so i spent a few years living in japan + time between + after that traveling around se asia shooting + taking in the asian culture i had until then only read about. college provided me with a fantastic worldview particularly of that region of the world + i spent countless hours working on projects related to the hmong + other ethnic groups. so by the time i was able to pound the pavement i had a voracious hunger to see things for myself.

when one is living abroad vs simply passing through everything tends to change. i came to adopt a mindset that i feel has served me well to this day. in a nutshell, that is to live as those around you live – barter if bartering is necessary, eat what is served, indulge in a few fresh insects, a dip in the river, a kind ride across town. it always amazes me how people can show up in a land they are unfamiliar with + proceed with the mindset they live with back home.

i spent a month + a half in lao pdr (please don’t rush) as i enjoyed the slow pace + had always wanted to visit. the economy wasn’t exactly booming at the time (mid-late 90′s) + the country doesn’t have a surplus of resources. i mean how many lao restaurants do you see popping up anywhere today even? i remember going into the bank to exchange us dollars + coming out literally with a plastic bag full of bills.

as you can imagine food, lodging, etc were all on a much different economic scale then what we in many places are used to. the key was/is to recognize this + adapt. simply because a serving of sticky rice was going for $1 doesn’t mean it was necessarily cheap. if you think in terms of your old life back ‘home’ then that might be the case but in lao you were getting ripped off. paying this amount works against you, other visitors + the economy in general i’d argue but spiraling things upward artificially.

what does all this have to do with anything you might be asking about now. reading about money + photographers lately left me thinking that it works the same way. when small businesses or individuals come up against larger clients offering good work many people have a tendency to stick with their current mindset. an offer for $50,000 comes in + we think that’s a lot of money. don’t get me wrong, it is. but to be successful in any business i believe that you need to take your client (or anyone for that matter) into mind – what are they expecting, what do they need + what are they used to? this pertains to money as much as it does bottled water. if your working for one of the world’s largest brands + they spend $2 million a pop on ad placement alone, not the campaign, then you have a very valuable skill set to offer + $50,000 isn’t an outrageous number.

don’t knock yourself down. believe in the value you create. put yourself in other positions to more clearly see where you stand.

and if you’re ever in lao, then take a good bag to carry all your money in…

stealing this straight outta the APA playbook but a solid one page take on the latest + greatest from everyone’s photo hero over at aphotoeditor. rob haggart busts out a slew of material along with a great interview with suzanne sease covering the spectrum of pricing in today’s market. nice to see photographers laying out examples +

… are you?

we’ve all been there – down, questioning ourselves, directionless – wondering if this is the right path. put that in the context that exists today that (in the words of a long time visual media industry veteran in the bay area i recently spoke with put our industry around a 4 out of 10) + things can seem rough.

regardless, though, of how crazy things may appear i doubt any of us are anywhere near making the $75 million commitment that clifbar founder + owner gary erickson has. believe in yourself, hold fast to what’s important, maintain your integrity + in the words of seth godin be a laser.

great quick read as frog design‘s director of product strategy, adam richardson interviews erickson on maintaining vision + values. use your strengths to turn the tables. don’t feel like you need to give in to the the rules of a larger field. more on this via innovator malcolm gladwell in the new yorker. together these two pieces provide a great picture of what it takes to not only stay in business but keep your creativity alive.

The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser – in case you thought optimism was dead.
Robert Brault

different mind sets play more than we may ever know but like they say, “if everything you’re doing is turning out right you’re not trying very hard.” this goes against the idea of the midas touch and what is called a fixed mind-set, the belief that you’re artistic intrinsically, via genetics, etc and thus don’t need to work at what you do as it just comes. the other side of the coin is a growth mind-set that is set against this ‘talent myth’. the current science view is that we are born with