Our producers Amanda and Ben are back from a snowy visit to New York, where they shared our photographers’ books at McCann Worldgroup and Avanti Press.
They met first with McCann’s art producers who work on several brands within the agency. Of interest: one of their producers working on the L’Oreal brand regards “elaborate” portfolios as the sign of an amateur photographer. She’d rather see simple books with a good edit, ie. the book isn’t prettier than the pictures inside. She receives a ton of fashion portfolios and likes when they’re small enough to view and transport easily (under 11×17, on average).
McCann’s Applebees’ producers said that they aren’t always looking for clean food shots, but ones that are true to the food itself. Of the books that we brought, Lincoln Barbour‘s (out of Portland) fit that description best to them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xUA5n9AkVo
Their other thoughts on portfolios: they’re not so keen on books that consist of loose prints because looking through them can be cumbersome. Some folks worried about dirtying the prints, as well (Neil note: though that could happen with other types of portfolios, especially ones without sleeves).
Next stop was Avanti Press, a greeting card company who also has creative departments in Detroit and North Carolina. In an industry flooded with stock photos, it might surprise some of you to know that they hire assignment photographers as well. Their creatives are always looking for unusual images, and they prefer to shoot whenever possible. They are also one of the few printers who credit their photographers or agency on the back of their cards.
Avanti was particularly interested in James Quantz Jr.‘s work, as he does a lot of animal composites. Especially this image from his elephant series:
New Zealander Ross Brown‘s monkey photo also stood out to them:
A few other tidbits about Avanti:
In 2008 they won an illustration award from Communication Arts.
They sometimes receive correspondences from concerned animal lovers worrying that the animals on their cards (who are almost always photoshopped) were actually smoking a cigar or playing a guitar.
We’ll have more portfolio reviews to talk about in a few weeks.
We’re fresh on the heels from a New York portfolio visit with Publicis, Esquire and Marie Claire. Philadelphia (where we’re headquartered) is actually close enough that we can easily do a long day and come back in time for dinner – though we usually stay for drinks with clients or photographers.
Our photo editor Sean and producer Amanda (4th from right below) showed about 20 books at Publicis New York, known for their CITI, Pepto Bismol, Vick’s and other P&G print ads, not to mention a host of tv work. Unusual for our typical portfolio breakfasts, we got to use their pool table (though no games broke out, unfortunately).
We met about 25 creatives, and here’s a sampling of portfolios that stood out to them. Starting with Saverio Truglia in Chicago:
An art buyer mentioned that she likes seeing an “index page” of tearsheets at the back of portfolios, just before serendipitously finding exactly that at the back of Brian Kuhlmann‘s book:
Other art buyers emphasized how Proctor & Gamble likes to work with very bright and clean images, both still life and lifestyle.
After a quick lunch, the afternoon presented us with embassy-esque security at the Hearst Building on 57th St. After braving the freight elevator and getting a glimpse of the basement, we finally made it to Esquire and met with one of their photo coordinators for a great in-depth conversation.
She explained that they tend to look for strong conceptual still-life work, and interesting environmental portraiture. She was excited about their Augmented Reality issue a few months ago, and we talked about how with our Multimedia page we’re now marketing our photographers who are doing motion and directing work outside of still photography. She had no particular pet peeves when it comes to portfolios, but she did emphasize how important it is to have a tight edit: “I’d rather see a thin little book with great work!”
She was fond of Adam Voorhes’ still life work (we blogged about his portfolio video a few weeks ago), amongst others.
Onwards (and upwards: literally, they’re in the same building upstairs), we dropped-by Marie Claire and felt like we’d just stepped into The Devil Wears Prada. We met with one of their photo editors, who explained how their “What I Like About Me” is a great fit for Wonderful Machine photographers since they shoot all over the country. “I think a lot of your photographers have an aesthetic that would work well with us,” she said.
She particularly liked Alexa Miller’s work, who is based in Salt Lake City: “She really conveys a positive, happy attitude with her work, and that fits well with a lot of our content.” Judge for yourself:
And we ended our day with a celebrity sighting of Puff Daddy/P. Diddy, so what more can you ask for?
Fresh from a several-day visit to Boston in December, we have a sampling of videos of several photographer’s portfolios that caught the attention of Beantown creatives. The following are just a few of the 40 or so books that we shared overall with Arnold Worldwide, Mullen, Modernista!, and Fidelity Investments.
About the trip: at Mullen we projected our website on a large screen, with a few prints adorning the walls, in addition to our photographer’s portfolios and our ever-appreciated spread of food. In addition to our other photographers’ work, Mullen’s people asked specifically about local shooters, so we were pleased to point out the Boston-based photographers’ portfolios that we’d brought with us.
The folks at Mullen appreciated that Michael Thad Carter‘s work has a polished, hyper-realistic finish but doesn’t look over-produced. Many kept his “Mad Men” inspired leave- behinds to bring up as inspiration for their Monday morning dissection of the previous night’s episode.
(L): Mullen's creatives browse our books. (R): A Fidelity designer brought their cute dog, who also liked our spread of food.
Modernista!’s (yes, the exclamation point is part of their name) art buyer appreciated our content-heavy blog, as it helps her figure out who some of the up and comers are in the industry.
Arnold probably had the coolest offices, if there was a competition, and they remarked on Tony Garcia, Ken Richardson and Shea Roggio‘s work, amongst others.
Fidelity’s primary art buyer has been in the industry for almost twenty years, with long stints at both Mullen and Arnold, so it was interesting to hear her take on moving from the fast-paced and highly creative world to a more stable but equally demanding one. They’re often hiring regional photographers, and they already knew of a number of our WM shooters. They were also happy to learn a few new names.
(L): Arnold's offices were cool. (R): Hanging out with our Boston photographers.
While in the city, we took some time to enjoy a couple eateries. Sportello, a small, modern diner for authentic Italian cuisine was our favorite (grilled octopus complete with the foam proved their authenticity). The Black Rose near Quincy Market was also a great stop. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to hit Boston’s Little Italy, but all of Fidelity’s creatives highly recommended a visit.
