Andy Greenacre, Director of Photography at The Telegraph Magazine, came to talk to us yesterday. His job is to commission photographers to provide images for editorial features. He may be commissioning a simple shoot for, say, £150, or a higher profile shoot with a budget of several thousand pounds.
In his words, “Portraiture is key, unless you want to be a still life photographer. Portraits are in virtually everything. You simply won’t cut it if all you can do is landscapes.”
When he’s commissioning a photographer he’s looking for someone who can think on their feet, both creatively and in practical terms being able to adapt to and work with difficult locations or lighting conditions for example, and someone who can deliver to the brief they are given and within the timescales.
On the plus side, Andy is willing to take a risk with new, less established, photographers if he likes their work. If you make the grade, the rewards can be huge, and the work glamorous. But, a more realistic scenario is being asked to go along to a farm or business to take a portrait of someone making cheese or milking their goats.
If you can get to meet and share your portfolio, then it’s important to make sure that your portfolio reflects the style and approach a magazine is currently adopting, showing versatility and properly staged and constructed portraits. So, research is key - looking at recent editions, and the styles of photography currently being featured.
