Q+A: Tom Hines Answers 4 BIG Questions About Fashion Photography

Posted on | March 31, 2010|1 Comment<Back

Posted by The Photography Post

Tom Hines is a fashion photographer based in NY. He agreed to sit down with me and answer some questions I had about breaking into fashion photography.

KS: To assist or not to assist: is assisting essential to a career in fashion photography?

TH: Only learning fashion photography is essential in fashion photography, and everything else is tactical. I should leave it at that, a nebulous declaration reeking of abstraction, but I know the upstart photographer would rather hear about the nuts and bolts. So, I’ll discuss both sides before coming back to the abstract.

Assisting can be a big help in that successful fashion photo businesses are systematic and modular. A young photographer can assist, learn a proven system, and eventually implement a variation of that business system when she’s ready to go out on her own. Little thinking or inventing is needed. The same can be said for the connections. If you’ve been on the phone every day for the past 10 years talking to editors and art directors, that’s meaningful. Is it worth a 10 year investment, starting today? That kind of depends on if you think your mentor’s business system will be viable in relation to the market in 10 years. And what makes you think you’ll be a good photographer after prolonging the development of your vision? All I’m saying is, it’s a gamble. Working for someone great is mostly business, their business.

I didn’t assist because I believed in another model for incubating artistic expression: do a lot of things, try expressing yourself in a lot of media, and see what works for you in a holistic way. You’ll never find out you’re a shitty screenwriter if you’re working 14 hour days for a top fashion photographer, nor will you even find out you’re a decent photographer! You’ll be a busy worker with a dream. You might have known since you were a baby that you’re a creative person, an artist of some sort, but what’s to say you weren’t meant to be a muralist, a chef, a folk singer, a sculptor? Lastly, these designations in relation to the media have a life-span. After paying dues as a photo assistant, you might discover you’re a born chef, you love it, but if everyone is popping food pills in 10 years, you’re a dinosaur upon arrival. Remember, stereoscopes were once wildly popular, fortunes were made, but nobody is investing in that medium now.

This leads me back to abstraction. You have to know what you want to feel in life, in a very abstract sense, before you make any tactical decisions in support of that horizon. Is there a rhythm in your life that feels optimal? If you know what that is, if you’ve felt it, that’s probably what you want to follow. Then all you have to do is plug into various disciplines and see if anything matches your spirit.

KS: How do you weigh creativity with client demands? Any strategies on navigating the compromises inherent to fashion photography?

TH: I see development as happening in phases. A new photographer may as well work hard in the beginning, compromise a lot, because there is benefit in doing so. Go to boot-camp and learn a few things. Quickly, there will come a necessary transition to working smart. This is the point when the utility of working hard is nominal, when you’re not rapidly learning anything anymore and you’re exhausted. This is a turning point, where your list of demands is suddenly as long as any potential client’s, for the benefit of everyone. Once you’re seasoned, reduce compromise by choosing jobs carefully. You’ve got a marathon to run and you can’t sprint the whole way.

KS: When do you say “no” to an assignment? Where do you draw the line?

TH: Start saying no as you’re more and more sure of what you are. What’s a “you” photograph? What’s your thing? I mean, you’ve got to get a thing, develop a signature, before you can be hired for it. (Or, more likely, not hired for it.) Art is a little esoteric, so, your judgment on whether to take the job is going to benefit the client either way.

KS: Retouch: DIY or outsource?

TH: I’m an advocate for knowledge. I think you’ve gotta know how to retouch, a little. When I was a kid, we called it printing. The print is half of the process, and much more time-consuming. In the past, you chose a contrast curve in film stock, then contrast in paper, then you exposed, dodged, burned, spotted, retouched, toned, and you had to do it by hand. It was horrible, and I only really got back into photography once I was sure I’d never have to go back into a darkroom.

I wasn’t a talented printer. Still, as a kid, I spent so much time in the darkroom I got sick from the chemistry. I never made a masterful print, not even by accident or imitation. I know quite a bit about printing, I’ve done my homework, and I can only awkwardly dialogue with a great printer, a very equal artist in my mind. If you believe in masterful prints, work with a master printer.

My wife Michelle is a professional printer. I’ve been watching her work for years. She can make a struggling picture come alive. It’s fascinating. I can count on my hands the printers in this world who can perform this kind of magic, and I’m always in awe.