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  1. #1
    Member benjikan's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    Canadian in France
    Posts
    393

    Crossing Lines from Designer to Photographer and Visa Vera

    There is a very strong trend that is not abating and that is the ambidexterity and multi disciplinary capacities of several fashion designers to become their own photographers and perhaps creative directors of their own line of clothing, accessories etc.

    I think that is great, as it really shows us that if you are creative, it doesn't really matter which tools you employ to express yourself and that the tool is just a means of concretizing the creative experience in to a viable product.

    I myself have on occasion been asked to be a consulting creative director for brands as diverse as Lancôme, Dim, Club Med, etc. There are several designers out there that are employing very competent crews to aid in their realizing their visual goals, as would a film director, screen writer or producer. However, this does effectively diminish the possibilities of photographers whom had in the past been employed for their campaigns to seek work elsewhere. That is a tough call indeed!

    It is for this reason, I am writing this post to say that I am seriously considering starting up a new line of clothing called "KanareK"…

    I would love to get your feedback as well as your feeling regarding the new trend of multi-disciplinary creativity. Do you feel that it is here to stay, or just a trend due to a reaction to the economic malaise we are suffering at this juncture in time?

    Let's Talk…

    Benjamin Kanarek Blog | Benjamin Kanarek Blog

  2. #2
    Junior Member N0BOX's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2012
    Location
    Des Moines, IA
    Posts
    17

    Re: Crossing Lines from Designer to Photographer and Visa Vera

    In the past, the information required to really master some discipline was very much under lock and key. You would have to apprentice yourself to someone in the field who was also a capable teacher (in the amateur radio community, these people are referred to as "Elmers", but every community has these elders who are willing to take time out of their day to pass on their knowledge and passion for what they do) or take classes at a college to gain that information. You could also sort of experiment on your own with a bunch of "Teach Yourself ______ in 20 Days!" books. Any of those paths required a lot of time, and most of them also required a lot of money.

    Since the 80's, a lot has changed, though. The internet has made an almost unlimited fountain of knowledge available to anyone with a cheap computer and a few bucks a month. On top of that, many devices in professional fields that were expensive beyond any one person's salary can now be replaced with a decent computer and some quality peripherals. Multi-track reel-to-reel tape machines that were used by the recording industry can now be replaced by a cheap computer that has a high-quality sound card, and that PC can record the sound into a digital master format that won't degrade over time. You can replace the mixers and even the instruments with software if need be. Videography is the same way... Many DSLRs and even handheld consumer video cameras are capable of recording higher-quality video than the professionals could 10 years ago. I have a little black box that sits on my desk that allows me to analyze radio signals in such a way that it would take hundreds of extremely expensive radios to do the same job, and this little "software defined radio" has the majority of it's capabilities taken care of by a computer program instead of by the electronic components that would have been required in a normal radio.

    Basically, if you have a little bit of money and a good amount of time and dedication, you can really learn to do whatever you want.

    Now, that doesn't mean that professionals are obsolete. If you really need to send exactly the right 1,000 words, you need to make sure the person who takes the picture speaks the language fluently. The people who have the money to hire pros will continue to hire them, but it also means the little guys can pull themselves up by their bootstraps and get the job done themselves if they are really willing to put forth the effort to learn to do it right. Now, everyone who is willing to work hard has the opportunity to do whatever they want without having to be rich.

    It also means that the competition is heating up, so you have to stay on your toes!

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