Three down, three to go...

With the July 31st deadline rapidly approaching for my submission to Lighthouse publications, I've now completed 80% of the selection and editing process. Over the course of the past two weeks I've reviewed close to 50,000 photos done over the past four years to winnow it down to the few that I think may have a chance in the world of commercial male figurative photography.


Interestingly, one quick "no" for the calendar submissions was any photograph shot in a vertical format. That immediately eliminated about 90% of my work. A lot of my portrait work I shoot as horizontals; but not that many nudes unless there's something about the setting that demands it. So just by knowing that one requirement, I've now learned I'm going to have to start thinking differently in the future and look for both horizontal and vertical possibilities in every setting. That should push a few creative buttons down the road.


I'm putting together six different submissions: two calendar submissions are of individual models -- Chad & Oocelot -- simply because both are amazing models, neither has been overexposed (so to speak) in the market, the work is recent, and -- in some ways represents some of my best work. There are three other calendar submissions of different models I've worked with over the past four years: beefcake (non-nude twenty-something boys next door); art nudes and erotic nudes, mostly of more mature men. And, finally, there were too many good vertical shots not to send a few. So I put together a compilation of about 80 "best" photos (this time mostly vertical) that really don't fit any of the publisher's categories. But each tells its own story. Hopefully, a few may find a home as a greeting card or on the page of one of their publications.


I still have a few days work to go; but know I'll make the deadline -- just in time to start all over again with a shoot I've been planning for months with the amazing Nathan Lewis from the UK, who's on a shooting work/vacation tour of the US during July & August. (BTW Nathan was one of the three finalists to become the "face" of MenAtPlay. You can see his audition photos and video at http://www.menatplay.com/ )


So, after reviewing about 50,000 photos I've learned a lot about my work and know it's going to force me to rethink a number of things. There are stylistic and content issues I know I'm going to have to start working on, which I'll discuss in future posts. But especially I'm going to need to rethink the whole concept of themes. As I look through the work of other successful photographers, not only do they have a certain unique look, but also they tend to shoot consistently for a period of time around a specific idea, e.g. Dylan Rosser's "red" theme or Mark Henderson's "household" theme. I guess it's the male photography equivalent of having a "hook" or in marketing jargon, unique selling point.


Also upon review I've learned both the good news; and the bad news about my work.


The good news is that my images don't look like anything you see in the men's magazines, i.e. there's some originality and creativity there.


The bad news is that my images don't look like anything you see in the men's magazines, i.e. I'm fighting an uphill battle for what's considered commercially viable in this market.


It'll be most interesting to see which, if any, of the six submissions are chosen. Is it original enough to intrigue an art director's imagination; yet safe enough to make the financial gamble?