later in the day, we went to Richard Bugg’s home office studio, where my daughter was getting to see what it is like to do sound mixing. Richard had the Broadway musical Wicked tracks and let my daughter listen to the different orchestra parts and vocals and how they can be mixed.

We learned from Richard that to stay employed; he had to continue to be flexible, adapt to new situations, and apply his problem-solving skills to unique problems.

My takeaway from today

After visiting not just average professionals in the entertainment industry, but the top in their respective fields, each talked about getting jobs. They had to be the best they could be.

Pam talked to us about when playing in the orchestra; there is a different approach than when in the recording studio for a movie. It would be best if you were exact with the film because the editors have the scenes timed down to Milli-seconds. So she had to be 110% accurate with the beat.

Richard shared about equipment breaking and fixing equipment in pressure situations.

Richard also talked about how he and my wife’s brother Richard Zvonar determined that laptops have stage fright. They would have sound systems running with their notebooks, and everything worked great in rehearsal, and then they would crash during a performance.

This led them to help design systems that ran separately from the laptops.

Too often, Apple would upgrade an operating system that would crash their software. They would spend so much time trying to fix the problem that this is why the separate systems were designed to work design systems soundly. They don’t fail.

Again, I hope you see the importance of not just people; equipment must be perfect.

If we had unions, photographers would be even more aware of how many call themselves professional photographers and how few make it. The difference is in the nuances of details.