Sean at NYC Fotoworks

Monday November 8th, 2010

by Sean Stone

Last week I had the chance to present Birmingham-based Wonderful Machine photographer Jason Wallis‘s book for two days at the NYC Fotoworks portfolio review. Jason had planned to attend the event himself, but when the opportunity to travel to Sudan to photograph for the non-profit group Neverthirst came up, he couldn’t say no. Jason decided that by hiring me to go in his place, he could have his photographs presented at the meetings without missing out on the chance to work with an organization he is very passionate about. Jason is primarily a portrait photographer, and saw the Fotoworks event as a chance to get his work in front of a lot of important clients all at once. He wants them to think of him right away when they have a portrait assignment in the Southeast.

Sean presents Jason's still and moving pictures. (Photo by Jacob Pritchard)

A number of other Wonderful Machine photographers were there showing portfolios, so I had the chance to catch up with Jason Grow, Rob Scharetg, Claire Benoist, Jacob Pritchard, Harold Daniels, and Evan Joseph. The event was held at the very cool Sandbox Studios in Soho. My native guide and translator, Evan was kind enough to suggest plenty of good food in the area, including a nearby bakery, Once Upon a Tart, which provided a great beginning to a long couple of days.

To prepare for the meetings, I pored over the photographs in Jason’s still-photography website and his blog, as well as the print portfolio I was actually going to show. In addition to his still photography, Jason has become quite accomplished with motion photography and he sent me his iPad with several short films loaded on it. Jason is a partner in a company called Six Foot Five Productions and he says that nearly half of his work is now devoted to motion projects. Jason and I also talked a lot about how he wanted to be presented and what he wanted to get out of the meetings.

The first morning of the event started a little behind schedule, as some reviewers were late, and others weren’t sure where they were supposed to go. But after about 15 minutes, the organizers seemed to find their groove and things went very smoothly. The event was well orchestrated and well attended, with talented photographers from all over the country and at least one from abroad. I was really impressed with the caliber of reviewers too. Their titles were more along the lines of “senior” and “director” than “deputy” or “assistant,” from top tier magazines and ad agencies. I met with a total of 19 clients (in 12-minute sessions) including representatives from Esquire, Vanity Fair, Conde Nast Traveler, and GQ.

Jason had been able to schedule meetings with just about everyone he wanted to, and his work was very well received. When I asked the art buyers what their needs for video were, their response was either “Oh, we’re using it for web and iPad stuff,” or “We’re just breaking into that right now…” No one that I spoke to expressed a lack of need or interest; his demo reel made a strong impression, and made him stand out. One particular art buyer, who came from a film background, told me that she hated the fact that so many photographers were getting into motion work, and felt that the quality could never be as good as work from a video specialist. After I showed her the work, she backpedaled a bit. “This is really good! He’s a guy who’s doing this right.”

Jason was stoked to hear about all the positive feedback, and we’re now discussing a mail piece to send out to these and other potential clients.