2015 has been labelled "The Year Of Community Over Competition". So we're asking should photographers compete or simply create and keep to themselves to themselves. Well it really depends on what kind of photographer you want to be. And that in turn does depend on what your experience has been. We've only recently started networking again with other photographers. Sure we've followed Facebook pages and blogs etc. but we've never really held anything so much as a coffee morning with other local creatives. This wasn't a decision we took lightly considering that your work is your work and once it's out in the ether of the internet and social media people can and do deface your lovely work via the medium of Instagram filters, Facebook cropping, compression and more. But like writers we have to man up and stop being so precious about it if we want our businesses and brands to grow. 

The risk we all run when we start out is rejection. Just about every photographer who starts out, whether as a self-taught go getter or a well-versed college graduate will look for mentorship. They reach out to experienced and recently established photographers alike. The experienced for their secret to longevity in what is a competitive market-place and the up-and-coming photographers to glean what hacks they're using to get ahead in a rising sea of contemporaries. Now having spoken to a few photographers recently ranging in experience from 1-5 years and more recently a veteran of 30 plus years on the subject of business, survival and keys to success we've uncovered some pretty consistent experiences. We've all had a lot of rejection at the beginning of our careers. And I mean a lot. Some of it will be sharp and painful and some of it will be meandering excuse filled stuff because some people just don't like to say no. I did once have a very well established and lauded photographer literally tell me where to stick my polite request for some simple advice - I appreciated that directness more in the long run than broken promises however. As a small business owner and entrepreneur you sometimes want to be all things to all people, to do it all on your own and blaze a trail all of your own. Fair do's to you but most of us are not Elon Musk or Richard Branson for that matter. Even they had to work with and for people and more than likely still do. It's about picking the right people to learn from and model. You'll potentially have to meet a lot so each rejection realistically and tangibly brings you closer to a more positive, open and progressive mentor.

So we got to the end of our first year in business and we had barely spoken to any professionals at all. There was a lot of the blind leading the blind. Every new article we read we changed tack and adapted our approach to the business and the creative. We've only recently just really found our visual and sales style. And it really has to come from you and your strengths. The tough stuff or experiences that no one told us about that we had to learn through trial and error with clients,co-workers and suppliers was all worthwhile in the long run.

We've been looking at the #communitynotcompetition movement that's been talked about in the U.S. for a wee while now. A lot of top photographers have been talking about it and touting the merits of a workers of the world unite mentality and professional practice. I look at these very successful photographers and I wonder about the reality of their claims to be thriving as a direct result of community based business referrals.  The legendary Geoff Ascough (personal hero) says he looks primarily to fashion, fine-art and documentary photo-journalists when he's drawing inspiration for his work. He doesn't seem to look to his own contemporaries for inspiration let alone community based referrals or guidance. We recently attended what turned out to be a formal networking group. It's part of a larger network that descends from one of these American motherships. I really liked everyone I met, loved the banter and saw that they were indeed passing a lot of business between one another. That said, there was very little in the way of creative work to be had or even commercial work. The groups founder was in fact a professional photographer, however he retired from photography to run this networking group. I'm not surprised as the membership fees run at around £1000 a year, not including your slightly expensive breakfast. Now if I had money to burn I'd be all over that because it was a fun way to spend a Friday morning. That said at this point in my career each financial decision has to be made with some consideration as I am responsible not just to myself and my clients but also my business partner and future wife Katie. Without her this business would be an expensive hobby. So the only thing we could do to get away from our own cynicism and misgivings about collaboration was to set up our own Referral Super Group. Now this one we set up is just for photographers. The reason being we're all looking to get more bookings; specifically weddings. The collective experience of the group is also being used to educate us all and help our less established members grow professionally and creatively. We'll be setting up shooting dates where we hit the bricks for a day of street photography. We've even started the tricky business of recommending other vendors within the group. We do this by using a group Google Calendar  by which we can each others busy dates and work out who out of the group is most suited to the client. That in and of itself doesn't guarantee a job, but it does re-route the other potential customers whom once we may have just re-directed back to the magazine or planner website they found us through which seems at a glance to be paying some small dividends from the very first meeting.

School is never out and if you're a photographer you have essentially committed yourself to being a life-long student.  I volunteered as a kid and I still volunteer now.  We do better in community than we do alone. There's more opportunity to grow and help others grow. So as hard as it is to put down my cynical tin-foil hat - I have to say that community breeds at the very least a more sustainable series of opportunities for success. I'm hoping from now on every year will be the year community bests competition.