by Tim Gander

Tool or Toy?

As September draws to its conclusion, I’ve been surprised to realise it’s only been a couple of weeks since I got back from an all-too-brief holiday in Brittany.

Now I could bore you with my holiday snaps, but I’m only going to bore you with two. And they’re not even typical holiday snaps.

The real purpose of this post is to share some thoughts on a new addition to my kit bag, a Lumix GX9 camera (and two lenses). This isn’t so much a camera review, more a ‘why did I do that?’ sort of musing thing.

For My Pocket

For a long time (I’m talking years!) I’ve been in the market for a properly pocketable digital camera. Something I could chuck in my coat pocket, but with more versatility and better image quality than my iPhone – a Holy Grail for many photographers.

I looked at all kinds of options, from the eye-wateringly expensive Leica Q2/Q3, to the Ricoh GRIII, but nothing quite hit the spot. Then I started to notice the Panasonic Lumix GX-series of cameras. Again, not perfect, but as close to the right balance of versatility, quality and price as I was ever going to get.

Since I wanted a camera that could potentially find a use in client work as well as be a personal carry-around snapshot option (my Brittany holiday was starting to focus my decision-making too), Panasonic’s Lumix GX9 has the added benefit that it takes interchangeable lenses. I didn’t want the built-in zoom that many cameras in the pocket-friendly category have because I wanted the best quality I could get.

The only potential downside is that the GX9 is discontinued, and the GX-line seems to have reached the end of the… um… line. So a used camera was my only option. Even some of the lenses seem to be discontinued, such as the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7*, which is mounted on my camera in the photo.

That 20mm is, on this camera, equivalent to a 40mm lens on a regular SLR (I won’t explain the technicals here, just believe me). That’s my favourite focal length, so I was pleased to be able to pick up a genuine Ebay bargain.

For a second lens option, I bought a Lumix/Leica 15mm (30mm equivalent, see above) for wide angle shots. For this I bought new as the used prices weren’t all that attractive, and it is still available through retailers.

For Work

So how does this slot in with my work gear?

As a rule, I favour fixed lenses for my work – I just prefer the quality. However, even with two main camera bodies, this can leave me changing lenses rather more often than I’d like. So the GX9 with the wide lens on it gives me the option to do the general views at events without having to switch out the standard or long lenses mounted on my other two camera bodies.

There is compromise here though. The GX9 isn’t exactly a wizard of low-light photography, so I don’t use it where I need to crank up the ISO (sensor sensitivity) beyond 800. Things get awful noisy from 800 onwards, though the end-use of the pictures can mean low-light noise isn’t always a problem. The camera can also take an external flash, which can get me out of a fix in certain low-light situations.

The viewfinder is pretty dire too, but I knew that going in and actually I’ve got used to it. In most other respects, it’s a highly usable, capable camera – you just need to know how and when to use it.

For Fun

Beside the personal/holiday/family snap use, and to make the camera even more versatile, I also bought a lens adaptor which allows me to use some of my lovely Nikon lenses on this camera. Ok, so I lose a lot of the automation of the purpose-built lenses, but it’s another chance to play and experiment with other looks and styles. For example, I haven’t (yet) bought a longer lens for portraits for the GX9, but I have a Nikon-fit Voigtländer 40mm lens which becomes an 80mm lens on the GX9 – perfect for portraits! The adaptor adds value to the camera, as well as allowing me to use those lovely older lenses more often too.

For the Future?

I suppose my biggest fear is that one day this camera will die and I won’t be able to replace it easily. Modern digital cameras don’t always have the robustness of some film cameras. For last year’s trip to Brittany I took a very pocketable 35mm film camera. It was manufactured some time in the 1990s and yet it still functions. However, I can’t use that for work since no client wants to wait for film to be processed and scanned.

In an ideal world, Panasonic would bring out an updated version of this camera. Sensor technology keeps improving and this camera’s format (known as M43 or MFT, and pronounced ‘micro four thirds’) has a lot of advantages in terms of portability. If they’re thinking of doing this, they’re taking their sweet time about it.

For the time being this toy/tool will get use while it lives. If/when it dies, I’ll see if there’s a decent used replacement available, and keep going until I finally have to ditch the lenses. Maybe by then some perfect alternative will have emerged.

So keep an eye out for future posts featuring this dinky camera, in the meantime, here it is in all its cuteness alongside two of my favourite ‘holiday’ photos.

A panasonic Lumix GX9 camera on a wooden table with a yellow background. The camera has the Panasonic 20mm lens fitted and is shown next to a Lumix/Leica 15mm lens.
The Lumix GX9 with 20mm lens mounted and the Leica 15mm lens next to it.
Golden evening sunlight illuminates the curved wooden chairs on board the Portsmouth to Saint Malo ferry as a cleaner moves through, vacuuming the floor.
Passenger lounge on the ferry to Saint Malo.
Small snack cabin and bar in evening light at Batz-sur-Mer, Brittany, as a man and a woman stand outside chatting.
Snacks and drinks cabin, Batz-sur-Mer, Brittany, France.

*Wherever the lens is listed new, it’s shown as Awaiting Stock. I suspect Panasonic ceased production some time ago.

in Personal Opinion / Personal Work / photographer / photography / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

A Qualified Opinion

Final grades certificate in photo-journalism for Tim Gander. Issued by the National Council for the Training of Journalists.

Not bad grades, and I did pretty well on a local evening paper.

This is a blast from the past – my certificate in photo-journalism, awarded by the National Council for the Training of Journalists in 1992. It was amongst a stash of old school reports hoarded by my mum.

I don’t want to sound like an old man reminiscing, but this dates from an era when photographers were trained to take pictures for news. This no longer happens, and sadly reporters with iPhones are a poor substitute.

The course at Stradbroke College in Sheffield was, for a few decades, the only formal route into news photography in this country. You either took the one-year pre-entry course (as I did), or you could get a traineeship on a paper who would then send you on block release to cover the course over a period of a couple of years (I’m a bit sketchy on this as it was a long time ago!)

Having completed my full year, this certificate graded me on my progress at that stage. I then had to find a job with a paper (in my case, The Portsmouth News) and be indentured for two years before taking final exams, submitting a final project and qualifying as a senior photographer. Of course I passed with a Distinction, as you would expect.

But why is it a problem that this structure no longer exists? People consume news very differently today, so this training malarkey is old-hat and obsolete. Plus taking photos is so much easier; who needs training?

The issue arises because since newspapers have devalued their product to the point where most local papers consist of nothing more than a mixture of phone snaps, Google Streetview screen grabs or images lifted from Twitter, photographers no longer play the role they once did, that of first witnesses and documenters of breaking stories. We simply don’t have that anymore, at least not in the traditional titles.

We were also trained to cover events, even incidents, with professionalism and with a good grasp of press ethics and the law. In fact understanding the law as it related to our work was often useful in situations where those in authority (*ahem* the police) would try to obstruct our work. Today, many reporters and certainly members of the public don’t have the knowledge required to be effective image gatherers.

The cutting back of photo departments, which really got going in the early 2000s, also disposed of an incredibly valuable asset. While reporters were already being increasingly tied to their desks, writing stories almost entirely over the phone and without leaving the office, photographers were the main point of contact between the readers and their paper.

This wasn’t always an entirely comfortable role for photographers, but it had a value which is now lost for good.

It’s good to see the emergence of community newspapers now, such as The Bristol Cable, which work on a different business model to traditional newspapers, however they still haven’t fully embraced the power of photography, largely relying instead on their staff journalists or, at a stretch, casual freelancers. This is a shame because a publication will struggle to find its look and voice if there is no consistent style to its visuals. It also means there’s still no consistent contact between readers and editorial staff.

Of course I understand the issue of cost vs benefit, and most of these new news initiatives just don’t have the budget for properly-trained photographers, so they’re stuck with this new paradigm. They can’t cover stories consistently and in depth, so they fall short of the engagement they need to grow. For as long as they can’t grow readerships, they can’t invest in photography.

So while this certificate might be a flimsy document harking back to a time when the news industry was very different, it’s also a reminder that an entire industry, underpinned by structured training, has suffered a pretty mortal blow. I would love to see a new ‘traditional media’ emerge where photographers have regular patches and disciplines to cover (eg news, sports and features), and as platforms such a Twitter seem to be losing ground, maybe the time will come when people return to trusted, curated, edited and regulated sources for news.

There is hope yet! And then perhaps I can present my certificate and get a job on an evening newspaper.

in Personal Opinion / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Going for G-old

Have you been watching the Paris Olympics? Like most big events that I’d like to see (Wimbledon being the annual classic), I usually miss the whole shebang.

This year though, I’ve managed to carve out a little time to catch a bit of the cycling and swimming – the two areas of sport I’m most interested in.

In particular with the swimming, I’ve been trying to pick up some clues for improving my personal performance in the pool. Well, let’s say that’s a work in progress. Most of the athletes have a 40-year advantage on me. Plus they swim every day (for several hours) and spend hours in the gym when they’re not in the pool. I mean really, it’s cheating!

Of course their performances are also enhanced by things like, I dunno, raw talent. They’re coached in techniques to the nth degree, drilled until they want to cry and many have been swimming since early childhood.

Contrast this with my “swimming career”; I left school with only a basic breast stroke, and no real drive to improve even that. As for front crawl (for the Americans reading this, that’s freestyle), until a few months ago, I couldn’t even get off the side of the pool. I was, in short, a drowning windmill.

However since rediscovering the joy of swimming while on holiday last year, I’ve signed up to regular sessions at my local pool, where my breast stroke has blossomed, and I’ve taken lessons in front crawl. I can now just about manage 50m without feeling sick, which is a huge step up from where I was around three months ago.

So why am I wanging on about the Olympics and my swimming now? Well of course it’s so I can shamelessly showcase the fact that 16 years ago, I had the honour of photographing double gold medal swimmer Rebecca Adlington (Becky) when she came to the University of Bath in 2008 to help launch the Youth Olympics.

There is a little more to this tale (not much tho) than just wanting to share an archive photo.

Bearing in mind Becky had only just achieved this huge success in the Beijing Olympics that same year, the attention she received would have been a whole new experience and perhaps slightly disconcerting.

As we settled into one of the university’s lecture theatres for a press call, I was just checking my focus and exposure on Becky when she leaned in to the person sitting next to her and said, “I suppose I’ll have to get used to this,” meaning “being photographed”.

As she sat straight again, she looked directly down my camera lens, and I took the shot you see here.

Becky Adlington looks directly down the barrel of my lens.
Double gold-medal swimmer Rebecca Adlington holds her two gold medals while looking to camera.
Becky Adlington holds the two medals she won at the Beijing 2008 Olympics.

The comment didn’t strike me as anything more than a very matter-of-fact observation of how her life would change; there was nothing hostile in her tone, and she posed patiently and with good humour for more pictures after the sit-down press conference.

Becky’s career beyond the pool has flourished. Clearly, she got “used to this” a long while ago. I doubt she remembers that moment or her comment back in 2008, but for some reason it always stuck with me. Perhaps because I care how someone feels in front of my camera, even if I’m just doing my job.

On that day, we were both there to do a job. I’m still a photographer, Becky is still in the media spotlight and seeing her presenting from Paris 2024 alongside Clare Balding and Mark Foster reminded me of this one moment.

In the meantime, I’m going to continue with my own swimming career, though I’m not expecting to slip into professional swimming any time soon. That ship might have sailed unless there’s a VERY senior league out there?

 

in My News / Personal Opinion / photographer / press release photography 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Awards, Ceremonies and Celebrations

Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t leave my blog unattended for almost two months, but things haven’t been quite normal lately.

A busy work schedule and personal circumstances (he said, cryptically) have conspired to keep me from posting, so this is a round-up of recent work.

Looking back, that work has involved a fair number of award ceremonies, certificate presentations and celebrations of all sorts. From fairly low-key and intimate events to grand occasions, I’ve applied my photographic approach to them all. That is to say, I work to capture the general tone of an event alongside the smaller moments, as well as the presentations themselves.

Photographing events for my clients is always a huge amount of fun. People tend to be relaxed and generally accepting of a photographer there to capture the occasion. It’s their moment, and they’re happy to have it recorded.

For clients, they need my pictures to tell the story and to give them a range of pictures for use across social media channels, press releases, websites and brochures. So this work engages multiple of areas of the brain; I’m thinking about telling the story of the event, making pictures the attendees will enjoy, ensuring the client has images for immediate PR communication, and for the longer term, images which can stand the test of time. Some of the photos will need to be used to promote a recurring event for years to come, so they need to be of a quality that endures.

The gallery is just a handful of recent events I’ve covered, mostly for University of Bath (their events just seem to offer the best photographic opportunities!), but also for Clarks Village in Street who hosted a PRIDE tree where people could post positive sentiments on LGBTQIA+ rights, or just say or draw something up-lifting. That was a riot of colour!

A young female student is smiling into the distance and she is pictured through a hole in a Connect 4 game board.
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A grey-haired, bearded man in a suit stands smiling while holding a large cardboard Instagram-style frame. He is flanked by two towers of balloons.
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A man wearing a multi-coloured PRIDE lanyard is smiling to the person seated next to him.
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A young woman in sunglasses smiles to camera while holding her phone at arm's length for a selfie in front of colourful ribbons. She's holding a message of support she wrote on a plastic yellow flower tile.
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A colourful wooden PRIDE tree at Clarks Village in Street as shoppers walk past, blurred by the camera's shutter.
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A University of Bath graduate stands smiling broadly at the audience moments after receiving his graduation. He is standing next to the Pro-Chancellor and the background is the interior of Bath Abbey.
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A University of Bath graduate hugs his dad. He has a look of relief on his face.
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A female University of Bath graduate looks directly to camera and smiles. She is wearing a laurel wreath on her head, a tradition of Italian students.
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I’ve got more events coming up later this year, so if your organisation is planning a celebratory event in the coming months, drop me a line or call 07703 124412 and I’ll be delighted to help.

in Case Studies / corporate communications / coverage / event photographic / Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Culture Crush

Since the dawn of mass-market photography, camera manufacturers have held out the promise that if you just buy their latest and greatest camera gear, you will be able to take the same pictures as a professional.

This narrative got ramped up with the birth of digital, which allowed you to see, review and (if necessary) retake a photo without having to wait for your film to be developed.

Camera adverts now routinely proclaim the ability to take your photography to “the next level” or capture incredible detail with greater ease than ever before; it turns out that the previous camera they launched with exactly the same claim was a pile of junk – get rid of it and buy this new one instead! 18 months later, they’ll have superseded the camera you never quite got to grips with, with something they claim takes your photography to the next level. And so it goes on.

Perhaps what is most disappointing is when camera manufacturers try to claim that if only you owned their latest model, you could do the work of a professional. It sends out the message that it’s the gear, not the human behind it, that creates work with purpose or impact. Which is odd, because I have cameras which I only use once every few months, yet all the time they sit on the shelf, they never produce a damn thing. I’ve checked and it hasn’t happened yet.

This sales tactic feeds a nascent belief that professional photographers are not really needed, which in turn makes us look over-priced. Clients then decide that perhaps they’ll have a go themselves (usually with risible results), or they try to hammer their budgets down to almost nothing, because why pay someone if it’s the camera that’s doing all the work?

Until now, these manufacturers have been relatively subtle in this messaging, but hats off to Apple and Adobe for taking this narrative to an entirely new level. In their adverts and promotional posts, they’re basically telling us that creative professionals are an obstacle to creativity.

Apple’s “crush the creative” ad for the iPad was eye-popping on multiple levels, but it’s earned a well-deserved backlash from the creative community. What Apple wants us (you) to believe is that all creative arts and creativity and humanity can be crushed into a 5.1mm thick slab of aluminium. Just think what YOU could do with this – no pesky creative individuals with their annoying invoices necessary.

A video grab from Apple's latest iPad advertisement shows the alarmed expression on a squishy toy's face just before it is crushed by a machine.
The eye-popping Apple ad suggests technology can overpower creativity.

Adobe, meanwhile, is exhorting people to “skip the photoshoot” as they (Adobe) push their generative AI image making tool to a wider market. So the photographers (designers, illustrators too) who have doggedly supported Adobe for the past 25 years or more are now thrown under the bus of so-called progress.

Perhaps what is even more galling here is that Adobe’s image-generation tool has been trained on the work of photographers who have paid to use Adobe’s products. This isn’t payback for a service we’ve used for free all these years, this is a kick in the nuts.

Ai is obviously not going away, but corporations need to be careful which direction they push it in. There’s a genuine risk that creatives will simply start creating less. The bottom line of the bottom line is that if creatives can find no reward for their work, they’ll stop creating the work. That’s when culture starts to whither at everyones’ expense, though mostly at the expense of those not rich enough to insulate themselves from this onslaught.

It’s easy (actually it’s lazy) to say “that’s progress, get with it or be left behind” except it isn’t progress. It is simply large corporations not having a clue how real creativity works, what it needs to thrive and above all, why real, tangible, physical, sometimes messy culture is so important to the wellbeing of individuals and society and yes, the economy.

By all means embrace the crushing and sidelining of creative endeavour, but don’t complain when life ends up feeling a bit shitter as a result.

in Industry Comment / Personal Opinion / photography / Uncategorized 1 comments
 by Tim Gander

GooD PRactice

GDPR, love it or ignore it, it isn’t going away. My view is simple; for as long as I’m making and storing photos of people, often including their names within caption data, then it’s simple enough to comply.

If other photographers don’t want to, that’s up to them, but I see it as having multiple advantages.

For a start, I need to be compliant because in addition to the storing of peoples’ pictures with their names, I have a mailing list for my takeagander newsletter. The newsletter alone is enough to tip me into requiring compliance, but I also want people to understand what information I have on them, how I store it and what I do (and don’t do) with it. GDPR gives me a formal framework within which to set that out, which you can see on my GDPR page.

Working with larger organisations, I see no harm in being able to assure them that the information I gather in the course of assignments is treated with respect and only used for legitimate purposes. I imagine that as data holders and controllers themselves, they might want to know that the work I do for them dovetails with their obligations.

Screenshot of the ICO logo and contact details.

Not all photographers need to be GDPR compliant, it really does depend on what they’re doing, what data they’re collecting and how they’re using it. However, working with businesses and professional organisations, I see my compliance as being part of my professional practice, just like Public Liability Insurance and paying my licences to use software.

Ultimately, I’m not concerned that the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) is going to send in a SWAT team to batter down my door and arrest me for non-compliance. My compliance with GDPR is for assurance to my clients, and for the continued professionalisation of my business. And the annual fee is less than I spend on coffee in a month.

Let me know your thoughts in GDPR. Is it reassuring? or do you feel irked by it? Or is it just part of your business practice?

Feel free to comment here, or if you’re a client looking for further reassurance, drop me a line. I promise I won’t sign you up to a newsletter!

in Uncategorized 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Looking Back, Looking Forward

Yes, it’s that time of year when we all take a look in the rearview mirror to see what we’re leaving behind, simultaneously stepping on the gas, and accelerating into the year ahead. Or maybe we’re just trying to get away from zombies!

Assuming we’re not being chased out of town by the undead, I am of course building up (in a rather clumsy way) to my annual look at what has been and what is to come.

Except I’m not going to do that this time around, or at least not in quite as much depth as I normally would. I’m just going to say that 2023 had its highs and lows, and I have plans for 2024 which will evolve as I go.

At this point, I could sign off, wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and be done, but that wouldn’t be particularly satisfactory, would it? Maybe it would, but tough; you’re here now.

No, for this post I’m going to use broad brush strokes which I hope will also stimulate some thoughts within you, my current or potential clients.

Looking Back – 2023

While my stills work held up remarkably well, video demand seemed to drop off sharply. Instinct tells me clients are struggling to decide whether video is worth the investment. My advice is, talk to me! I’ll be happy to discuss your ideas and will be honest about your best options.

All too often I have clients come to me with only the vaguest idea that they want ‘some video of a thing’. But rather than allow me to guide them further, they either kill the project or go to someone who will happily turn their half-baked plans into a massive invoice. Don’t fall into that trap.

Even the stills work was a bit up and down this year. I’ve done pretty well, but I can tell businesses are struggling to see through the fog of wars, climate crisis, cost of living, and so on. Some are taking positive steps to keep their marketing on track, while others see marketing as a cost (bizarrely).

If you can’t stretch to video, keep using stills to keep your brand fresh and alive. They’re far more cost-effective than video and more adaptable, but they also need a clear direction (purpose and brief). Again, talk to me if you want to develop the germ of an idea.

Overall, 2023 has been ok. Its school report would read, “Could do better”.

View into a French seaside cafe showing sunlight hitting a white table surrounded by red, grey and natural wood chairs. The table is set for three, with mats and coffee cups.
From August 2023, a favourite holiday photo taken in Brittany. Photo © Tim Gander. All rights reserved.

A highlight of 2023 was a trip by rail and bike to Côte Sauvage, Brittany.

Looking Forward – 2024

So let’s gaze into the crystal ball.

I predict it’s going to be more of the same because the uncertainties that have troubled businesses since (to put it frankly) the Brexit vote of 2016 are not going to be resolved in the next few weeks or even months. Domestically we’re going to have a general election, so there will be plenty of people waiting to see how that shakes out. Which is frustrating because it could be yet another year of bumpiness. And who’s to say something else won’t come along in the meantime to create more market jitters?

My advice is, if you want to do something, do it. If you don’t, someone else will and they’ll steal all the credit (and potentially your clients).

Moving on from the pure business aspects of the year ahead, I’ve decided to have another look at something rather more ephemeral; the ethics of my business.

That isn’t to say that for the past 25 years as a freelance photographer, I’ve operated unethically but I feel we’re at a juncture where it’s not a bad idea to have a fresh think about how we all work and how we treat each other.

Towards the end of this year, I finally managed to update my Terms and Conditions (something I’d planned to do last Christmas!) and in 2024 I plan to add an Ethical Statement that will cover a wide range of aspects, from use of AI in images, to how I approach my personal project work.

This isn’t going to be easy as I don’t want to just put up a bunch of warm, fuzzy words and say job done. This will, in effect, put into text the moral rules by which I already work, but will also tie in some new issues which have emerged more recently.

There’s no harm in any business or organisation, however ethical they already say they are, spending a little time having a deep think about whether their ethical practices are up-to-date and whether they genuinely implement them. Perhaps every business should have an Ethical Statement against which their actions can be measured.

So look, I’m not going to make great proclamations about how I see the year ahead. It’s all too up in the air for that, but I have set out a couple of road signs.

At the risk of labouring my metaphors, I’m going to pull up at the side of the road to stretch my legs, before getting back in the car, stepping on the non-greenhouse-gas-emitting accelerator peddle and zooming off into the bright new dawn of 2024.

Thank you to every one of my clients, suppliers, friends, and colleagues who’ve made 2023 bearable. Let’s do the same, but more and better, in 2024.

Happy Christmas!

Tim

in Industry Comment / Personal Opinion / Video 2 comments
 by Tim Gander

End of an Era?

“Perhaps I’m joining dots which aren’t there, but with the passing of Elliott Erwitt, I’ve found myself pondering the state of the photographic industry and whether it’s truly entering a new era.

We talk about eras as if there’s some sudden cut-off point between a time when everything is one way and then suddenly it’s all changed. That new era then chugs along solidly until there’s another great upheaval.

Era Today, Gone Tomorrow

Of course, this is nonsense. It doesn’t matter how sudden a change is, there is always a transition period. And that speed of transition will happen more quickly for some, while others will barely notice it happening in their lifetimes. It also comes down to the nature of the era under scrutiny; in the transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age, the use of bronze didn’t vanish. Likewise, though obviously on a smaller scale, the same goes for the transition of film photography to digital, or black and white to colour.

Back to why Erwitt’s passing got me thinking about this then. Well, it wasn’t just that. Nor was it the passing of Larry Fink, but it’s fair to say we’re well into an era when great photographers of the 21st Century succumb to the inevitability of chronology, and that in itself is enough to signal a shifting paradigm.

That AI Thing

The passing of ‘the old guard’ comes as AI-generated images have started to make an impact on the world of photography. That’s why this feels to me like a moment of deeper change.

Recently, World Press Photo tried to allow AI image generation in one of its categories. How anyone in their right mind thought AI should have any place whatsoever in a World press photography prize is beyond comprehension. They have now withdrawn the permission to use AI or Generative Fill, but that was after some stiff criticism from photographers.

My concerns around the widespread use of AI in image creation are currently threefold:

1 The data training required for machine learning is a mass copyright infringement almost impossible for creators to track and prosecute. They’ll certainly be last in line to benefit from it financially.

2 Trust in genuine imagery will collapse, leaving us even more exposed to false narratives by toxic groups and regimes.

3 The public will become increasingly ‘anti-photographer’ if they become fearful that, whether with the photographer’s permission or not, the images can be scraped and used to generate images of a damaging or downright nasty nature. We’re already seeing a massive rise in AI-generated child abuse imagery and unless it’s addressed head-on, it’ll only get worse. In return, photographers will find it increasingly difficult or even impossible to document news or simply everyday life if they can’t include people.

A Visual Desert

One way or another, left un-addressed, each of those three concerns will eventually lead to a collapse in our visual culture. All that will be left will be kittens, sunsets and pretty landscapes, and none of those will be real either. The visual white noise of the internet will finally blot out anything of worth.

We can’t live in the past, yet all too many photographers, myself included, yearn for some kind of good old days. A time when photographers, like Elliott Erwitt, Diane Arbus and many besides, could document even the simplest human activities without feeling as though we were committing some kind of crime. A time when pictures mattered more and had greater value, both culturally and in hard currency terms.

Here is my meagre hope; that while AI won’t go away, it will at least settle down into its own genre, an art form in its own right and a play thing for people with too much time on their hands. I hope also that, like the resurgence of vinyl and analogue photography, non-AI-tainted photography might see an increased appreciation. It might even lead to improved values for professional photographers’ work. Miracles may happen.

AI to Restrain AI

Manufacturers are starting to integrate Content Credentials technology into cameras so images can be verified as having been altered (or not), meaning media outlets (and thereby the public) will know that what they’re seeing is authentic. With luck this will make it far easier to separate true from false, but it’s just the start. We need to reach a point where AI imagery can exist without it casting doubt on the veracity of news images.

AI generated image, an aerial view of the Sellafield nuclear power station in Cumbria, England.
Image generated by deepai.org

The Image above was generated through deepai.org using this headline from The Guardian, “Sellafield nuclear site has leak that could pose risk to public”. It would be tempting (but on the whole, wrong) for media outlets to use AI-generated images to illustrate their stories. To be clear, The Guardian did not use this image to illustrate its story.

The Next 40+ Years

Whatever era we’re leaving behind, whatever we’re moving into, change will be both fast and slow depending on your perspective. Whatever happens, we’ll look back on this decade, at the photographers who have passed (and who will yet do so) and we’ll be tempted to draw an arbitrary line and say this was the end of an era.

The truth is, the current era started almost 20 years ago, and it will easily take another 20 years to stop starting by which time it’ll be about ready to start stopping. By which time I’ll be 107 years old (or more likely dead). Either way, it’s highly likely I’ll have stopped caring.

 

in Industry Comment / Personal Opinion 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

See The Portfolio, Understand The Process

With the exception of David Bailey, every photographer has to keep their portfolio fresh and updated regularly. While for some that still means a printed volume, for most photographers it’s their website, which is what I’ve been working on lately.

The question photographers have to ask themselves as they work through this process is, “What makes a picture worth adding to my portfolio?” The question you might ask yourself is, “Why should I care?”

Well if a client understands the thinking behind what makes a good portfolio, they can also understand what a portfolio says about the photographer behind it.

There’s plenty to think about, but it’ll start with context (ie. what kind of photographer they are and what kind of work they want to attract), but setting that aside for now, the best way for me to illustrate the subject is by setting down my thoughts. Through this process, I hope you’ll gain some useful insights too.

1. Why Update My Portfolio?

This one’s simple – a regularly updated online portfolio keeps Google (and other search engines) happy. Each time a search engine indexes a website it’s looking for fresh content. Fresh content boosts the value of the site and elevates it in search rankings. I get a fair bit of work this way, so I need to keep my portfolio updated.

2. What to update it with?

Every few months I go through my Portfolio pages to see what’s especially old, or what might no longer be relevant to the types of work I’m doing or want to do.

Showing certain kinds of work will attract enquiries from certain kinds of clients, which is why my site is fairly heavily skewed towards showing corporate portraits – that’s both the work I do and the work I want.

Age isn’t everything – I’ll keep older pictures in if they’re strong and still serve a purpose, but on the whole, I’m looking at recent jobs to see what might be suitable to add to or replace existing work.

When I’m trawling through my recent archive I’ll be searching for images that fall into one of the three portfolio categories: Business Portraits, Corporate Communications, Editorial & PR.

3. What Makes A Portfolio Picture?

That’s where it gets trickier, and while I don’t think I nail this one every time, I see photographers who haven’t mastered the challenge at all. They include their favourite pictures, but this is the wrong place to start.

The challenge is to disassociate yourself from the making of the picture. A portfolio picture isn’t good just because you like it. It isn’t good because it was hard to make, or because you made a silk purse from a sow’s ear.

A portfolio picture has to be good in its own right. While Google won’t even care if a picture is interesting, in focus or correctly exposed, a potential client has to be convinced by the quality of what they see. What they won’t see is the effort or the circumstances surrounding the making of that image, so its entire strength will come from its quality and content.

Screen grab from Tim Gander's photography website showing a selection of business portraits.
Business Portrait examples.
Screen grab from Tim Gander's photography website showing a selection of Corporate Communications images.
Corporate Communications examples.
Screen grab from Tim Gander's photography website showing a selection of Editorial and PR images.
Editorial and PR examples.

4. What Is The Context?

I mentioned the context in my introduction, and there I was referring to the type or field of photography being promoted. A wedding photographer will have different considerations than an industrial, architectural or food photographer.

Similarly, I need to apply different considerations when choosing images for any of my three categories. Let’s briefly go through those:

Business Portraits

Here I want to show the quality and style of my portraiture, but I’m also looking for some variety. Beyond the basic headshot against white, I also want to show I can create different styles, moods and even orientations (upright or landscape). I also include a few images to suggest that a portrait can mean more than a simple headshot and can include some context, which stylistically starts to overlap with Corporate Communications.

Corporate Communications

This is broader than just headshots, so it’s an opportunity to show greater creativity. These images might include props or location elements; they might be staged or fly-on-the-wall action images. People presenting, interacting with others or with their environment are fairly typical examples of the Corporate Communications image.

I should add that the term Corporate Communications refers to everything I do for my clients, but I sub-categorise these images to differentiate them from pure Business Portraits or Editorial & PR images.

Editorial & PR

This gallery is unusual in that I’ll often include screen grabs of the images ‘out in the wild’ in news media sites, allowing clients to make the connection between my work and the possible exposure it will bring them.

The nature of the category means I might be showing work which has more of a story to tell, but the image should still be as self-explanatory as possible (though my captions will also help explain the context and reason for the image).

For this category, I’m looking for images of a news or feature style. They were shot for a newspaper, press release or corporate news web page and therefore have a different look to those shot for general Corporate Communications.

Site-Wide Refresh

While the focus of this article has been on the portfolios, I also regularly update my homepage image as this is the first impression potential clients get. It also makes the site more attractive to search engines as they favour new content over old.

As if all that wasn’t enough, this time around I’ve also updated some of the featured pictures for the top-level Portfolio menu, again keeping the site a bit fresh for returning visitors and search engines alike.

Screen grab of the Portfolio menu page of Tim Gander's photography website showing three thumbnail images to illustrate each of the Portfolio categories; Business Headshots, Corporate Communications and Editorial and PR.
The thumbnail images help to guide clients to the relevant gallery.

Summing Up

In essence, if you’re a client casting around for a photographer for your next project, it’s worth having a bit of insight into what you’re being presented and why.

If a portfolio doesn’t even present examples of the genre you need, move on to the next site. For example, photographers who showcase family portraits are probably not going to grasp the particular challenges and requirements of corporate or business portraiture.

It’s important to match genre as well as style and quality to your requirements to avoid costly mistakes, and I hope this article goes some way towards avoiding that scenario.

Now you’ve read this, why not take a look back at my website? I’d love to hear if it’s changed your perception of what you see.

in Advice / Case Studies / Industry Comment / Personal Opinion 0 comments
 by Tim Gander

Carry On Lurking

Social media is a funny old place. I can post images to my Instagram account, Facebook, Threads, X… (to be honest, the list is starting to become overwhelming) and see very little activity. Likes elude me.

For the most part I ascribe this tumbleweed reaction to a couple of issues. Firstly, many people are a bit tired and bored of social media. It’s been around a while and the novelty has long worn off.

The next aspect I would describe as Like Fatigue. I’ve experienced Like Fatigue myself, and it’s when you scroll through a feed, see something you like, but don’t feel compelled to ‘Like’ it with a press of the thumbs-up, heart or whatever. It just seems like too much effort!

People are busier than ever. We all have lives to live, jobs to hold down and commitments beyond the digital sphere. Even if we have time for social media, it’s more limited than ever before. This not only follows on to my next point, but also circles back to what I alluded to in my opening line – there’s just too much choice!

Due to lack of time, not only can I not always hit every channel with every picture I take, but audiences drift between SM platforms and might not see what I’ve posted (boohoo me, I know).

Then there’s the dead hand of the algorithm. I’ve lost count of the people I’ve lost track of because the algorithm no longer serves up their posts in my feed. Sometimes I’ll suddenly remember someone whose work I used to like and I have to go and search them out to see if they’ve posted anything I’ve missed. I’m sure I have followers who’ve had a similar experience of losing track of me due to algorithm constipation.

But there is one group who have always existed; the Lurkers. Right from the very start of my Social Media dealings I’ve known there were people who saw my posts, enjoyed them, but never Liked or commented on them. I would be oblivious that they’d seen them at all. Then one day I’ll be on a corporate job, or shooting some PR event, and someone will come to me to tell me in person how much they enjoy my personal project work. Indeed I’ve even had bookings as a result of what someone has seen!

I also suspect some clients book me because my Social Media postings of my personal work have helped to keep me in their minds when it came to booking a photographer.

Bear in mind, the work I post on social media has little in common with my client work, but it clearly has the effect of engaging clients and reminding them that I exist. I’m also convinced it shows people a different side to my work, and they enjoy that.

A stack of round, plastic-wrapped hay bales sitting on scrub grass with sky above and the words Keep Off spray-painted on the a bale in the centre of the photo.
20th October 2023 - Hay bales near Tank Crossing C, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.
Foliage sprouts from a farm field post which bears a sign reading Sched 1. Clouds mimic the billowing shape of the foliage.
20th October 2023 - Sched 1 sign near Tank Crossing C, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire.

This last point is a small, subtle, but significant one to me. Shooting personal work can often feel isolating and even pointless. It can also feel self-indulgent to go off and spend time on what might be called non-business work, but because it acts as a soft marketing tool, it’s a mistake to assume it has little value.

While it’s lovely to see a post get Likes and attention from followers, it’s too easy to dismiss my lurkers. So I want to thank them and let them know I appreciate them. I understand there may be many reasons they don’t tap the heart icon, or give my work the thumbs-up, but that’s ok.

My lurkers probably outnumber my active followers, but in my (non-scientific) reckoning they’re also more likely to be clients, or they’re more likely to recommend me to new clients. So I’m absolutely not going to complain about their apparent passivity.

Lurkers, I thank you and you are welcome to lurk all you like. I know you’re there and that’s all that really matters. So as Kenneth Williams never said, “Carry On Lurking!”

in Industry Comment / My News / Personal Opinion 0 comments