Rich Pomerantz Photography
Taking advantage
It’s summer, gardens here in the northeast are dry but bursting with life and wonder nonetheless. I was fortunate to have a great assignment recently for a magazine to photograph in an incredible garden in the eastern side of the state which is part of an estate which has remained in the same family since the house was built almost 250 years ago. There is something very special about certain gardens that are maintained continuously in one long line of stewardship. I can’t provide much info about it until it’s published, but here’s a simple image of one path through the most mature boxwoods I have ever seen. 
Not much in terms of flower color, I know. That’s not always the point of a garden of course, and what I was striving for was more a simple feeling of the place. Fortunately I have still been working for new and old landscape design and magazine clients this summer, but with the economy the way it is and people so reluctant to spend money these days, I have been able to take advantage and use my time creating some imagery that is perhaps more conceptual, and a little less descriptive than what my magazine and advertising clients prefer & that’s what I was striving for with the boxwood image and the others in this post.
It’s funny actually – when I show my portfolio to art directors at advertising agencies, they frequently tell me my imagery is better suited for magazine work. Magazine editors like my work, but then tell me I should be shooting more advertising due to the conceptual aspect to my photography. What’s a photographer to do?
digitalis
Well what this photographer is doing is updating his portfolio to include MORE of this stuff! One great contemporary photographer I know recently wrote about his marketing process whereby he had among his portfolios a “f-you portfolio”, consisting of what he wanted to shoot, which he sent out to art directors who he knew were not really interested in his work but needed to call in a number of portfolios to please their clients. When he saw that this book was getting him work, he realized he was onto something. So without the profanity, I am reworking what I show and enjoying the creative process yet again.
And I am also becoming a judge! Yes, that ’s correct, but not the courtroom kind! I was asked to be the judge for this month’s version of the very popular Gardening Gone Wild online photo contest. If you have a blog, you too can enter – but you have to do it by this Wednesday, July 21st. Go to www.gardeninggonewild.com. See you there!
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