The One Thing I Tell Every Client To Do

Recently, an old high school friend notified me that she was running for public office and that she wanted my advice. "What should I do first?"

"Invest in photography," I, a writer by trade, recommended.

"What, like a head shot?

Sure, headshots have their uses. A good one will outlive the wrinkles around your eyes. But what she really needed were shots that captured her in genuine moments. Take, for example, this famous photograph of a young Arkansan meeting the President of the United States:

It's a little staged – the president shakes a lot of hands. But the look on Bill's young face is genuine. Nobody knows the camera is there. The photographer seized upon a moment in time, and decades later Clinton would use this image in a trillion TV spots to great effect.

Not every shot will have so much impact. Still, you can load the dice so that chance is in your favor. Last month, Arkansas Research Alliance hosted the Arkansas Bioinformatics Consortium (AR-BIC), which draws an extremely diverse audience for an energetic two days of learning and interaction.

We commissioned a professional photographer, Mike Kemp, to document the event. Mike has worked with us for years, and every time we meet, my instructions are the same. "Get me some editorial shots."

Mike will likely clobber me with a lighting stand the next time I say "editorial," but the fact is I get more use out of candid moments than posed images. After all, I have to tell a better story than Person X Was Here.

From example, consider this image Mike snapped of ARA President & CEO Jerry Adams:

Here is Jerry, interacting with young AR-BIC attendees, sharing his wisdom as his appreciative audience looks on. AR-BIC is about collaboration and education. It's about diversity and the exchange of ideas. It's about the exchange of knowledge between generations. This image tells that story.

Now consider this photograph from the same event:

First of all, by the severity of the flash, you can tell I took this shot. As artless as it is, this photograph has its uses. It's like a receipt. It proves that an event happened. (Lev Parnas has made more use of this kind of photograph than anyone in recent memory). But the story is limited. The sentiment may be genuine, but the expressions are manufactured for the photographer.

I'll get far more use out of Mike's editorial photo than I will of my posed photo, because whenever I want to illustrate Jerry's genial way with person-to-person interactions, or if I want to underscore the energy of AR-BIC, Mike's photo is more pregnant with meaning. Investing in his skill and his art was worthwhile.

I don't know if my friend will win her election, but she did take my advice and hired a photographer to trail her. This shots will be used for press packages, campaign materials, and mementos. If she's lucky, somebody will capture her own Bill Moment.

Jeremy Harper is Chief Instigator for Storm the Castle Creative, where he is sometimes called upon to snap photographs, many of which are, indeed, editorial.