Tim Gruber and Jenn Ackerman use both photography and video to tell stories for editorial and commercial clients. 
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Coming Soon! Every year we'll be publishing at least two magazines of our work. Look for our first issue soon.
Sorry for the lack of recent updates. Between freelance assignments, shopping my book around to editors, and snapping photos for myself my time in NYC has kept me busy.
I’m in the Bahamas for the month of August on assignment. I’ll post more when time permits, but most likely don’t look for any updates until September.
Enjoy the rest of your summer.
Paul Graham pumped out a nice bit of copy for the Yale MFA photography graduation book entitled: Photography is Easy, Photography is Difficult
Whether photography is old hat or you’re a fresh grad the article has something for everyone who has ever taken a camera to their eye.
A taste:
And hopefully I will carry on, and develop it, because it is worthwhile. carry on because it matters when other things don’t seem to matter so much: the money job, the editorial assignment, the fashion shoot. Then one day it will be complete enough to believe it is finished. Made. Existing. Done. And in its own way: a contribution, and all that effort and frustration and time and money will fall away. It was worth it, because it is something real, that didn’t exist before you made it exist: a sentient work of art and power and sensitivity, that speaks of this world and your fellow human beings place within it. Isn’t that beautiful?
If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time you know that fear and failure are topics I blog about often.
fear.less is an online magazine that will be launching soon that has notable people address the issue of overcoming fear. I signed up for their magazine awhile back and today I received a PDF about Platon facing and overcoming his fears.
I’d post the PDF, but it seems like something they are using as incentive to get people to sign up so I’m not sure they’d be happy with me posting it so instead I’ll share a few highlights with you.
It’s a great article with a lot of it resonating with me as I work to get established.
A few quotes and some of my random thoughts thrown in:
In the beginning, everything is hard, no matter what profession you choose. I was always obsessed with the idea when I was younger of “How did other people make it?” When you’re a student, you feel you’re on the other side of things, that there’s this beautiful, imaginary castle where everybody goes when they’ve “made it.” I finally learned “made it” doesn’t actually exist; it’s just an idea you look up to when you’re beginning. When you’re on the tracks, it’s the continuous journey that makes a difference, not the end result. The end result is when you kick the bucket.
I’m guilty of doing this all the time. I’ll hear someone speak and one of the first questions that will pop into my little head is; How’d you make it and what advice would you give to someone starting out? Unfortunately or fortunately depending on your outlook there isn’t a formula and everyone’s journey is unique. Although when you’re on the beginning of that journey it often becomes easy to lose sight of the road and you start to feel like you’re playing the lottery rather than building a career.
I came to realize that it’s actually irrelevant how anybody else does it if you’re looking for a formula to apply to yourself. The truth is, everyone’s journey is different, everyone’s personality is different, and everyone’s talent or weaknesses are different. It’s more important to really get to know yourself and understand who you are, understand your Achilles’ heel and your strengths, which can often be completely unrecognized in the beginning.
Your instincts are your true guide, and a lot of young people are bullied into not listening to their instincts because they don’t fit into the protocol of the establishment. It’s your instincts and emotions backed with resilience, drive and confidence that make you empowered. If you keep pushing through, eventually you break the ice.
Like a wolf lurking in the shadows waiting to pounce on the weak and injured self-doubt lingers waiting to paralyze you into fear. Trust your heart and gut to pull you through.
I went in 36 times in three years with my portfolio before they finally gave me a job. I think I showed every single person my work, even the receptionist. I was just so committed to getting in there that, I think eventually, they just felt sorry for me and wanted to shut me up. You have to have the mentality that you won’t take “no” for an answer and look at what you’re aiming for at that moment in time and see how to make it happen.
I’m experiencing this first hand trying to get meetings with editors. It’s a process that could easily have you waving the white flag after the first day of not hearing back from any of the editors you contacted. You continue to push on to the second day of contacting editors, which blurs into day three and still nothing. Finally by day four an editor sends you a note and says they’d love to see your work and your hope is renewed. You must stay the course.
There’s no “arrival,” because you’ve always got the next step on the journey. Young people need to understand that, they need to feel that. When you’re intimidated by the establishment or successful people, or you feel like you’re not worthy in some ridiculous way, then you’ve got to remind yourself that they’re on the same journey that you are, and believe me, they’re just as frightened of you as you are of them. You’re young, you’re talented, you have a burning energy they don’t have, you have no history, no skeletons in the closet, you’re just liberated.
You can’t hide what you’re really feeling, especially from me, because I’m good at catching it. In fact, I’m looking for it.
It’s not about achieving or winning or acquiring something. It’s more visceral than that. It goes back to “Who am I? Am I happy? Am I really living?
I found these video clips on how to tell a story while playing around with my new iPhone.
This first video is by Scott Simon from NPR:
How to Tell a Story by NPR’s Scott Simon
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiX_WNdJu6w]
A few notables from the video:
Beginnings are important.
If nobody is listening why are you talking?
A story has to be told in short breathable sections. The story has to breathe. You have to breathe with it as does the audience.
Have fun.
A second clip on putting a face to the numbers from Lizzie O’Leary:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kMydB5l9Ns]
I wish the audio was cleaner, but the message is still relevant. Make note how willing you are as a viewer to forgive medicore images in video, but bad audio is something that just plain hurts.
What happens as a photographer when you find yourself facing a creative block?
We all face them at some point in our careers. What’s most interesting perhaps is how we as creatives choose to individually fight our way through. One of my professors would stress the importance of shooting your way out of it. Others would stress just putting the camera down for awhile until the passion resurfaces.
Below are a few choice quotes from a writer’s perspective on dealing with ideas and blocks:
the hard fact is that words are emotional things, and emotions shift. They grow. They grow impossible. They move away. There is a tide in creativity, and until you are familiar with its ebb and flow, it is hard to look at that distant sea and believe that it will ever come close again.
So I don’t do “inspiration” or “blocks”. I just do “work” and hope for the best. Some days the geese stay geese, but often enough I get a bit of swan action; a still reflection, a glimpse of white. The trick is to keep yourself open to the moment. The trick is to keep yourself vulnerable and true, and this can be tiring, after a while. It can hurt – quite literally. So there will be times when you have to retire a little, and shut down.
But there is no need to panic. It does come back. One day it comes back. The tide turns. The words mean something again, and they manage to stick to the page. The right shell is on the beach, the light is beautiful and just for you. As you turn into the wind and head for home, the swan itself shits on your coat. And there, standing by the car, is another human being.
Here are a few choice quotes from Stephen King’s book called On Writing:
Talent renders the whole idea of rehearsal meaningless; when you find something at which you are talented, you do it (whatever it is) until your fingers bleed or your eyes are ready to fall out of your head. Even when no one is listening (or reading, or watching), every outing is a bravura performance, because you as the creator are happy. Perhaps even ecstatic.
I also recently finished reading Malcolm Gladwell’s book called the Outliers(read it if you haven’t it’s worth your time) where he breaks down the careers of people who have been successful in their given professions. One of his arguments is that these people, while having some natural talent have also devoted 10,000 hours to their given craft. How much are you willing to devote to your love of photography?
The scariest moment is always just before you start.
I know for me this is true. My head clouds with self-doubt. Often the moment is enough to even keep me from starting or moving ahead with a project. Just this week I started shooting a personal project again that I started months ago. People saying no always served as a roadblock and they still do, but today I plan to stay the course and not let a few hurdles sidetrack my curisoty or my goal.
If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all. -Michelangelo
As Jenn and I were making the move to NYC last week I spent most of the ride here questioning if I’m cut out for this. After all the education, time, and money invested in becoming a photographer would I have been better off becoming a 9-5 cubicle monkey? We all know the answer to that. Yet I still have those days where I question if I have what it takes and if my pictures are any good?
We all know we don’t do this for money, fame or our sanity.
So why do I do this? The consistent is that I love to create. That has never changed. Every so often this desire to create leads to an image I like enough to call a keeper. Often it leads to mounds of trash but as we all know it takes only one great image to make up for the thousand miscues before it. Or as Tom reminded me of this Cartier-Bresson quote:
“It’s seldom you make a great picture. You have to milk the cow quite a lot and get plenty of milk to make a little cheese.”
Other than that my reasons for doing this seem to change as I evolve as a person and photographer. I have my moments where I enjoy the steep, winding and blizzard like conditions that being a freelance photographer bring. Other times it’s the tranquility and calm I feel when I bring the camera to my eye. It drowns out all and any noise allowing me for a few brief seconds to live in the moment.
I’ve also been enjoying the process of refining and finding my voice or vision if you will. What am finding though is it’s something that can’t be forced. It comes only naturally and without thought or pressure. It comes when you forget everything and let your instincts take the wheel. Your vision isn’t something that you find. It finds you in time. I just need to keep feeding it more pictures.
Why are you a photographer?
Calvin is one of the many amazing Tuskegee Airmen I photographed and told me his greatest asset was his smile. I agreed.
After a lot of editing, toning, retoning, printing, reprinting, reordering(repeat a few more times for good measure) my print portfolio is finally finished. The beautiful or perhaps the ugly thing with a portfolio is that it’s never truly done. Your portfolio just like your mind will continue to grow and evolve. There’s a good chance the work you like today you’ll hate tomorrow.
I thought I’d share a few things about the process. Here are 11 random thoughts about the experience in no order. Anything I miss?
11 – Edit tight.
This should be a no-brainer, but it’s still a mistake we all make. Leave the audience wanting more. Show only your strongest work. Like they say you’re only as good as your weakest photo.
10 – Editing for print and the web are two different beasts.
The web is forgiving. It doesn’t mind if your image isn’t tack sharp at 100 dpi and 1000px wide it’s willing to forgive and forget. A lush sheet of matte paper isn’t nearly as understanding. That soft image that looks good on the web will do you no good in print. Laying out your pages for the web and print are also different. Your sequences and edit for the web and print may differ. In my print portfolio I have some pages comprised of four images with a full bleed image on the accompanying page something that doesn’t make sense on the web.
09 – Things change.
Don’t fret your portfolio will evolve and change over time. The important thing is to keep shooting and keep getting your work out there.
08 – Make it a musical score.
Your portfolio should have a rhythm. Most it importantly it needs to have soul. The question of what to include and exclude in your portfolio will haunt you. Trying to find the perfect melody for your body of work won’t be easy. One image out of place and it disrupts the whole show. Start strong and end strong but doesn’t mean you should load the middle of your book with empty calories.
07 – Step away.
Go for a walk. A run whatever just get away from your work for a bit and come back to it refreshed. You’ll see things when you come back that you completely overlooked when you were consumed with the edit.
06 – POD Book vs Screw post portfolio?
The first issue I had to tackle was whether I wanted a print on demand book like Blurb, WHCC, Asuka, etc or a screw post portfolio I’d print and assemble myself. For the longest time I was leaning towards a POD book for the production ease and the classic bound book appeal. I’d still like to try the WHCC book with hinged pages for a project. With time I saw that a screw post portfolio would be a much better fit for me. I had a few reasons for that with the biggest two being image quality control and easily changing the edit. I change the order/edit of my work as often as I shower, which would of made a blurb type book a PITA and more expensive over time. Everytime I’ve done a POD book I always seem to have a few problem images that are always printing dark or light, but never just right. Printing myself I was able to print multiple proofs until it looked perfect.
05 – The portfolio viewing experience.
Keep the manila folder full of creased prints at home. This should be common sense, but if you are a professional your presentation needs to look that way. People will only start respecting you and your work if you start respecting it first. Some questions you will want to ask yourself: What size is best for my work? What orentationion? For me that was a 11×14 book. Sleeves or no sleeves? I opted for no sleeves due to glare issues and the tatical feel of paper. Helps that I have my own printer so making new prints won’t be an issue. In short make sure your presentation highlights your work not detracts from it.
04 – Rules?
There are no rules. Take what I say and what anyone tells you with a grain of salt. A portfolio is a very personal thing. What works for me or others may not work for you. Sure there’s general guidelines you’d probably be wise to follow, but don’t be afraid to do your thing. If it works great if not you know what not to do next time.
03 – Don’t like what you see?
Not happy with the images in your portfolio? There’s only one person to hold accountable and only one way to fix it. Keep creating.
02 – You can’t please everyone
If you try to please everyone you’ll please no one including yourself. They may love it or they may hate it, but do yourself a favor and make every portfolio your FU portfolio.
01 – Your portfolio is you.
You are what you eat, but you’re also what you shoot. Most importantly though you are what you show. I’ve shot my share of sports in my life, but it’ll be the last thing you see my portfolio. This isn’t a time for peer pressure. Show me who you really are not what you think I want to see.
Take a local dive bar with a cast of characters mix in a few Morgan Cokes for good measure and let the karaoke singers take the stage and what do you end up with? A fun little personal project I call American Singer.
Jenn and I spent our free time when we were living in Dallas working on it. Jenn shot video and I shot stills.
If you can’t tell by looking at the other projects on my website(American Trucker and American Tourist) American culture is becoming a theme and passion for me.
As I wrote on my portfolio site American Singer showcases performers both good and bad, eager and meek it is a visual study of the characters who make karaoke the entertaining and at times deafening spectacle it is.
Check out American Singer on my website.
A few images:
Much like An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth which I’ve blogged about numerous times already. The Ten Things I Have Learned by Milton Glaser is another read that will make a healthy addition to your creative life.
Glaser’s item number six really hit home with me as it talks about style something I’ve been dealing with a lot recently in putting my print portfolio together.
6 – STYLE IS NOT TO BE TRUSTED.
It’s absurd to be loyal to a style. It does not deserve your loyalty. I must say that for old design professionals it is a problem because the field is driven by economic consideration more than anything else. Style change is usually linked to economic factors, as all of you know who have read Marx. Also fatigue occurs when people see too much of the same thing too often. So every ten years or so there is a stylistic shift and things are made to look different. Typefaces go in and out of style and the visual system shifts a little bit. If you are around for a long time as a designer, you have an essential problem of what to do. I mean, after all, you have developed a vocabulary, a form that is your own. It is one of the ways that you distinguish yourself from your peers, and establish your identity in the field. How you maintain your own belief system and preferences becomes a real balancing act. The question of whether you pursue change or whether you maintain your own distinct form becomes difficult. We have all seen the work of illustrious practitioners that suddenly look old-fashioned or, more precisely, belonging to another moment in time. And there are sad stories such as the one about Cassandre, arguably the greatest graphic designer of the twentieth century, who couldn’t make a living at the end of his life and committed suicide.But the point is that anybody who is in this for the long haul has to decide how to respond to change in the zeitgeist. What is it that people now expect that they formerly didn’t want? And how to respond to that desire in a way that doesn’t change your sense of integrity and purpose.
A few more from the list:
8 – DOUBT IS BETTER THAN CERTAINTY.
It makes me nervous when someone believes too deeply or too much. I think that being sceptical and questioning all deeply held beliefs is essential. Of course we must know the difference between scepticism and cynicism because cynicism is as much a restriction of one’s openness to the world as passionate belief is.One of the signs of a damaged ego is absolute certainty. Schools encourage the idea of not compromising and defending your work at all costs. Well, the issue at work is usually all about the nature of compromise. You just have to know what to compromise. Blind pursuit of your own ends which excludes the possibility that others may be right does not allow for the fact that in design we are always dealing with a triad – the client, the audience and you.
9 – ON AGING.
The first rule is the best. Rule number one is that ‘it doesn’t matter.’ ‘It doesn’t matter that what you think. Follow this rule and it will add decades to your life. It does not matter if you are late or early, if you are here or there, if you said it or didn’t say it, if you are clever or if you were stupid. If you were having a bad hair day or a no hair day or if your boss looks at you cockeyed or your boyfriend or girlfriend looks at you cockeyed, if you are cockeyed. If you don’t get that promotion or prize or house or if you do – it doesn’t matter.’ Wisdom at last.