Especially in photography.

I’ve been captivated by the way visual storytelling expanded to include more conceptual approaches — be it image making, editing, or sequencing. 

A visual story can reflect a mood, extend a metaphor, or a poetic idea. It can respond to shapes, a time or a place. It can have human characters — or not. 

It can look at the past (archives) or the future (fiction?). 

It can imagine possibilities. 

It can ask questions.

🏖 In her book “Gold Coast,” Ying Ang photographs the paradox of a place experiencing both affluence and high crime. She challenges what people think a crime-filled place looks like. She asks why families choose to stay, and taps into unexpected visual languages. She plays with the metaphors of danger. She photographs the *idea* of crime scenes in a popular tourism hub.

🌪  In her following book “The Quickening” explores the transformational experience of pregnancy and early motherhood. She examines the process of moving further out into the world from birth, and “shrinking back in,” seeing your world contract during pregnancy. She also explores the medieval ways of collecting information through oral testimonies, due to lack of proper medical research and public knowledge about women’s health. The soft cover, poetic inserts, different layers (only the prologue is shot in medium format, distanced from the world as she did with ‘Gold Coast’), shows a deeply personal and inquisitive approach.

What’s your favorite conceptual work?

⏰ 1. 20 min is so short! Make sure you outline your intentions at the beginning so you have 2 sets of eyes on the clock. Keep time for questions! 

🎰 2. The most productive reviews are often not the ones you had all your hopes in. You can never predict how someone will respond to your work, or how you’ll click — stay open! People assigned at random can be an incredible surprise. 

👐 3. Tailor the work to your audience. A breaking news editor might not want to see the same thing as a gallery owner. 

👯‍♀️ 4. This is about building genuine relationships. All things equal (quality of work and professionalism), an editor will hire you because you’re someone they vibe with. Not everything is about photography — try to make a friend. 

💬 5. Mingle with peers. This is your community — the people with who you’ll experience ongoing mutual support, who might think of you for a job they can’t take or for an assist. Who you’ll bounce ideas with for a project. Don’t be competitors. Be collaborators. 

💌 6. Follow-up! A thank you e-mail is the bare minimum. Add a picture from your body of work so they remember who you are (the one they liked the most).

💡7. Come in with a pitch! It’s an efficient way to utilize this special 1-on-1 time. You might leave with an assignment in the bag.

Would you add anything to the list?

☠️ Screw plan B.

Plan Bs can be a crutch for entrepreneurs. A way to justify mediocrity and buffer against failure.

🧯Here’s why: when you know you have a secure fallback plan (think comfortable steady job or unemployment benefits) you may be focusing more on the downfalls of plan A, instead of looking at solutions to keep pivoting.

This means you’re not as laser-focused and more likely to give up when things get tough.

👀 Sounds a tad provocative? You’re right -ish.

🏃🏻‍♀️ Hear me out, no plan B doesn’t mean no “worse case scenario”. It means giving yourself the runway to take a risk, and to trust that you’ll put every bit of effort into achieving what you’ve set out to achieve. Having a “worse case scenario” could for instance allow you to sustain yourself more modestly while continuing to pursue A. It doesn’t mean abandoning when you’re starting to encounter pushbacks.

🏡 As long as you’re not taking a livelihood-threatening risk (as in, “no longer having a roof over your head”), don’t give yourself an out. Focus on A.

🌳 For over a year, I’ve planted trees, cut wood and gave environmental workshops from 9 to 5 to sustain myself – so that outside I could pursue my goal of becoming a photographer & photojournalist.

Haven’t been too disappointed so far.

Thoughts?

📸 Dr. Jaimee Swift, founder of Black Women Radicals
#photographie #photography #entrepreneurship