Getting to Know Coco
Preferred method of chair: hammock.
Selling myself IS WEIRD
I could spend all day plugging in photos and re-tweaking my portfolio, but the second I get to the “About” page, I freeze. What do you really want to know about me or my past that would make you hire me as your photographer/videographer/copywriter/etc? Is my University experience really that necessary? If it is, I should let you my four years in fine art were some of the last of the darkroom era. Meaning - I had maybe 3 months in front of a digital lab.
Approximately the same amount of laughter that erupted from my face after learning that the real world didn’t much care to spend money on film photographers.
Educating myself
It’s true, I graduated from Bishop’s University with approximately less than one year of digital experience. (Am I hired yet?!) I could walk around a darkroom with my eyes closed but excuse me, how did you get your aperture to follow your subject automatically? My options for photo delivery were negatives, negative scans on a CD, or a print. What do you mean “what is a CD?”
Thanks be to the internet trinity of Hurley, Karim and Chen to provide me with Youtube.com, aka my post-grad program that I greedily consumed every night after work. Now a student of digital photography, I was able to learn exactly what I needed to know on the spot. Often times, quite literally. 8 times out of 10 out on a gig, I’d get questions about gear and flash functions I’d Google after bullshitting my way out of the conversation.
Still figuring out how a digital flash works, at a Sandman Viper Command show in Toronto, 2010. Hilarious side note, I am photographed for a street style piece where my tights-under-shorts look finally gets validation.
Shut the F*** up and let me do my job
This constant on-the-spot quizzing might have happened in any field I started in, but I had to choose the music industry where the photo pit ran rampant with older, not-so-gentle men, ready to smirk at every blank look you’re forced to give after they ask you 100 questions about your gear. Sure I’ve seen a couple point and shoot cameras in the pit and thought, “um can you please try harder?” but my judgement is always followed with - you’re at the foot of this stage because you love music and art, and showing up with a cheap camera also proves you have some balls. I change my mind and think, right on. Plus half of these photographers are all going to produce the same version of the same photo, so you might be onto something here, dear punk rock minimalist.
Over the years, my work (and digital know-how) improved. I (literally) stepped over the other seniors in the pit and moved on to shoot bigger bands and better festivals. Sure I showed up to shoot Neil Young, Arcade Fire and Shania Twain with a teeny portrait lens while my fellow paparazzi neighbor laughed and said my photos would get me fired (They didn’t and jokes on you I snuck in here for the free food). But all this constant proving myself gave me two upper hands that gear heads didn’t possess, that ability to say, “Oh shit, I didn’t know that!” And the second: I was never the lone wolf. I reminded myself that being jealous of other people’s success leads nowhere. I worked best with other creators too, not only photographers. In surrounding myself with talented movers and shakers, I went on to be in some pretty incredible company.
Me and Camille Byrne: Babes Boardroom co-founder, Cambie Design owner.
In summary
My lack of confidence dissipated, because after years on my own, supporting myself entirely with my camera was proof that I had skin in the game. But I’ll never forget that scared kid, trying to get gigs straight out of school.
Some tell me an About page isn’t really needed at all, and if it isn’t this journal entry is absolutely over the top. But if I wrote it right, it will expose me to the brands out there who need a fresh look and want to work with someone who doesn’t take themselves too seriously. (Exception to rule: Deadlines, contracts, not being late. Always take yourself seriously in these categories)
Having one leg pedal away from my art-world institution, I felt determined to travel deeper into what it means to be a good photographer. It wasn’t until the other foot was in the real world that my journey became balanced and came into focus. Now I can glide with ease through projects of any size and guarantee you you’re going to have a lot of fun too.
Gnome hunting in Bergen, Norway.
Was that bicycle metaphor too much? I told you, selling myself is weird. Let’s just work together already…