Although much of our focus in photojournalism education is on the process of making meaningful images, at some point we are forced to produce a portfolio, highlighting the products of our work.
The dictionary defines portfolio as a “set of pieces of creative work collected by someone to display their skills, especially to a potential employer.” At the same time, borrowing from the world of finance, a portfolio refers to a “range of investments held by a person.”
In some ways, I tend to think about the images we select for portfolios as investments. If we think about pictures as having a specific value beyond our own likes and dislikes we become more invested in them. In this way, our attitude about the value of the images we select becomes more deliberate and coherent. Each image, as an investment, has a currency and value, which when looked at collectively, contributes to a greater whole.
How Not to make a successful portfolio?
Put images into your portfolio that have little impact.
A picture must accomplish two things. First, the image must communicate a story with immediacy and intensity. Secondly, the viewer must be moved intellectually and emotionally by the image. If your images do not possess both qualities, chuck them. Don’t throw weak images in among a handful of strong ones. I would rather have less really strong images, than an edit of good, so-so, and weak pictures. Take editing seriously. Be thoughtful and deliberate – it may be your only chance. Get advice from others.
How Not to make a successful portfolio?
Begin with images that fail to reflect something unique about the individual who made them--YOU.
Many portfolios in photojournalism appear to use a cookie-cutter formula with a proportional display of images from News, Sports, Features and Picture Packages. Although this traditional approach may still be effective in demonstrating fundamental skills, little about the photographer’s relationship to the world is revealed beyond capturing peak moments.
First and foremost, a portfolio must reflect something unique about its creator. Thinking about images as investments adds value to the process, because the focus emphasizes the photojournalist’s future and potential. Beyond showing technical and aesthetic competencies, the portfolio must demonstrate the photographer’s ability to understand relationships – to light, camera, composition, and most importantly, the subject of the image.
How Not to make a successful portfolio?
Overwhelm an editor with an inappropriate number of images to look at in a format that makes viewing difficult. I’ve seen students get good internships with a portfolio of only 8 to ten very strong pictures.
The process of making a portfolio begins with a large collection of images and is only determined after many consecutive edits are completed. If we jump from a large edit to a final edit without taking pains to evaluate the “almost” images, then we may be missing pictures that speak to our capacity for developing and understanding relationships.
At each stage in the process, the editor must ask themselves a few basic questions.
Does each image have a center of impact, tell a story and convey some universally understood human emotion?
Are the images technically clean and aesthetically well composed?
Who is the audience?
How many images? Can you justify the role of each image in the portfolio?
Are there ethical considerations involved?
Does the portfolio lead with the strongest images?
Are the captions correct?
Is there a well-written cover letter explaining who you are and where you want to go in life?
Whatever you do you might not want to send an editor one of these amazing voodoo man knife holders as an incentive. They may get the wrong idea.
The Voodoo man knife holder. For the cook with the most.
via Dave Barry's blog