portfolios

somehow i have been spending my whole life trying to put together my "portfolio"….it is almost a joke really because i still do not really have one…if someone asks to see my portfolio now, i just send them a book, but for 20 years or so i honestly did not have a real "portfolio"…just never could  figure out how to make a good one…or exactly what was supposed to be in one….

ironically, i review portfolios for others all the time…i have looked at  so many that i do know what the pitfalls are and what makes a strong portfolio that will move you forward….and what will "strike a chord" for editors, art directors and publishers….for sure , your portfolio should reflect your style and your professional expertise if you are looking for editorial work or fantasizing your first book.. ..

for sure you do not want to show how many different kinds of things you can do … you should present  a singular vision.. you do not want to show how "many" good pictures you have made or really cool trips you have taken…..30 works which  show "you" are what most reviewers what to see….unique artistic  vision  , heartfelt involvement,  or  powerful  documentation  are the things that separate the "nice portfolios" from the "great" ones….

i mentioned in an earlier post that i had been drafted by my Magnum colleagues to help initiate an educational program for Magnum starting now  with the Magnum Festival celebrating our 60th "barely surviving the whole time"  year….but we HAVE survived 60 yrs……and i must say, survived on principle….we have survived because  we have  such unique, difficult, talented, multi-cultural, brave, renegade,individualistic, stylistic, unrealistic, pessimistic, optimistic, organic, egotistic, crusading, naive, all-knowing, not one like the other, photographers in our midst….

here in new york on june 17 we will have our first portfolio review program, "First Impressions"…go to the Magnum link here and check out the specifics…..this is not a recruiting program at all, but a program designed to help some of you think about your personal "next step"….tap into the accumulated knowledge of larry towell, alec soth, jim goldberg, susan meiselas, trent parke, mark power and yours truly….we all might just learn something….