Critiquing the Portfolio I Graduated from College With

One of the most important tasks we have as a photographer is creating a portfolio. It is out job to tell the story about the type of images we capture but more importantly what direction we would like to take our photography. See, it’s what you put in your portfolio that dictates the type of jobs your going to get.

If you have no interest in fashion or another type of photography your probably not going to go after that type of job. But if your goal is to be a fashion photographer you better be sure that your portfolio showcases the best fashion work it can.

A large part of my second year at Antonelli was dedicated to crafting my graduating portfolio. It was up to use to pick the theme and direction we would like to take it. I chose to have a “sport” portfolio but it would not just contain action shots.

I owe a great deal of my success as a photographer to my portfolio teacher Ed Marco who kicked my ass into gear. He told me something that I continue to live by to this day. He said you’re a great action photographer but anyone can freeze motion, look behind you, find whats going on behind the scenes and capture it. To me it became about telling the full story of an event, not just what was in front of me.

What you see in the portfolio above was my take on being different. I did not want to do a portfolio like everyone else, I like always even back in 2000 wanted to stand out.

I am very proud of the quality of work I presented for myself. Every single print was hand printed with the sprocket holes showing to prove that I did not crop. Yes, even back then I was a big fan of not cropping.

In the end I want to remind you that your portfolio is always going to change. Not only is it going to change but its going to constantly evolve and be updated. On top of that you should have a different portfolio for different types of jobs. Your not going to show a wedding client your sports portfolio or vice versa.

Was this a long lived portfolio not really, but it served its purpose and helped me find my way as a photographer.