LOOKING LIKE YOURSELF - BUT BETTER
In the world of acting and modeling, a great effort is often made not to make somebody look like themselves. In many cases, actors are hardly recognizible as they are seen in various different parts playing distinctly different characters. Models go through hours of hair and make-up, wear very different clothing from shoot to shoot and photographers create stylized looks in which the same model might look like a femmme fatale in one layout and a lollta in the next.
If you are presenting a complete portfolio to an art director or casting agent, it's great to have a lot of different looks. You certainly don't want a whole book in which the photos look too much alike. And you want a variiety in a composite as well, so anyone looking at it will get an idea of the range of different appearances you can present.
But if you send in an 8X10 or a composite that represents you as looking much, much different than you really do - a product of a lot of Photoshop, for example - you are liable to walk into a casting meeting where the person interviewing you is totally surprised by your appearance. You are not what he/she had in mind when you were called in.
On the other hand, photos that are too conventional, that look just like everyone else's pictures, will not likely get you any work, either. Or photos that simply aren't that good. Head shots can look much more like portraits than passport pictures - up to a point. Acting shots should project some degree of personality and interest. Modeling photos should compare favorably with the quality of photos you see in the magazines or in the portfolios of successful working models.
So you want to try and get the highest quality photos by the best photographers you can collaborate with. You want the photos to look like you - at least some version of you - but better. Very few supermodels or successful actors look like they do on screen or in publcity photos when they are going shopping in a supermarket or taking their kids to the dentist. What you look like in "real life" can often not matter much. It's what you look like in front of a camera that determines your success as an actor or model.
So whether we are talking about Zed-cards, portfolios or 8X10 publcity shots the procedure is the same. Get the best photos you can at any given point and be ruthless with your editing. Don't use "favorites" that will not actually be that effective. Once you have made choices, continue to update with new and better work as you do the photos. Edit, edit, edit. Keep your portfolios relativel short and to the point. Everything should reinforce your "brand." Don't use photos designed to get you the kind of work you don't want or would never be chosen for.
Again: shoot, shoot, shoot, every chance you get. As long as it is with a photographer whose work is good enough to further your career. Having twice as many mediocre photos in your print or online portfolio, or uploaded to social media like Facebook, does you little or no good. You want your pictures to make people pay attention, to stick in the minds and memories and to help you get attention that leads to work.
There are many tens of thousands of images uploaded to the Internet every day. And a whole lot of videos as well. Make sure you are represented by the highest quality photos. Images that look like you - only better.
NOTE:
I work with companies that create and print composities, 8X10s, business cards and other products that models and actors frequently need. I can provide all that information when we do a photo sesson. |
