Why Incorporating Storytelling Into Your Images Will Get You More Photography Work
What makes something or someone memorable? In my opinion, it tends to be if I feel either a strong connection to them, or experience a strong emotion. Without either of those things, it’s really hard to get someone to remember us.
For a long time, my images didn’t feel memorable. Sure, they were pretty… but that was about it. They were just pretty pictures of pretty girls in pretty places. They didn’t make people feel anything. They didn’t transport them. They didn’t convey any real emotion.
It wasn’t until I went to see a photography mentor that this really became clear to me. She told me loud and clear that there was a big missing piece in my work - I wasn’t telling any stories.
Brutal truths tend to be the most groundbreaking!
I’ve spent the last two years working hard on the stories within my work, and I feel like I’ve truly unlocked something new within myself that was always there, I just didn’t know how access it. I began to take really beautiful images, but they also made people feel connected to them far more than ever before.
What I didn’t expect was that in doing this, more and more clients would come knocking. The amount of client’s I’ve gained in the last two years has been incredible, and I can absolutely, without a doubt, say that it has been adding in an element of story which has made that happen.
But why? Why does storytelling mean that we get more work?! What on earth has that got to do with business.
Let me explain.
Connection
It’s well known in the business world that people buy from people they like. In order to buy from someone they like, they need to form some kind of connection to them. The quickest way to create connection is to share an interesting story. This has been really widely documented (Building A Storybrand* is a fantastic book on this if you’d like to read about it further - affiliate link). When people feel an emotional connection to an image, they remember it. That story will stick in their head far more than an image which is just… an image.
Memorable photographers get hired by art directors, editors and producers. It’s that simple!
Storytelling is one of the key elements that you need to nail in order to create that memorable work you crave.
Consistency
I speak to so many of you each week and one of the biggest issues you all feel that you have is that you haven’t yet found your style. I understand that frustration, because for the longest time, “my style” felt like a mythical unicorn that never wanted to come and play with me. Did I want to be dark and moody? Did I want my work to feel more commercial or more editorial? What was I trying to share with the world.
Not feeling like you understand who you are as an artist is SO frustrating. It blocks you from not only creating work that you love, but it creates a serious lack of consistency in your portfolio which is a big alarm bell for brands. The people who hire fashion photographers want to be able to look at your work and see a clear vision within it. They need to be sure of what they’re going to get from that photographer. If the style is all over the place, and that photographer hasn’t got a clear voice or vision, that person is probably going to look for someone else with a clearer idea of who they are.
The way you find your style is by exploring which stories you, as an artist, as a creative, want to share. That is the quickest way that I’ve learned how to know who I am as an artist. Learn how to tell your own stories, unlock your style, and create the consistency that your clients need to see.
It’s Easier To Market Yourself
Just as finding your style leads to consistency in your portfolio, having everything mesh together will make it a million times easier for you to market yourself as a photographer. When you know who you are, and what you represent, you’ll be able to share those stories with those who follow you (be it on your website, in interviews you do, or on social media). Personally, I found that once I’d unlocked what I wanted to say, my marketing took off. Posting to Instagram was easier, sharing posts on LinkedIn was easier, blogging was easier… it all got easier! Not only that, but it was more effective - getting in front of more influential people, leading me to booking bigger and better jobs. Jobs that I would have only dreamt of two years earlier.
So there you go! Now you know exactly why storytelling is so important. I really hope that this has resonated with you! My next post will be a bit more of an insight on how to work out what your personal style is, so keep an eye out for that. It’ll be a good one.
I’m also working on a new, much more in depth course all about storytelling as a fashion photographer, and I know that it’s going to make a massive impact on so many of your portfolios and careers. If you’re interested in joining that, I’ll be opening the doors to a pre sale shortly (and there will be a discount for joining the course the first time it goes on sale!).
