The Politics of Fashion Photography Part 9

“There is No Fair…”

I cannot count all the times I have heard, “…it’s not fair that this person or that person is doing a gig and they aren’t any better than I am…” or better yet, “Yeah, I know how they got the job, they know so and so and are F’ing so and so or are part of the so and so family…”

Both above statements are true and false.  Take your choice and add a multiplicity of different permutations and add them to the mix and they will all work.  There is NO fair in this business and like so many of the Art’s related metier’s, there are no real ways of succeeding in the Biz.

Of course, if you are part of that very tiny group of privileged individuals who are hangin’ with those individuals making the decision to work with you whether you are a stylist, photographer, model, make-up artist, etc and I am one of those decision makers in the food chain, then perhaps you have an in.  I say perhaps because a decision can change on the turn of a dime.

An example and I won’t mention names goes like this…”So and So is a really good hair stylist and I want to work with her…”.  But So and So make-up artist doesn’t really feel comfortable working with this person for some Dumb F’ck reason that shouldn’t mean zip to the final product but does.  It does because there is a chemistry that I want and without it the final product will not be the same if I don’t use those two incredibly ego hungry yet talented individuals. Well, I have to make a decision based on this type of complication and decide if I want to risk F’ing up my shoot for a minor caprice that may occur if I put them together in to the mix or go with someone else.

I end up not using the hair stylist.  The next time I want to work with her, her agent conveniently says she is not available…Now, she lost a  potential job working with me for a rather prestigious magazine and decided to make me pay for a while for my sins 🙂

Now, was it fair that she got nixed in lieu of the make-up artist and his little caprice?  Probably not and it wasn’t fair.  But it happens every day and the sooner you realize it, the sooner you will understand that if you let it pass graciously, you may be considered the next time for not making such a big deal out of it.

Above Image by: Mary McQuillan

Part 10

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About Benjamin Kanarek
Fashion and Beauty Photographer. Some of the magazines I have shot for include: VOGUE (China, Portugal, Brazil, Italia, Paris and South America & Mexico editions), RG VOGUE Brazil, Harper’s BAZAAR (China, en Español & Latin America, Hong Kong, Italy editions), L’Officiel Paris, ELLE (Spain, Portugal and Greece editions), Madame Figaro (France), Cosmopolitan (France and Italy editions), Glamour (France), Votre Beauté, Jardin des Modes, Dépêche Mode, New York Daily News, Fashion District News, New York Times Magazine, W (British edition), WWD, Fashion Magazine (Canada), Flare (Canada), Oyster, Tank, WestEast…