This is the fourth and last of a four-part series of blog posts on Storytelling in Photography. Ira Glass of “This American Life” is a man of insight and created a series of 4 videos for “aspiring” Journalist and Broadcasters, But I’ve been very inspired with what he had to say as I applied his theories to my own genre, photography.  Here are my thoughts on his video. 
Part 4 here:.

In the fourth part of this video series Ira talks about trying to be like other people. Specifically in broadcasting trying to talk like other people. I see this happening in the working photography world more than in the enthusiast world, but I see a lot of photographers trying to take on the persona’s of other famous photographers, especially celebrity photographers. There are a handful of photographers out there that are famous in their own right and have taken on the role of celebrity. Some of their personalities are nothing to brag about and they don’t treat people very kindly. When young aspiring photographers see this, they may come to the conclusion that this type of action is acceptable and that is what is needed to reach this level of photography. I completely disagree! As Ira states, just be yourself. Sure there is pushing your own comfort zone and evolving yourself as a person and as an artist, but don’t thing that copying how someone acts will get you anywhere. Don’t be a jerk to someone just to say that you did it. You should always treat people with respect, the industry is relatively small and people do remember.

Ira also speaks about having a horrible personality in broadcasting. This is when someone speaks about themselves all the time and doesn’t engage with the subject. The way I related this part of what he said to the business of photography, is as a photographer you are selling yourself as skilled labor to your clients no matter how big or how small your assignment. If you are not easy to be around, who’s going to want to hire you. They must as well find someone who is a little less talented but is fun to be around and has a great personality. There are many dynamics that come into play when on a photo shoot. It really is a team effort and as the photographer you are the quarterback. You lead the team. If your attitude is bad it brings the whole shoot down. In many genres of photography you get special access to certain people, I’ve seen and heard of art buyers and clients pick photographers purely on personality not skill. They don’t want to risk their job by hiring someone who has a bad attitude and personality and brings everyone down.

What other things can you think about that would affect your desirability as a working photographer? Use the comments below.