3 Ways I Can Help You Manage Your Photography Projects Better

If you are a Professional Photographer, what is the one thing you want the most? To take photos. Sadly, anyone who runs a photography business can tell you that 95% of our time is spent dealing with the business side of things and managing our projects. Successful Professional Photographers have to be excellent project managers to be able to balance multiple projects at the same time while still running their business, promoting their work and finding time to work on personal projects to update their portfolios. However, even amongst those who successfully deliver projects consistently, there is a vast majority of Professional Photographers who lack Project Management skills. Here's how I can help.

I am a Socially-Conscious Photographer with more than 25 years of Project Management experience in different countries, and more than 10 years of experience in mentoring peers and students in the Creative Industries. I designed a set of tools to educate and empower other creatives to run their projects successfully and achieve their potential as change agents.

To help you manage your Photography Projects better, be it personal or client work, I offer One-On-One Mentoring Sessions and Consultations for Individuals, and Talks, Webinars and Workshops for Organisations, to help them turn their ideas into projects, successfully manage their projects from inception to completion, and run a practice with a social orientation while creating projects for social transformation.

Mentoring

I know first-hand that having a mentor can change your career forever. When I changed careers at almost 40 years old, I started anew in a different industry, a different country, a different work culture and a different language. I wouldn’t have been able to get a foot in the new industry if it hadn’t been for those who lend me a hand. So I decided to offer that chance to other people, allowing myself to have a positive impact on someone else’s career and see them thrive while they feel supported.

These tailored 1-hour mentoring sessions allow us to discuss Photographer-to-Photographer anything you might need support with:

• Turning your ideas into photography projects.

• Planning your photography projects.

• Keeping you accountable for the progress of your projects.

• Creating projects with a Social Impact.

• Running a purpose-driven practice.

Find out more about my mentoring sessions here.

Project Consultations

These 2-hour working sessions allow me to help you design your project or help you unstuck a project that you've been dragging on:

• Feedback on ideas and approach.

• Support on Project Development.

• Practical Advice on Planning and Managing Tasks.

• Advice on Execution and Management Tools.

• Accountability for progress, actions and goals.

• Guidance on developing projects for Social Transformation.

Find out more about my project consultations here.

Talks, Workshops and Webinars:

I am available for Talks, Workshops and Webinars for Organisations that include group dynamics, activities and discussions on any of the following topics, or I can even design a topic tailored to your needs:

• How To See Life As A Photographer

• How To Turn Ideas Into Photography Projects

• Introduction to Project Management for Photographers

• Designing Projects For Social Impact

All the talks, workshops and webinars can be tailored to the organisation's needs and I can also design a tailored one that fits the requirements of your organisation. Just get in touch!

Taking amazing photos is no longer enough. The truth is that there are more photographers out there than we'd like to admit that are as good or are better than we are. But, running a successful photography practice takes more than just knowing how to take good images. And knowing how to successfully manage your projects is a mandatory skill. If you are ready to run your projects better, let’s have a talk.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Facundo Bustamante.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

Subscribe to my weekly blog posts here! You may subscribe to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.

Your Worth Is Greater Than You Give Yourself Credit For

This post is also available in audio form:

In November last year, I moderated a panel discussion with photographers and filmmakers of all levels and backgrounds in support of the Aldridge Foundation. The panellists discussed what it means to work in the Creative Industries in order to inspire young people who want to become creatives. The Aldridge Foundation is a charity that aims to inspire and equip young people with the skills they need to take control of their futures. During the conversation, the advice that was offered the most by the panellists was that creative people have to work hard in building up their self-confidence. Only with confidence in yourself and your work is that you can thrive in this industry. But, in my personal experience and the experience of most creatives that I know, this is easier said than done.

Last week I had two conversations with two very different young persons that made me think of how far I've come in terms of building up my confidence. One of them told me that they were really nervous about an interview but not for the reasons that one might expect. They weren't worried about the skills or work experience part of the interview. What was giving them anxiety were the personal questions. According to them, their life was very uneventful and they had nothing to say about themselves that sounded interesting.

The other conversation was with someone who told me that they didn't know how to meet people in person. Young people these days are so used to having interactions through technology that the thought of having an in-person conversation with another human being can be daunting for some. When I asked if they knew why this was, they said that when they are chatting via any messaging app or when having a videocall conversation they feel at ease. But, as soon as the protection offered by technology is taken out of the equation they feel uncomfortable to the point of not being able to utter a single word.

I remember a time when I was afraid of talking to other people. I thought I didn't have anything interesting to say about myself. Before going to university, my self-image had been built up (more like torn down) by years of psychological abuse by family, neighbours and classmates. I was made believe that I was anti-natural, I was made feel different, I was called a faggot, I was called fat and effeminate, I was told that I spoke weirdly, that I had an accent, that my acne was horrible, that I had an odd shape, that my hips were too wide, my torso too thin, my legs looked like women's legs... and the list could go on. I was a walking mess of insecurities because I let everyone else build the image that I was supposed to have of myself.

And then came university. It was the first time in my life that I was away from familiar surroundings. At university, nobody knew me. It was the perfect opportunity to tell the world who I was with my own voice. Don't get me wrong, my insecurities didn't just vanish. They stayed with me for almost 20 more years. But, what was different was that in every new interaction I was telling my own version of my life story. Not the version that included the image that other people had had of me so far. And that gave me confidence.

How did I go from feeling like the ugly duckling to feeling like a swan? I think it was the realisation that we all have something to offer others, no matter how dull we think our lives are. We might feel like our lives are uneventful because we are the ones living them. But no one else has our background, our families, our experiences, our hobbies, and no one else sees life the way we do.

So, when I started to meet people at university I soon realised that some people were interested in the things that I had to say. Even the simplest of things like what I did during the weekend was completely different to the plans that other people had. Not because I was different or special, but because I was me and they weren't me. My anecdotes weren't interesting to everyone, but those who were interested really wanted to know more. And this gave me more confidence.

At some point, I also learnt the phrase: "We are not gold coins. We can't possibly be liked by everyone". These words freed me from the pressure of trying to please everyone.

Somewhere in here is a lesson for everyone struggling with their confidence, especially for all creatives. Do your thing. Just be yourself. As cliched as it may sound, the more you try to imitate others the less authentic you are and the more difficult it gets to present your work. Your audience will appreciate you and what you do. Finding that audience is difficult, I won't lie to you. But after building your portfolio for some time and getting yourself out there you will start seeing how some people engage with your work more than others. Those are the people that you have to talk to. Those are your people, your audience.

Cultivate them, talk to them. Don't force things, just continue being you because that is what they like. They don't want you to be anything other than who you are. As you grow, you will evolve. And some of those followers will not relate to the evolved version of your work and they will inevitably stop following you. That's ok, it's natural. But those who remain will grow stronger links to your stories and will want to know more.

When we are starting out, we often think that we have to fish the market with a massive net and catch whatever falls in it. But this fishing technique is not sustainable. Not everything that you catch is useful, and with this technique, you might end up hurting the environment because you hurt other species that weren't supposed to be fished out. But, if you put the right bait at the end of a fishing line you will catch just the right type of fish for you.

The more confident you look to others, the more they will want to be with you and the more they will appreciate your work. And it's ok if some people don't like you or what you do. It's their right. The same way that you have the right to not like some people or what they make. Someone not liking you or what you do does not invalidate you or your work. Your work is still valid, you are still valid. You just need to cross paths with those who can appreciate both. And when that happens, your confidence will do the rest.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Stef Mic.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

Subscribe to my weekly blog posts here! You may subscribe to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.

Attention Students: These Are Tough Times But There Is Hope

This post is also available in audio form:

Every student of any age going to school or university during these difficult times, particularly those graduating this year, has to find a way to cope with the current situation and manage their mental wellbeing. Finishing studies and having to navigate a very uncertain world and job market is not the optimal way of starting off a career. Olivia Pinnock, a London-based fashion journalist and lecturer, and I discussed how the pandemic has affected students and their mental health. We focused on what graduating students can start doing now that they are entering the job market in such overwhelming and unpredictable times. You can listen to the full conversation on the audio version of this post.

Olivia Pinnock is the founder of The Fashion Debates, a platform that she uses to promote a more sustainable and ethical fashion industry. She is also a lecturer at the London College of Fashion, the London Metropolitan University and Norwich University of the Arts.

During the conversation, we touched on how these are such trying times for students and how every single one of them has had a very individual experience coping with isolation and the pandemic. Olivia mentioned how some students haven't been able to produce the body of work that usually helps them create a portfolio that they can show to potential clients once they finish their studies.

She also offered some advice for people entering the job market at the moment. She said that, even though it's not great and wonderful right now, university is not just about the grade you get at the end of it. The university experience is about what you learn, the connections you make, and the experiences that made you who you are. And you are taking all of these things away with you.

She also said that students mustn't compare themselves to others, everyone has got their own timeline adding that for students with an entrepreneurial spirit, particularly in the fashion industry, now is the time to shine because the industry desperately needs solutions.

Whether you are a student, or someone interested in the challenges that students are facing these days, you can listen to the full conversation on this link.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

Subscribe to my weekly blog posts here! You may subscribe to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.

Artists Are Never Old Enough

This post is also available in audio form:

Comedian Robin Ince was interviewed by Andrew Copson during a recent episode of the What I Believe podcast. He said that when he was in his twenties his fellow comedian Jo Brand told him that "you can’t really be a stand-up comedian until you are 30 because you don’t really know who you are." Robin said that he didn't take this statement very well when he was younger, but now that he is a middle-aged man he understands perfectly what Jo Brand meant. I agree, and I think that this is true for so many other things in life. My 20-year-old self, or even my 30-year-old self, had no idea of his place in the world. I felt lost and full of self-doubt and self-hatred until I was 40, and it took me living in 6 countries and working for more than 20 years in two very different industries to understand who I am and to know the role that I want to have in my community. I count myself as one of the lucky ones who got to understand this at such an early age. For some people, it takes longer.

We live in a world that sometimes feels like the upside-down world. We worship youth and try to slow the ageing process by all means, as if ageing was not inevitable or as if it were something bad. For sure, it must be linked to a fear of death which is often associated with older people but the reality is that we can die at any age and those who get to live to be old are actually the privilege ones. I for one have always wanted to be old. Perhaps because I was so unhappy when I was young and hoped that happiness would come with ageing. Or perhaps because I admired my grandfather so much and I always thought of him as the most intelligent person on the planet.

As an artist, getting old can be both the best and the most daunting thing that could ever happen to you. With age comes experience, and this experience enriches the stories that we tell through our work. But, as you get older, you also enter into the longest phase in your artistic career. The mid-career artist phase, as they call it, which can sometimes span almost your entire lifetime. It is in this ageing process that you get to know yourself, that you understand your worldview better and that you grow, not only physically, but also as a creative.

Everything that you are doing today will be part of the building blocks on which you are creating your future self. Time is not wasted, no experience is wasted when it comes to shaping who you will one day become. If you've only been in the world for a couple of decades and you feel like your work has no deeper meaning, that you have nothing to say, don't despair. That only means that you just have to live a couple of decades more. That is not to say that a young person's point of view of the world is not valid, but we can't expect to look at a 20-year-old's portfolio with the same eyes that we look at a 40-year-old's one. Both points of view are equally important but are infinitely different.

This is also not to say that anyone who has been on the world for more than 40 years has a fulfilled life and knows themselves well. But, 40 uneventful years do not equal 20 years filled with exciting adventures. For with age also comes maturity.

Dismissing someone because you consider them old is an act of self-sabotage. Before you know it, you will get to their age and you will have set an example for others to treat you the same way. We should aspire to grow older, to live more experiences and become wiser.

Avoid searching for the fountain of the eternal youth in order to live forever. Instead, grow as a human being into the skin that you inhabit with the urgency of knowing that time is running out and this is the only life we'll ever live. Maybe then, you'll start to see your work in a different light and you will be able to give your work and your life your own meaning.

Do you like what you just read? Subscribe to my weekly blog posts here! You may subscribe to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.

HELP ME PRODUCE MORE LIKE THIS

Patreon is a platform that enables me to offer you the content that you enjoy. Consider becoming a patron by clicking here. For less than the price of a cup of coffee a month you can support this blog and learn how I create my work. Also, 6% of my patrons' support goes to a different charity each month!

My 2020 Yearbook

This post is also available in audio form:

When I was in high school, I remember that one of the most expected events of the year was the moment the yearbook was released. The excitement of seeing your photo on print and reading what the people important to you had written was something to look forward to. However, I don't remember my school years to be a particularly good phase in my life. My memory of those years is clouded by a feeling of always being sad. There was too much going on in my personal life to be able to enjoy what were supposed to be the most enjoyable years of my life. I came out as gay in the late 80's amidst the AIDS epidemic and the fact that I grew up in a very close-minded country made things worse. It was definitely not an easy time for me. Nevertheless, I made it through. The same way that I've made it through this very challenging year. There is a lesson on resilience somewhere in there.

It has been a horrible year for humankind, but I refuse to let the pandemic stain the memory of the good things that happened this year that are worth celebrating. Thirty years from now, I don't want to look back at this year and only remember the sad moments. That's why I'm reclaiming 2020 by writing this post in the form of a yearbook. A post that I can look back to in a year, or ten, or in three decades and realise that in spite of everything that went wrong this year we managed to find a way to keep going.

These are some of the things that I choose to remember from the year 2020:

---

Mentor: As in previous years, in 2020 I continued mentoring both students and peers. One of my proudest moments this year was when one of my mentees scored an A+ in the project in which we had been working together.

Volunteer: in early 2020, I volunteered at the City YMCA homeless shelter with other members from Out For Good to put together care packages to be given to anyone who comes seeking shelter when they first arrive.

Guest Writer: during the first lockdown, I partnered with Partnership for Young London to write a piece for their blog which highlights the innovative ways we’ve been supporting our own and others’ mental health during the pandemic.

Creator: at the end of the first lockdown, I started my Patreon channel to share with my followers how I put my projects together. 6% of my patrons' support goes to a different charity each month.

Supporter: during Pride month, I ran a photography workshop for Say It Loud, an organisation committed to providing support and advocacy for LGBTQ+ refugees and asylum seekers in the UK.

Facilitator: I ran several workshops on photography and project management for the AOP, The Trampery, Republic and the Boxed Community.

Award-winner: I was awarded Silver in the AOP Photography Awards 2020 in the Fashion and Beauty category with my image entitled Spring Cleaning.

Documenter: I am currently working on a project with the Prince's Trust documenting one of their youth support programmes at the Waltham Forest College in Walthamstow, helping young people aged 16-25 to develop transferable skills that are essential to pursue a successful career in education or employment. Photo by Thais Verhasselt.

Moderator: a month ago, I moderated a panel discussion about what it means to work in the Creative Industries in support of the Aldridge Foundation, a charity that aims to inspire and equip young people with the skills they need to take control of their futures.

---

What good things happened to you this year that you want to remember in the future? Share them with me in the comments below.

Photo credit: I don’t know who took this photo of me but it was the year I graduated from high school.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here! You may subscribe to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.

8 Things I've Learnt While Working On Photography Projects

Photography projects are an integral part of a photographer's career. As a commercial photographer, you want to show your potential commissioners not only what you have been paid to do in the past but also the type of work that you like doing. However, I've met photographers who don't believe in personal work or who tell themselves that they don't have the time to embark on it. What if apart from building your portfolio you could also learn something new?

Every time that I shoot a photography project, I learn something new about me, about my craft and about the people or the topic that I'm working on. Here is a list of 8 things that I've learnt from working on my photography projects:

• Brexiters. This was the first portraiture personal project that I worked on. Before embarking on this project, I had been working on personal projects where I didn't involve other people (i.e. urban landscapes, abstract). When I saw on the news that the Brexit vote had won, and how the white uneducated elderly rural population of England was blamed for it, I immediately wanted to find out if what the media was saying was true.

  • Lesson number 1: personal projects challenge your assumptions. On this project, I learnt that not everyone who voted Brexit fit into the profile described by the media.

  • Lesson number 2: Just be honest about your intentions and people will support you. I learnt that if you need people to take part in your projects, just by placing an ad online explaining your project and what you are looking for you will find people interested in sharing their experiences with you and taking part on your project.

• Crisi. This was my first personal project. I shot it before I even became a full-time photographer. I was really proud of it when I shot it and I had it on my website for many years, until one person who saw my portfolio told me that it didn't fit with the rest of my projects because it didn't involve people. Thus, I took it off my website for many years.

  It wasn't until a couple of years ago when I realised that, even if the project didn't involve photographing people it portrayed how businesses were shutting down in a domino effect in my local high street and the absence of people (footfall) is one of the reasons. So, I put it back on my website and since then many people have praised it. I also use it as an example when I have to run workshops about creating personal projects.

  • Lesson number 3: a project about people doesn't need to show people. I also learnt that the absence of people on a project that speaks about humanity and human issues makes for an interesting visual narrative.

  • Lesson number 4: putting off your project because you don't have the right equipment is just an excuse. From this project, I learnt that you don't need fancy equipment to shoot a personal project. I shot the whole project on an iPhone 4s.

• Catalonia: A Work in Progress. This was my first project that involved photographing a high volume of people living overseas. I was lucky that I knew the country very well because I lived in Catalonia for 14 years. But still, photographing so many people in so many different cities and rural areas took a lot of time and planning.

  For this project, I didn't place an ad looking for people interested in posing for me. I relied solely on my network. I wrote a template email and sent it to everyone I knew asking them to forward it to people they knew who they thought would be interested in taking part in my project.

  • Lesson number 5: our networks are bigger than we think. There is always someone in our networks who knows someone who in turn knows another someone who is willing to give us a hand.

  • Lesson number 6: timing is everything. The project was appealing to many publications, but it got rejected several times because the situation in Catalonia changed every other day and it was difficult to keep an editorial angle.

• De-Stress. This was the first project in which the idea for the topic to be explored came after years of experimenting with an alternative photographic technique. Prior to embarking on this project, I had been experimenting with distressing negatives with household chemicals. I loved the randomness of the technique and the striking results.

  When I was approached by The Trampery to work on a collaboration with the members of their community and explore Mental Health in entrepreneurs, I immediately knew that I could use this technique to speak about stress and the de-stressing effects of working in supportive environments. Hence the name.

  Also, after the project was published, I was approached by other organisations that liked the concept and visuals and who gave me opportunities to work on other projects.

  • Lesson number 7: experimenting with different techniques can inform your future projects. Playing around with different techniques until you master them can eventually lead to starting a new project.

  • Lesson number 8: personal projects open new opportunities. Commissioners pay attention to your personal work to see what motivates you and how you develop your own ideas when there is no brief involved and you are in control.

I am a strong believer in working on personal projects. They have opened so many opportunities for me throughout my career but, most importantly, they have taught me so much and I've met so many interesting people while working on them. Are you stuck with an idea that you don't know how to develop? Let me know in the comments below.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Tori Dance.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

Art Helps Us Challenge Our Own Assumptions

Divide and conquer. The oldest trick in the book. In the times we are living, the powers that be have torn our communities apart with the complicity of the media and the aid, willingly or not, of the social media companies. Our societies are so divided that being nice to other people before knowing their stance seems like the ultimate challenge. And it has become very frustrating to see this happening around me and not having the power to make others realise what is being done to us. I talk about it, I write about it, I create photography about it, but sometimes it is evident that my efforts are not enough. I need a better strategy.

I know I can't control the things that happen around me, I can only control how I respond to them. And this knowledge is what has been driving me for years to reach out to my community and encourage them to work together to make the world a better place. I wish that others would follow, but I can only control what I do. I knew that I wanted change in the world, and that is why I started by changing myself.

I've always been a very empathetic person, but over the last few years I've also tried to become more compassionate and to hide less my vulnerabilities. And since the pandemic started, I've come to realise that these things are urgently needed in the world right now. If only our leaders shared these ideas with me they would show more empathy, more awareness and more compassion towards those they represent.

We are all in this together, but if we don't work together we are not going to get very far. We have many lessons to learn from recent events but we are stuck. Honestly, soon enough we are going to have to realise that it doesn't matter if you think you are on the right side of history and the others are not. If we don't create bridges and find common ground with others, we are not going to move past this. I know it won't be easy, and I can already hear the arguments from both sides but it has to be done.

The wrongs need to be corrected, the history books need to be rewritten. Perhaps not as tools of punishment but as factual sources of knowledge.

When I was in school, history books taught me that the Spaniards came to my country to finally give us civilisation, religion and language. Things that, according to history books, we were lacking. It took me decades and living in a different continent to start questioning these ideas that were planted in my brain when I was a child. I can only hope that children in my country today are being taught about the atrocities that were committed during the European invasion.

Therefore, I have to understand that some of the things that I believe to be true today might have also been planted in my brain to trick me into believing their veracity. The same way that other people who think differently to me might be under the influence of the groups that are trying to divide us.

My solution to this is to make myself reexamine my personal beliefs often and to engage in conversations with others who don't share my point of view. Whether we agree or not, just listening to what motivates other people's actions and choices will be a good starting point towards building those bridges.

And this is why I think that right now it's crucial to get artists not only involved but also supported. Historically, our role in times like these has always been to engage and collaborate with our communities to explore the world we are living in and offer a creative interpretation of our reality. We force those who view our work to engage in the conversation and question their own realities.

Art is more than just a mirror of society. It is a prism through which we see life from someone else's perspective. Whether you agree with the artist or not, just by engaging with art you also engage in an inner-dialogue that encourages you to question your assumptions. And these days, we are in desperate need to challenge everything that we assume to be true.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

I've Been Doing This Every Week For Six Years!

This month of November my blog turns 6 years old! I have been writing on my blog every Wednesday over the last 300+ weeks about my experiences working in the Creative Industries in the UK. In my posts, I talk about what it's like being a photographer working commercially in fashion and portraiture in London but also how I use my work and my platforms to raise awareness of Mental Health, Human Rights and National Identity.

I also interview other creatives and fellow-photographers and ask them about their roles and careers so that people who want to start a career in the Creative Industries know what to expect. Thank you to everyone who reads me, whether you are subscribed to my newsletter or whether you read me on my social platforms. YOU are the reason why I do this every week.

In my blog you will find:

---

Posts about working in the Creative Industries

Our Economies Need More Artists

Art Puts Food On The Table

The Fatality Of The Creative’s Life

---

Posts about working as a Photographer

How To Prepare For A Portfolio Review

Aspiring Models: Beware Of Fake Model Agencies

Overcoming Creative Block

---

Posts about the social issues that I raise awareness of

Notes From The Fashion Debates On Mental Health

Is There Such Thing As A Sustainable Photographer?

Stand Up For Human Rights

---

Interviews with other creatives about their roles and careers

I Wish I Had Known... About Photo Editors!

I Wish I Had Known About... TV Adaptations!

I Wish I Had Known... About Pattern Making!

---

Features on fellow photographers exploring images from their portfolios

A World That Others Can’t See… with Gabrielle Motola

A World That Others Can't See... with Ivan Weiss

A World That Others Can't See... with Ameena Rojee

---

Also, I have a Patreon channel In which you will find videos where I explain the projects that I'm currently working on, like my project where I am raising awareness of neurological diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's:

• Memory Part #1 - Starting a new project

• Memory Part #4 - How Do You Portray Memory Loss?

Posts with explanations of how I shoot my images and behind the scenes:

• How I Shot It and behind the scenes

and Tutorials:

• Tutorial #1 - Train Your Eye To See As A Photographer

• Tutorial #3 - Introduction To Project Management

6% of my patrons' support goes to a different charity each month:

• Charities we have supported thus far.

This way together, my patrons and I, can contribute to making this a better world.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

How I've Learnt To Embrace Feeling Vulnerable About The Photography Projects That I'm Working On

There is infinity in the blank page. Before you write the first words, your story has endless possibilities of what it could become. And sometimes when you write, you don’t know what you are writing until you finish the story and someone else interprets it for you. The same happens in photography. Before releasing the shutter, the image only exists in our minds. There is an infinite amount of ways in which that image can be exposed to the photographic medium. And, more often than not, we won't know how our work will make other people feel until they see it. That is why the minute we bring a photograph to life the meaning of the image stops being ours and it belongs to the world. Photography, like writing, is meant to be shared.

Bringing art to life is a very intimate process. It's intimidating and scary. As an artist, you are always self-conscious about how your work will be perceived. Will they like it? Will they know what it means? Will they want to hire me when they see it? Will they want to see more?

Stories and images coexist in our minds long before we give them shape in their physical form. And, when we finally bring them into the physical world, we must accept the limitations of the medium that we have chosen to represent them. We have to make compromises, there is always a trade-off. For photographers, images in our minds speak louder than words but there are limitations to the photographic medium that prevent us from telling the whole story in just one photo.

Every time that we look through the viewfinder of our cameras we start a journey, and unknown journey in which the photograph that we envisioned takes a meaning that we have no control over when we release it to the world. And that's ok. It's part of being an artist. Your creativity gives birth to work, but its interpretation doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the world.

Almost every photographer that I know is self-conscious about letting other people see their RAW files, their negatives, their unfinished and un-retouched work. We don't want to show others our work in progress because we don't want to misrepresent ourselves. We fear that we just have that one chance to show that person what our work is about and we don't want to be put in such vulnerable position.

However, I've recently discovered that learning to accept that vulnerability has made me stronger. By opening up my practice on Patreon, explaining my creative process and talking about how I put my work together I've actually felt more reassured and self-confident. And not necessarily because of the feedback that I get from others, but from learning myself everything that I have to offer. I am less afraid to talk about my work and I am more confident about the impact that I want to have with my practice.

Admittedly, at first it wasn't easy. While I was recording myself in my first videos talking about my ideas and showing the inspiration for the project that I'm currently working on I felt like everyone was going to see what a terrible photographer I was. Meanwhile, another part of my brain was telling me that in every video I was basically begging for someone else to come and steal my ideas and come up with a better project.

The truth is that none of that has happened. Supporters on my Patreon channel are there because they are interested in what I do mostly because I'm the one who is doing it. In the end, anyone else can try to copy what I do and probably create something better than what I can create but it will never be exactly the same. Because they are not me. They don't have my motivations and they are not moved by the same things that inspire me.

This year has been very challenging in ways that are unfathomable, but something good that came out of it is that I made the brave decision of showing my work on Patreon. I hope that everyone who comes over and signs up for the ride can perceive that. You might see me at my most vulnerable, but you will never see a more real version of me.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

I Have Been Awarded SILVER in the AOP Photography Awards 2020

I still have no words to describe how honoured I am to have been awarded Silver in the AOP Photography Awards 2020 in the Fashion and Beauty category. The category was judged by Nick Knight – Photographer, Director and Founder of SHOWStudios. The AOP Awards are a celebration of the best from image-makers working professionally in the commercial, fine art and creative sectors.

The awarded image was part of my series Spring Cleaning. It depicts a juxtaposition of fashionable and extremely ordinary. I've been interested in the influencer culture for some time now, and how they present their lives as being above the ordinary. Behind all those glamorous images on their social media, influencers are just regular people like the rest of us. But we perceive their lives as aspirational and unattainable, and that has a toll on our self-image and our mental health.

The creative team that worked with me on this shoot were stylist Patricia Machado Medici, hair and makeup artist Rachel Williamson and model Tamara Long from Models1. The winning image is as much mine as it is theirs.

Back in April, I was interviewed by The Trampery when I learnt that I had been selected as a finalist in this category. You can watch the interview on this link.

The awarded images were featured by The Guardian who called us head-spinning talent. Read the feature here.

The results of the competition have also been featured by BBC news on their website where they said that they found the images striking. You can see the feature on this link.

The Association of Photographers - AOP - is the leading body representing photographers in the UK. They have been running the AOP Awards for almost 15 years.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

The Photographers In My Blog

Over the last two years, I've been featuring fellow photographers in my blog to showcase the diversity of creatives that surround me. These photographers are people who I deeply admire, not only because they are very talented artists but also because they are exceptional human beings.

Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.

In my series A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

Interview By Kodak One

The lovely people of Kodak One interviewed me a few weeks back for their blog. They were particularly interested in my work to promote Mental Health Awareness and we had an interesting chat about how to use our work as photographers to keep the conversation about Mental Health going.

You can read the whole interview on this link: Kodak One Official.

Photo credit: behind the scenes image by Aaron O'Dowling-Keane.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

It Takes A Village

Whenever I hear an awards acceptance speech, no matter how long, I always think of the people who are not mentioned. It must be difficult for the person accepting the award to decide who to include and who to leave out when you have such a short amount of time to deliver your appreciation. If I were ever put in that position, I think I would just say “it takes a village. I’m grateful to you all.”

In her poem Our Grandmothers, Maya Angelou wrote: “I go forth along, and stand as ten thousand.” When I read this line for the first time, all the people in my life who brought me to where I am right now came to my mind. Nobody, absolutely no one, has gotten to where they are today on their own.

Starting with your own family. I am here because two people met and decided to have me. Those two people are here because other two couples made the same choice. And those four people were here because eight people before them did the same. Our lives represent the success of our ancestors.

The same way, every single one of our achievements is not only ours. We put the effort and we do the hard work, but it is, in reality, a collective feat. Your teachers, your mentors, your guides, your influences, your peers, your community. They are all reflected in your work. Even those people who had fleeting appearances in your timeline have left their mark in your life.

By acknowledging this, it's easier to understand why our community is so important. We are part of something greater than ourselves and we owe our communities our appreciation and support.

When you finish reading these lines, make a mental list of all the people in your life who have contributed to bringing you right to this moment. Right to this place where you are reading my words. How long would your acceptance speech be?

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

When Words are not Enough

I'm not going to pretend that I can answer the age-old question of what is art. But, one thing that I can say is that art is a form of communication. As an artist, especially when you are starting out, you are always told that you need to find your voice. The problem is that a voice is not something that you acquire by studying or following certain steps or instructions. Your voice will come after many years of pouring your soul into your work. In the meantime, even if your work is not fully voiceless, you may still need to find the visual vocabulary to express yourself truthfully.

Photographers are visual storytellers. We use our visual language to show the world what we see through our lens. And we can spend our whole careers trying to find our voice, only to realise that if we finally find it we will probably be the last ones to notice.

Ever since I was a child, I was always the relative or the friend who had a camera. Wherever we went, people always expected me to take their photos and tell the stories of our trips or gatherings. However, growing up I never considered it as a possible career. I come from a part of the world where the arts are not valued and where family encourages you to pursue careers in science, technology or law instead.

Despite the lack of support, I had a teacher at school who always encouraged me to read, write and appreciate the arts. I became an avid reader and writer, and for a long time, I thought that if I ever left my day job I would become a writer.

Looking back, I can see now that it wasn't about writing or about a specific medium to express myself. It was about telling stories. That is why I feel that at some point I came to the realisation that I could use photography to tell my own stories.

I don't think that I have a voice yet. I can feel the words stuck in my throat trying to make their way out through my visual vocal cords. But they still need to properly take shape before they can come out. I'm still at that place in my career where I'm examining the world around me and trying to find answers to all the questions that come to my mind.

Our role as artists and photographers is to look around and try to make sense of the world that surrounds us. By studying it and interpreting it, we can present it to society and offer a different perspective on the issues that we care for.

Making art is like trying to have a conversation with another person in a very noisy space. The other can see you opening and closing your mouth, but the words that come out of it are unintelligible until you find that one person who can finally understand what you are trying to say. From there, you spend the rest of your life trying to find those people who can get your message.

If art is a communication channel, then photography is the language that we use to encourage others to question their own realities. When words are not enough, our work gives shape to our thoughts, our concerns and our emotions.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

Imagine A World Without Light

One thing that all photographers have in common is our fascination with light. The pencil of nature, as Fox Talbot called the camera, literally writes with light on the sensitive surface where the image is imprinted. If there is no light, there is no photograph. Even if you use infrared technology to capture an image, the camera still needs the infrared part of the spectrum of light to record the photograph. Being able to control light is one of the most important skills in a photographer's toolkit. In a way, shaping light is our superpower.

Imagine for a second a world in which we couldn't control nor shape light. A world with no artificial light sources, no electricity, no lamps. During the day, indoor spaces would only be lit by a window or an opening nearby. But at night, everything would be in pitch darkness. If you had access to making fire, you would light a torch or a candle. If you were modern enough, you would have a gas lamp. However, these methods wouldn't render enough light to see the world the way we see it today.

This was the world we were living in when photography was invented. When Fox Talbot invented the photographic negative in the early 19th century, his experiments needed a strong light source that at that time could only be provided by the sun. Similarly, Daguerre invented the photographic process around the same time in Paris, a city that was only lit by street gas lamps.

All the art that was conceived before electricity lit our homes and streets, was created either in plain daylight or under very dim conditions. Consider the limitations and the circumstances under which your favourite artworks were created. Don't you have a new appreciation for them now?

The same way that light is essential to register the information that is visible in a photograph, darkness is important to provide volume, mood and character. As photographers, we are sometimes so obsessed with the light that we forget that the shadows play a decisive role in how our subject is perceived. My friend Facundo Bustamante always says that shadows are another element to take into account when creating an image because they provide shape to your photo.

Classic painters understood this very well, maybe because their world was so much darker than ours. In Britain, the first street to be lit with electricity was the rightly named Electric Avenue in Brixton in 1880. Over the next decades, the first switch that was flicked in most homes was the light switch. On a BBC interview, engineer Hector MacLean remembers that the instant response of his parents to the brightness was "look at the dust, we need to repaint".

If you want to create work that resembles the classics, you must recreate the environment in which the classic artists worked. Turn off all the lights and close all the curtains. Better if you do it at night. Then, gradually, start adding different light sources to your composition. As you build your image, you will see how light behaves on different surfaces and also how the shadows fill the space untouched by the light.

This is how I learned to light my subjects when I started out, and to this day it is still the technique that I use when I'm photographing someone. I start in pitch darkness or set the camera settings to leave out the available light. From there, I add the different light points working my subject as if it were a sculpture created by lights and shadows. Try it yourself. I promise you won't see light the same way again.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Emma Steventon.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

5 Things I've Learned In 20+ Years As A Project Manager

Before becoming a full-time photographer, I worked as a Project Manager in different industries for more than 20 years. I worked in everything from Hospitality, to Telecommunications, to Consumer Electronics, to Fashion. My projects were of all sizes and scopes. But, when I transitioned to photography I thought that all those years of sweat and tears were going to go to waste. Luckily, I soon realised that Project Management skills are transferable and are very useful in all types of industries.

In all our jobs, we have skills that can easily be used in other roles or industries. You are not just one thing, even if it is easier for the majority of people in your life to put a label on you. If you are a lawyer, you have the skills to be a therapist. If you are a cook, you have the skills to be a wedding photographer. If you are a receptionist, you have the skills to be a project manager. What all these roles have in common is that they all have skills that can be transferred from one to the other.

This brings me to the first lesson that I learned as a Project Manager:

1. The words project management may sound intimidating, but in reality, we are all project managers already in our daily lives. Even if it is in a very informal way. If you are baking, you are managing a small project. If you are planning vacations for the family, that is a medium-size project. If you are renovating your whole house, that is a larger-scale project. In all these examples, you have a scope, a start and an endpoint, you have your tools and resources, and you have to work within a budget. These types of projects might not qualify for a mention in your CV, but if you enjoy doing them that means that you have the skills needed to run a project.

2. The second lesson that I learned is that Not All Projects Are Created Equal. Projects come in all shapes and sizes. From the informal aforementioned ones to the more complex projects. And there is not just one way to run a project. If you run a business, you may perfectly create your own Project Management procedures that work for what you do. However, there is a very powerful reason to subscribe to an already existing methodology that fits your industry: standardisation. If you want to be able to communicate with other people and businesses who also run projects, you've got to speak the same language. This is particularly helpful when you seek Project Management tools and software, when you onboard new staff, or when you communicate with partners and suppliers.

3. This leads me to the third lesson. Every organisation and every industry organizes its projects in different ways. This is the reason why there are so many methodologies. Each methodology is adapted for a specific way of working. Different industries choose different methodologies. PMI (waterfall) is one of the most traditional ones, best suited for linear projects like manufacturing, construction or even photoshoots. Agile works best for the software industry, where you are constantly releasing deliverables instead of waiting until the end of the project as you do on traditional methodologies. Prince2 was created by the UK Government and it is best suited for large-scale projects, particularly Government IT Projects.

4. If it doesn't have an end it's not a project. This sounds like something obvious, but if you don't define a start point and an endpoint for your project, you are not running a project. You might actually be running a process. A project, by definition, needs to have a beginning, an ending and at least one goal that needs to be achieved by the end of the project. This goal needs to be something that you can measure and that you can evaluate after the project has ended.

5. The process of project management never ends. Projects end; Project Management doesn't. Most Project Managers are running several projects at the same time. The process of managing projects requires that you follow up on the status of each project with regularity. When managing your project and following up on your tasks on a regular basis, you get motivated as you see the tasks being accomplished. Every time that you tick a task off your to-do list or you move a post-it in your Kanban, you are one step closer to completing the project. Additionally, by following up daily on the progress of your projects you can minimise risks before they happen or identify if things are not going as planned and apply corrections as soon as you discover them.

A Project Manager is someone who plans, organizes, evaluates, directs, controls, and leads the project from conception to completion. Being able to juggle several projects at the same time is a mandatory ability for a Project Manager.

Project Management requires a combination of soft skills and hard skills, but in my experience, it's the soft skills that are quite crucial. You must be self-motivated, flexible, methodic and a problem-solver. And above all, you must enjoy running projects and bringing structure to chaos. Funny enough, I just described myself in these two last phrases. Do you recognise yourself too?

Photo credit: I can’t remember who took this image. Probably my boss. We were on a 3h-train on our way to a meeting, preparing the last details of our presentation. Do I look corporate enough?

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

This Is NOT How You Talk About Mental Health

One of my dearest friends has been struggling with her mental health for many years. A few weeks ago, she called me on the phone and during the conversation we discussed invisible illnesses. In her experience, every time that she has to talk about her mental health she is repeatedly faced with the same type of comment: "you don't look as if you were ill." The image that we have been sold of how a person dealing with mental health issues looks like has always been of a deranged person locked down in an asylum. And this is the reason why so many people struggling with their mental health are afraid of being open about it.

This has never been more obvious than last week, after Vogue Portugal decided to feature on their July 2020 cover an image depicting a troubled young lady being washed by two nurses in what looks like a psychiatric hospital. The Vogue Portugal team named the issue "The Madness Issue" and the copy on the cover reads "It's Summer Outside."

According to a statement from Vogue Portugal on Twitter, their intention was to shine a light on this important issue and open up a discussion about Mental Health. But, nothing in the creative direction of this issue points towards an honest and positive conversation about the topic.

Starting with the name of the issue: The Madness Issue. I searched in different dictionaries the definition of the word madness, trying to find one meaning that didn't have a negative connotation. But all that I could find were definitions like "a state of severe mental illness —not used technically", "The state of being mentally ill, especially severely", or "insanity."

If the intention was to take the stigma out of the conversations about Mental Health, they could have named the issue "The Self-care Issue", "The Wellbeing Issue" or simply "The Mental Health Issue".

Secondly, the copy on the cover: "It's Summer Outside." On their statement, Vogue Portugal wrote that they were trying to address human behaviour during the pandemic confinement. It is true that the global collective experience during these last few months has had an important toll on our mental health. But, instead of sending a supportive and optimistic message to their readers, the creative direction of the magazine opted for slapping us on the face. "It's Summer Outside", while you are trapped inside with your own fears.

A more helpful copy, one that could have also highlighted human behaviour during the pandemic, could have spoken about resilience and how this whole situation is temporary. "This Too Shall Pass", "We Will Get Over This" or "This Won't Last Forever".

Lastly, the cover image. How do you visually convey a topic like Mental Health? Well, as my friend pointed out over the phone during our conversation, you put a person who apparently doesn't have any illnesses nor disabilities on the cover and you say "This Is What Struggling With Your Mental Health Looks Like."

Mental Health problems belong to a group of conditions called invisible illnesses, according to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An invisible illness is one that does not show any visible signs nor symptoms to others. This makes it really difficult for whoever is struggling with their mental health because help is not often given to someone who doesn't appear to need it. What's more, as an ally, how can you identify if someone is in need of support if you can't tell just by looking at them?

It is this lack of understanding of how mental health issues work that leads to some people associating mental health to images of insanity or madness. And this makes it really difficult for someone to open up about their struggles for fear of being labelled as crazy or weak.

All of the above makes me question the good intentions of the publication, even if the statement they released before pulling the issue out from the newsstands says otherwise. It feels to me that they were just trying to be amongst the trending topics of the day, even if it were for the wrong reasons.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

The Biggest Lesson I Learned When I Changed Careers

Before becoming a photographer, I worked for 20 years in another industry as a Project Manager. It was a very technical job, and even though it was easy for me to navigate that environment I never felt like I fully belonged. I was always interested in the creative aspects of my job and not on the technical side. And this feeling of not belonging was the cause of many frustrations during my twenties and my thirties. There wasn't a day in which I didn't think about following a different career path.

However, the older I got the more lost I felt and the harder it was for me to consider changing careers. When everyone around you sees you as a specific "title" or specific "job type", it is very difficult for others to even consider that you could explore becoming something else.

On top of that, the thought that all those years of your life that you spent building a career might go to waste, even if it was in the wrong industry, prevents you from moving forward with your career change.

Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I've finally understood what people meant when they said phrases like "it's not the destination, it's the journey" or "enjoy the process". The most important lesson that I've learnt is that every single experience that you have in your life stacks on top of each other and become part of the person who you are today. None of it goes to waste.

• All those years taking photos of family and friends everywhere we went developed my eye as a photographer.

• All the times that as a child I wrote "essays" for my parents or poetry for my friends at school developed the writer in me.

• And all those years managing projects, even the days when I got back from work and cried on my couch out of frustration for feeling trapped in the wrong career, developed my skills and inform the way in which I manage my projects these days.

Every experience in your life is a learning opportunity. You might not see it today, but I can assure you that one day you will.

Photo credit: I can't remember who took this image, but it's me back in 2004 when I used to work in telecommunications.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

I'm On Patreon Now!

Hello everyone! I am super excited to announce that I am on Patreon now: www.patreon.com/jccandanedo. Patreon is a subscription-based platform where I'll be uploading content that I am not showing anywhere else. I’ve come to realise that I am involved in many different projects but I’m not sharing any of them with you because they are very different from the commercial work that I show in my portfolio or my social media.

Apart from my work in fashion and portraiture, I work in community-related projects exploring human rights, mental health and national identity. I also run workshops where I share my knowledge and I teach people interested in photography how to train their photographer’s eye, how to turn ideas into photography projects or how to manage their projects.

So I've been very busy these past two months creating content for you guys on my Patreon Channel. This content will be different from my other channels because I am going to break down my creative process step by step explaining everything that goes down behind the scenes of my projects. From their inception to everything that goes on inside my mind before I even start shooting.

And, for selected membership tiers, I will share all my Educational content to help you improve your photography while making an impact in the world. Your membership support will go towards the creation of all the behind the scenes videos, the development of creative ideas and the production of the educational material.

Additionally, 6% of what my patrons pay monthly will be donated to a different charity each month. One that my patrons and I will select.

If you support the arts, have an interest in photography and believe that together we can change the world, then my Patreon page is perfect for you. Just a small amount per month can go very far, and you can cancel your subscription at any time.

So head on over to my Patreon. I can’t wait to see you there!

You can find my Patreon profile on https://www.patreon.com/jccandanedo

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

"Spring Cleaning" Is A Finalist!

I am happy to announce that my image “Spring Cleaning” has been selected as a finalist for this year’s AOP Awards in the Fashion Category. The AOP Awards is run by the Association of Photographers and it has been running for 14 years, each year attracting entries from around the world. The Fashion Category was curated by photographer Nick Knight, Founder and Director at SHOWstudio.

This image is part of a fashion editorial in which I collaborated with stylist Patricia Machado Medici, Hair Stylist - MUA Rachel Williamson, and model Tamara Long, from Models1. The shoot took place at The Trampery Republic.

The 2020 AOP Awards exhibition will take place at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, in the main public lobby of the building. The exhibition will be open to the public from 14th September until 13 November 2020.

Things to look forward to for when the lockdown is over! Save the date and wish me luck!

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!