We don’t say enough about the relationships, or the absence of them, that will make or break your career as a photographer. I’m not talking about your customer relationships. I’m talking about the strong relationship needed with all the support people that enable you to deliver. These relationships need to be nurtured and nurtured.
Now, I’m in a place where I’m filled with gratitude for everyone who’s helped me and my business grow over the past few months. The relationships you need to build will take on the more personal side now and then. You need to allow yourself to have moments of vulnerability if you want to be successful.
The relationships that fueled my business multiplied when, at the end of November 2021, I signed a publishing deal. The moving parts of my business became overwhelmed when I agreed to write and shoot a book with a production rush, in the midst of a fifth wave that had a major negative impact on my customer base. Me and we have faced many natural disasters. cut off the supply chain; entire highways and railways are washed away in a split second. Imagine you are a food photographer without the ability to get food. Furthermore, there are many health emergencies among family members.
During this time, the importance of these relationships becomes family.
When you author a book, you need to write an endorsement. The standard of publication is to acknowledge all those whose supporting roles have allowed you to complete the book. My list includes roles like my assistant, my family member, my editor, my publisher – it’s a job title – book designer, vendor, tester recipe, beta reader, writer and more. If someone on this team stops supporting me, my business will collapse.
You can work with model agencies, stylists, wardrobe specialists, post-production people, etc. Regardless of what your system looks like, there are shared strategies for nurturing relationships keep you growing.
Vulnerable
Vulnerability fosters an environment of trust. Everyone on your team needs to know that they can count on each member. There is no time or space for micromanaging. There is no room to doubt the reliability of those around you. If you work with models, they need to know that you won’t put them in painful situations. When you’re vulnerable, you’re not only signaling that you trust your team members, but that they can trust you, too.
Be slow to get angry and quick to apologize
The days can be long and frustrating. Everything will go wrong. Everyone feels nauseous. Build regular 15-minute breaks into your day’s schedule to give everyone a chance to breathe. This helps prevent frustration from turning into anger. But in those times when so much is happening at once and you just can’t keep it up, apologize without reservation or excuses. Own it. Admit that you made a mistake. If you are also practicing vulnerability, people will feel cool about it and move on quickly, without feeling hard.
Offer your knowledge freely
It doesn’t matter if it’s a delivery person who drops something at work. If someone questions how and why something is done, teach. Take those 10-15 minutes to give something of yourself without being tied down. Reward curiosity. Everyone else you work with is doing the same. When you are open and dedicated, people begin to create opportunities to collaborate with you.
As a student
Pay attention to everything people have to offer you in return, especially in areas where you feel like an expert or close friend. There is always something to learn. Those who are new to the world of photography often have fresh approaches to improving your work. Someone who humbles himself is someone people want to keep working with.
Communicate, Communicate, Communicate
There are obvious things that you need to communicate. Timelines and schedules. Shooting list. List of devices. Duration. Secure protocols. Art director. In the case of my editor and publisher collaboration, it also involved a year-long production schedule with multiple delivery dates on which many departments relied.
Then there are the things we might be afraid to communicate that are more important. Events created a key to the plans. Sick. The need to help. If we’ve learned anything over the past two years, it’s that the best-built plans always need room for pivots. People learned that things were going to happen and that timelines and deliverables needed to be redone. They are more than happy to work with you on something manageable, but only if you create open and trustworthy lines of communication.
Learn to grow with Constructive Criticism
Get critical partners. They will motivate you and help you grow. As you learn to be a gracious recipient of constructive criticism, you also learn how to convey it. As artists, we all want to grow and reach the next level of success, no matter what that means to each of us. People you trust will give you criticism as to how you will get there and help others achieve their success.
Set boundaries
You need to be vulnerable but not too vulnerable. You need to be available, but not too available. Test yourself and make sure you have enough bandwidth before using anything new. Take a break from your workday where you turn off everything work related. Don’t do things that make you uncomfortable.
When you set boundaries, you signal to everyone you work with that you also want them to have boundaries and that you will respect them. In a world where so much is vying for our attention and emotionally draining, everyone on the team needs clear divisions and tough boundaries to be honored if you want them to get the job done and have fun there.
Adapt
Just as you will need things to change, so will the respect and honor that the people you work with will need. If you’re following an action item, start the conversation with something like: “I know things are stressful right now. So just check in gently to see how the situation unfolds. “Don’t preach. Don’t re-read a job description and tell them how they’re failing in many words. When they come to you and say they need an extension, thank them.
And before you start working on them, ask them if they need any accommodation at work. You can even practice holes in the process. When I ask about accommodation, I will let the person know that I have autism and live with chronic pain. So I need 15 minutes of total aloneness and quiet every hour so that my autism doesn’t make the pain worse. It promotes a safe work environment.
Acknowledge their importance
Bring this back to the admissions you see in the book. They are especially important. People in the publishing world are always checking to see if their name is there or if their friends are there. They commend each other’s work and want to continue collaborating with the person who wrote the endorsement.
Say “thank you for [fill in the thing they did that made the result possible]“Goes a long way, especially on days when assistants are tired because they have to play the person standing in a tight corner all day. Just as the publishing world will spread word of mouth about the people who acknowledge them, the same word of mouth will spread about you when you thank the people who have kept you alive.
What are the things you do to build and nurture your working relationships?
