Andy Greenacre, Director of Photography at The Telegraph Magazine
Degree in History of Art, not a background of photography
Work experience at Magnum Photos
Job as Picture Researcher at Magnum
Left Magnum in 1998
Freelance as picture researcher in 2000, worked at Times, Telegraph, GQ, FHM
Joined The Telegraph Magazine in 2005 for 3 months and stayed for 3 years
Worked for Ultra Travel, a high-end travel supplement by The Telegraph Magazine
Worked for Telegraph’s Luxury supplement
‘The ability to take a portrait is point number one in photography.’
Commissioning Process Case Studies:
Kellingley Colliery by Jon Tonk
Weren’t sure if they could gain access to take photographs so went on Google Street View to scout the area for a backup plan
Usain Bolt by Kalpesh Lathigra
Andy tagged all the images he liked from the shoot, went back through to ensure he didn’t miss anything, did a second round of editing before showing the director
Ruqsana Begum by Sebastian Nevols
Brief given was 5 different images, wanted to get a sense of who the kick boxer was and what she does
Race Horse by Sam Falkner
Chosen to photograph as there was a similar photograph that he had taken in a project for so was asked to basically recreate it with a different horse
Steve McQueen by Nadav Kander
Again, had taken similar photographs before as to what was desired. Nadav had moved on with his career since but still agreed to the shoot
Alma Deutscher by Laura Pannack
An example of a requirement for a very simple, classic photo. Was given an August Sander image and essentially recreated it
Concept Dating Shoot by Andy Lo Po
Wanted to get a set of images with different interactions on a date, was given illustrations to go off
Production: required lots of different stylists such as nail designers, hand models
Q&A Answers:
Picture editors are always looking for new photographers to work with
Hassle people but don’t hassle too much
Not everyone will reply to your email as you’re not the only one sending an email
Keep emails brief, link website, let the dust settle for a week or so and then follow up, if no response then they’re not interested
Post-lecture thoughts:
It was a very interesting and insightful guest lecture; one that I had been looking forward to. I believe that in recent months, my work seems to be taking an editorial turn and Andy has everything to hear about photographs in the media. It has made me more and more keen to get involved with magazines and to start contacting photography and art directors.
I also want to start reaching to more and more book publishers. This is something I have been doing for over a year now but I want to get together an amazing set of images with a narrative and have an actual idea to pitch as opposed to just some pretty images. A tutorial with Kelly today has also opened my eyes about the importance of meaning and purpose behind photographs when in a series or even alone.
Lots to think about over the next few months!