∴Working With National Geographic (Traveller UK) - Part 1∴

Three lessons from the experience

This year I was asked to work on two stories by National Geographic Traveller UK. The first story was to document Seoraksan, a mountain range on Korea’s east coast, as well as showing what it’s like to do a temple stay at the nearby hermitage of Naksansa. The second story (which I’ll cover next week) was about Seoul’s youth culture as a global phenomenon. It was a thrill to be a part of such a well known entity, and I want to share some of what I learned from the experience.

Water falls down the mountainside in a 1,050ft drop at Towangseong Falls, a two hour climb from the entrance to Seoraksan

Photography Work Often Comes From Your Community

This is lesson number one, and one I’ll no doubt learn again and again. Several months ago I received an email asking if I was in Korea and available to work on two stories. What stood out to me in the message was just how I’d come to be contacted: “Ben Weller recommended you.”

Ben is someone I’ve never met, but we’ve chatted online a few times. He’s a talented and decorated photographer living in Japan. I believe our conversation started when I first bought my printer, and he’d been thinking of getting his own. We kind of geeked out about it together for a little bit, but beyond that didn’t speak often. We each followed the other on Instagram, and I loosely kept up with what he was working on. As it turned out, he’d been keeping up with me too.

The Great Unification Buddha statue stands at the entrance to the park

Occasionally, very occasionally, I am cold contacted for a photoshoot by someone who has no connection to me. But something I realize again and again is that so much of the work I’ve been fortunate enough to do has come through friends, acquaintances and people with which I only have an indirect connection. If I were to start my photography career again, I think one of the few changes I’d make is to be more mindful of this fact in those early days, when finding a client feels impossible, and I’d invest time and care in actively building those relationships.¹

The Gyejoam Grotto shrine is built into the rock of Seoraksan National Park

Photographing With a Story in Mind Changes the Images You Make

When you’re aware that your photos need to convey either the essence of a place, or they need to support a theme, you tend to start photographing in ways quite different from your usual. What I like about this perspective is how it complies with my understanding of photographs as information. Everything in a photo conveys information - a photographer’s job is to decide which information is pertinent.

In a mixture of Korean culture, Buddhism and Confucianism, there is a tendency to avoid standing out that is symbolized by the beige temple-wear in its beige closet.

When photographing for yourself, or for pure aesthetics, it can be easy to ignore the informational quality of your images. What is it saying? is passed over in favor of Does it look good? But when photographing for an article it makes you consider how to package the information (necessary for supporting the subject) in an aesthetic way (necessary for pleasing the readers). I think if you try photographing in this way, with the idea that the images will be used to support a story, that you’ll be pushed in this really amazing way into making work that is more cohesive, and more interesting.

A man prays at a shrine in the park

Dealing Successfully With Unknowns Is Key to the Call Back

One of the unspoken challenges of this kind of work is that you’re walking into a lot of unknowns as the photographer, and this can be a little daunting. It’s quite different from fashion work, where you’ll usually have clear references and a sense of both the location and expectations beforehand. Working on a magazine article like this means going to a place you likely haven’t had previous access to, working with people you don’t know and promising to make images that meet expectations of which you only have a vague sense.

Colourful lanterns adorn Naksansa for Buddha’s birthday

I’ve come to learn that being able and willing to bear these uncertainties and produce work despite them is one of the most meaningful factors in getting hired, rehired and recommended as a photographer. I’ve known some photographers who make amazing imagery, but that have a demeanor I’d struggle to count on if I was the one hiring them. The quality of their work comes at the cost of the uncertainty you bear working with them. A decision I made long ago was to always try my utmost on shoots to be as level-headed and reasonable as possible, a calm presence in an often stressful situation.

Sinheungsa Temple is the largest of two major Buddhist temples within Seoraksan National Park

You can read the article here, and see the images in context. Below is a mix of images that made the article, that will be used for socials, and that didn’t make the cut at all. Feel free to guess at which is which!

Part two of this newsletter will be out next Sunday.

Cheers,

Chris

1. The other change I’d make is to pump the brakes on that saturation slider.