Actually, I'm not complaining. I'm just saying that Ms. Merritt's experience is now the norm for someone who wants a name. (And she does have some talent. Some of her pictures show a great eye for composition.) She has her chance; now it's up to her to do something with it. But what about the rest of us?(posted 8730 days ago)Unfortunately, it appears that hard work and perseverence (alone) add up to a great portfolio - but not much else. I don't want to be a "photographer with a day job" (or worse - "that guy at work who takes pictures"). And though I'd prefer it to my current job, I don't want to end up as just another commercial hack doing weddings and senior portraits on the side just to keep my head above water while showing everybody the increasingly moth-eaten portfolio containing my "real work."
We live in an age of celebrity, and we have to orchestrate our career launches accordingly. Anyone have Howard Stern's number?
(And, Alan, I like the fleeting, ephemeral nature of fashion photography. If you do your job well, success is measured by the number of seconds someone takes to admire your work before turning the page - never to return. If you do it extremely well, your image transcends itself, becoming in effect, iconography - perhaps having a lasting impact, but leaving you, the creator, far behind in the viewer's consciousness. But then again, photography itself has always been the ultimate act of self-effacement. Perhaps, Natacha Merritt's great contribution to this art is herself - as creator, subject, object, celebrity - and, perhaps one day, icon.)