A Case Of Divided Loyalties

Last week, while I was shopping for new trainers,  I started thinking about some brands that do not have our best interests at heart. From Adidas standing by Kanye West's comments on slavery to Nike's (and so many other companies') misogyny culture, we keep supporting brands with ethics that go against everything that we stand for. I then realized that, in my closet, I have 6 pairs of Adidas trainers and 7 pairs of Nike trainers, which made me wonder: why am I still giving my hard-earned money to brands that do not represent me and what I believe in? So, instead of shopping those brands, I consciously supported a lesser known one.

It is true that causing controversy has helped the careers of so many people throughout history. It seems to be PR 101. Kanye does it, Trump does it, Lady Gaga did it, Madonna did it, Dali did it, Marilyn Monroe did it, and the more you go back, the more you realize that it has always been part of the celebrity toolkit. Mae West once wrote: "I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right." But, one thing is causing controversy and another completely different thing is attacking a particular group.

You shouldn't expect women to buy your products when as an organisation you oppress them, the same way that you shouldn't expect women's support when you claim that they should be grabbed by their parts when they don't respond to your advances. Or expect black people to keep endorsing your products when you support slavery deniers, the same way that you shouldn't expect gay people to be religious when every single religion in the planet has discriminated them at some point.

The irony in all this is that there are still women buying Nike products, black people wearing Adidas, women voting for the Trumps in the world and gay people supporting religions. I don't know if it's in our nature or if it's just that we are brainwashed from birth into condoning these practices. But, at some point, the cycle must be broken.

And I'm not writing this post trying to call for a boycott on any brand. Those boycotts don't really help, they just give brands free publicity, even if it's bad publicity (remember Mae West's quote). What I'm saying is that we should be more conscious about who we give our money to. Because money doesn't grow on trees (I know mine doesn't) and something doesn't feel right when we are working our lives away trying to make a respectable living, but then we give that money to companies that are not respectable at all.

Brand loyalty shouldn't just be about the quality of the products we buy or the customer experiences that these brands give us. It should also be about which brands reciprocate and are loyal to us as well. Because, in the end, the most important loyalty is the one that you have to yourself and your principles, and if a brand doesn't align with them it should be their loss, not yours. There are plenty brands out there to choose from, but there is only one You to buy from them.

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I Fell Down And Nobody Helped Me

Last Saturday, I was on a train when a group of kids boarded with bikes which they placed against the opposite doors from which they entered. As the train sped, the bikes wiggled and threatened to fall over. Without giving it a second thought, I jumped from my seat and tried to hold them, but before I could reach them, they stabilized and stayed upright. I was already half standing, so I just tried to go back to my seat but, instead, I fell to the floor on my bum, hitting the edge of the seat with my back and the side panel with my elbow. I had forgotten that I had been sitting on one of those retractable seats.

I stayed on the train floor for probably five seconds which felt like an eternity. I then tried to get up but, because the train was in motion, I struggled to grab one of the poles to lift myself up. After probably 30 seconds of battling to hold the pole firmly, I was able to stand up, dust my jacket and my trousers, and make sure that this time the seat was down before I sat. Meanwhile, the rest of the passengers acted as if nothing had happened. No one came to help me. Not even the kids who owned the bikes. One of them just exclaimed "wow!" and looked away. The whole car remained in silence until the next stop.

As I was trying to make sense of what had happened, I didn't feel any embarrassment nor pain. I was just shocked, upset really, that nobody came to my aid. I could have broken a bone for all they cared and absolutely no one could be bothered to help a fellow human being in distress. When did we become like this? When did we stop caring for the wellbeing of others? Has it always been like this and I just hadn't realized it? Where did it all go wrong?

Photographer Bettina Rheims said during the Festival de Hyères: "If one day we convince one person to open their ideas and minds then we help make the world better." I hope that if at least one person reads this post, I convince them to make an effort to offer a hand when another human being is in need of help. Like Bettina, I believe that we can change the world, one person at a time.

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Happy 2018!

We live in times when our value as human beings is measured by what we have. Whoever has the most followers, the fastest car, the priciest clothes or the biggest bank account seems to be better than the rest. And even though we all know that it doesn't work that way, there always seems to be a space reserved for those who have more of something than the rest. Isn't it time we changed the "I have, therefore I am" philosophy and make it about having more of what really counts?

Over the last year I have had amazing experiences and met really inspiring people; I have travelled to new places and discovered other cultures and other ways of thinking; I have worked with both old and new clients and have had some pretty interesting gigs; and most of all, I have had deep and meaningful interactions with the people that I have been lucky to cross paths with, be it relatives, friends, peers or acquaintances. Of course, it has not all been fun and games; along the way, I have also lost jobs, clients and even people whom I called friends.

But, in my re-interpretation of the "I have, therefore I am" rule, I can say that I am happy. Because I have more love, more fulfiling experiences and more learning opportunities than I could ever wish for. And for that, I am really grateful.

Before the year ends, look back on 2017 and choose to focus on the things that you have that are meaningful. I wish that, like me, you realize that what you have is more than enough to be happy.

Happy 2018.

Music: http://www.purple-planet.com

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The Value Of Life

While I was standing at a pedestrian crossing waiting for the light to change, a woman with a baby in arms crossed the street with the pedestrian light still in red. She must be in a real hurry - I thought - to be willing to endanger both her life and the life of her child. Sadly, this was not the first time that I had witnessed something like this. We have all seen those people whose time is so precious that they feel like it is a waste of time waiting a few seconds for the light to turn green. In a world where the rush justifies the danger, what is the real value of a human life?

It’s been almost 20 years since I left Panama. Moving out of my country helped me understand that there was a world out there which was bigger than me. With time, living in different countries opened my horizons and my mind and gave me an appreciation for humanity. Nowadays, ageing has given me a sense of inclusiveness, and the realisation that we are just one species and that we are all equal. The knowledge that in spite of our superficial differences, we all have the same needs and fears and that my life is not worth any more or any less than any other person on the planet has been one of the most important lessons learnt in my life.

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the value of a human life. From the complicity on gun violence of gun owners and gun associations; to police brutality in the US, France and Spain; to countries closing their borders on people fleeing from war and death, there is just too little appreciation for human lives these days. If you are regularly on social media like I am, you sometimes feel like the life of a cat or a dog is more precious than the life of another person.

I used to think that only people in power had the capacity to sit down in their offices just caring about their own interests while making decisions that affect millions of lives. But now, I've come to realize that we, the everyday people, do it as well. 

We flick through our social media channels or news outlets judging and deciding the fate of other human beings by ignoring their requests for help; by supporting invasions and wars with other countries; by encouraging our government to close the borders on people fleeing conflicts that our own countries have created; or by cold-heartedly deciding whether someone should be fired, extradited, jailed or killed. 

It is as if those faces that we see on the news or the internet are difficult to relate to because they are from far away. They are on the other side of our devices; they are not like us... But, they are! And sooner or later the ones in their position could be us. History has an unpredictable way of shifting the balance of power and when we least expect it, it could be us running for our lives.

This is the only life that we have. There is no after-life, no reincarnation, no heaven nor hell. This is it. Wouldn't it be better lived if we spent it appreciating a bit more our lives and the lives of others? Wouldn't it be worth it if we just waited a few seconds for the crossing light to turn green?

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I Wish I Had Known... About Hair Styling!

This is the fourth post in my series of monthly posts where I speak with people in the creative industries and ask them questions about the things that "I Wish I Had Known" when I started out as a creative myself.

Today I speak with Hamilton Stansfield, Australia-born London-based Hair Artist, about what a career in hair styling is all about:

1. On any given day one can find you working with a celebrity, tending to your private clients, or running 106 km in the Isle of Wight. In a nutshell, who is Hamilton Stansfield?

All of the above inclusive and more, but I'm not defined by what I do. I’m a driven, ambitious, motivated, energetic, relentless creative. I’m always looking to push the creativity and I try to work or collaborate with people who are also driven to keep trying something different, something fresh.

2. Hairdresser, Hair Stylist, Session Hair Artist... what is the difference?

A Hairdresser is someone who encompasses all the skills that are generally needed for the public, which involves cutting and colouring, blow-drying, and styling.

A hairstylist is generally somebody skilled essentially in styling. Not all of the support work that gets it to there. Generally speaking. So just the dressing out of hair as in most shoots, which sometimes involves wigs and hair pieces, sometimes it does not. Sometimes it involves having knowledge and skills about cut, colour and all the other elements of texture. Often times, not. It is not about the needs of bringing out the best of a person necessarily.  It's often working with a model or celebrity, so many times hairstylists don't necessarily have a strong ability to bring out the person within the creativity. Sometimes the creativity of the hairstylist just pops on that person. It's less to do with the person or finding out what the person is about because it's not always the context. If it's a model, especially if it's a model, but sometimes even the same with an actress or a celebrity. Sometimes they look like they're wearing a hairstyle rather than being just them.

Then a session hair stylist is the next level, where you can pretty much do it all. But It's infinitely creative. Every time you don't copycat, you bring something new. Because you do have all of the skills: you can do wigs, you can do hair pieces, you can completely change who that person is because it's less colour-by-numbers. A session hair stylist truly reinvents somebody. Like Sam McKnight or Malcolm Edwards, for instance. You see their work and you can tell that's something!

You can be all of the above, but generally, you break them into these categories.

3. How did you start working with hair?

My step-father's nephew from his first marriage was a renowned hairdresser in Australia. I was coming out of a very complicated time and he connected me up with the craft. And I just devoured it. And then I couldn't stop. Courses, working, extra training, wigs, makeup, learning, learning, learning.

Then acting came after five years of doing hair. I went to NIDA, which is a known drama school, and I auditioned with a friend and went into the Actors Centre. In the meantime, I did hair to support acting. But, as with many actors, I didn’t make a career of it. Thankfully, I had something else that I could do. I started working with celebrities because I understood them. I had been on both sides. So I continued on to make a good living out of hair. 

4. What is the path for a creative who decides to follow a hair styling career?

In Australia, you have to do four years. It's a degree. Here in the UK, you can do six months, the same in the US. Six months or a year, and then you're left to do it, but you really don't know what you're doing. You haven't studied the physiology or the chemistry of all the elements to do it properly. You just had a faff around with hair, but you don't know what you're doing. You don't know what the chemicals are made of or how the elements come together. You don't know the substance behind it, you just know how to contort hair. But you don't know why and how, you don't have the substance behind it.    

5. Are there any sort of specializations in the field or do you need to know it all about styling, colouring, treatments, etc?

Specialization depends on which way do you want to go. If you want to do commercial work, TV and catalogue, or you want to do bridal or do fashion, or you want to do extreme fashion, or you want to do campaigns, or do film. Do you want to do stuff that is 9 to 5 or do stuff that is infinitely creative? It depends on where you want to go. It's like saying: “what do I need in order to go on that trip?” Well, where is your trip to? You have got to know where you're going to go. How can you know how to get somewhere if you don't have an idea of where you want to go?

6. You often hear that makeup artists are expected to know how to do hair... are hair stylists expected to know how to apply makeup?

It's definitely different categories. This really intrigues me and I have thought about it quite a few times because people have asked me many times before: “what do you enjoy more hair or makeup?" Not to be confused with the male or the female gender, but hair is much more about masculine energy, about taking control, being strong with a manipulative force. Makeup is much more about the feminine energy, much more painterly, reflective, touching, perceiving, understanding, feeling what's going on. So they are different energies. Of course that’s a generalization because you can have aggressive makeup, but generally makeup requires a softer touch and generally hair requires to take charge of it. Some people are wired in a way that they can handle the amount of energy and attention to detail. And some people are not. Some people benefit either way. That's a little bit out there but that's my view of it.  It has nothing to do with the gender. It has to do with the energy of the person.

7. I know that you are represented by an agent, but I believe that you also work directly with your own clients. Would you say that your career gives you the flexibility to work in a salon, as a freelancer and with agencies without having to stick to one business model at once?

Absolutely. I've deliberately done it. I've had salons before, managing staff and people, and it requires a lot of energy and time. I'd rather just do the work. I have an agent. She essentially does the paperwork and does it pretty well, but my clients come directly to me. I have just shy of 400 clients that come to me and to my place which means I'm available from 7 a.m. to midnight almost every day. And then when I have a shoot they know that that takes priority and they get moved. And they understand that.

Those clients involve people from all over the world. I'm very lucky that they fly me there or they fly to me. Lots of people come to my atelier, which is a two chair salon and it is very much one on one. Very personal. Anytime, day or night. As a client, you're not dealing with any public or anybody else. Total attention to you, and for that you pay a premium. But they enjoy it. Once they get away from the mindset of a salon they prefer that they can come here any night or any day or any morning they can. They are also quite happy to fly me to other countries to do that as well.

All this involves complete autonomy from anybody telling me what to do. Financial independence on a creative level. So I don't do things like catalogues anymore. That doesn't interest me at all. Neither anything that's kind of generic or not creative because I don't have to. It's not interesting. The more you simplify life, the better. If I had a salon, and staff, and those insurances, and those expenses, and those things to take care of, that would be less energy that I have for the people I'm working with. My clients. Whether it is in the atelier or whether it is on a shoot.  It's more money in, less money out. It’s more energy into what I'm doing, less energy wasted on stuff that doesn't return. So you want to maximise what's coming in and minimise what's going out. That's the business model.

8. Apart from working with private clients and celebrities, you also collaborate with photographers in photoshoots. How does that come about and why do you think that it is important to collaborate with other creatives?

If you don't put yourself into new situations you won't challenge yourself in new ways. Creative collaborations come to me. I generally don't hustle anymore. Not unless it's somebody that I really like.

9. What advice would you give to someone who is thinking about embarking on a hair styling career?

Work on your skills and your craft. Work on you. Know what you do and why you do it and don't do it for the notions of some kind of fame or notoriety, because they won't last. You do this because you love doing it.

10. Where can we see your work and how can people get a hold of you?

The usual suspects: my website and my Instagram.

I really appreciate it, Hamilton! Thank you so much for answering my questions and letting me take a peek into what a Hair Artist career is about. This is everything that "I Wish I Had Known"!

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If you haven't read the previous posts of this series, you can check the whole series here. I hope you liked this new post and stay tuned for a different creative each month!

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Learn The Rules Then Break Them

The idea of rules to regulate art goes against the notion of creativity, but in order to explore and express your creativity, you have to understand at least the rules of the medium that you are working in. Once you understand those rules you can and should break them, and only then will you be able to fully unleash your creative self. If artistic growth is about breaking the rules but you haven't learned any rules in the first place, can you even say that you are breaking them?

A couple of posts ago I spoke about the importance of knowing what the subject of your photo is. Only then will you be able to apply the rules of composition to your images to improve how you present your subjects. On September 2, I will be giving a talk on "Perfecting Your Photography" to a group of bloggers during the "Breakthrough in Blogging" event organized by the guys over at the Creative Industry Hub. Join me and learn basic photography composition guidelines and start taking better photos!

If you live outside London and are not able to make it to the event, don't despair. Stay tuned for future blog posts where I will be talking about all these concepts.

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Why Do We Take Photos?

Lately I have found myself coaching people on how to improve their photography skills and take better photos. And one of the things that I emphasize the most is that when we take a photo we need to understand what is the subject of our image to be able to convey a message about it. Sometimes the subject is very clear: a person, a building, a landscape, a dish; but other times we create images about experiences, about feelings, about moods, and then it is difficult for the viewer to understand what the photo is about. And even if it is difficult for ourselves to explain what an image that we took is about, there was a reason why we felt the need to capture it. The answer to the question "what is the subject of my image?" lies in the answer to another question: "why am I taking this photo?"

In this day and age when photography has been so democratized, I would say that the majority of people take photos to show others the experiences that they are living or the places where they go, some sort of visual journal of their lives. Other people, on the other hand, take photos in a less self-involved manner and more like witnesses of the world that surrounds them, like "a tourist in other people's realities" (Susan Sontag, On Photography, 1977). But there are also people like me, photographers who get hired to take a photo of a person, a product or an idea for commercial purposes. No matter which type of photography you do, there is always a reason why you are taking an image. There is always a subject in mind.

The challenge relies on how to transmit the message to the viewer, how to make them understand what our photo is about. And for me the first step is understanding ourselves what the subject of our photo is. In my experience, this idea that might sound so obvious is not so obvious at all. Today's technology lets us take an infinite amount of photos for a very low cost which means that we end up clicking away every time that we want to capture something. Amateurs and professionals alike, with the "think less, shoot more" strategy we take a massive amount of images in the hope to be able to rescue at least a few good ones. And even if admittedly there are some instances when there is no time to think for too long because time is precious, most of the times stopping for a second to think about why we are taking an image translates into a better photo.

Do you want to improve your photography? Stop what you are doing and look around. Do you see any photos? Are you able to tell what the subject is? Now do this with your own photos. Is the subject as clear as you thought it would be when you took them?

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Waiting For The Bus To Come

Those who know me know that I enjoy cooking. More than enjoy, I would say that it is a hobby of mine. Spending hours in the kitchen taking individual ingredients, transforming them, and creating something that you can share with others is for me one of the biggest pleasures in life. But, apart from being a pleasure, it has also been a school. It has taught me patience and it has given me the ability to blindly wait for long periods of time to be rewarded with the outcome of my efforts. We all desperately need to learn how to cook.

It is funny that what I do for a living and what I like doing in my spare time are both related to the pass of time. Berenice Abbott wrote in her book 'The World of Atget': "(...) the photographer is the contemporary being par excellence; through his eyes the now becomes past." As photographers, we capture present time moments and turn them into memories from the past. But, as someone who enjoys cooking, the pleasure relies in imagining how a dish would taste in the future and then build with present ingredients towards that.

Carmen Herrera said in the documentary on her life: "If you wait for the bus, the bus will come." She had to wait until she was almost a 100 years old to be recognized for her art. But she never stopped painting. Not even when she was told at some point in her life that she would never make it in the art world because she was a woman. Talk about perseverance. Yet nowadays we are not willing to wait for anything in our lives: we buy pre-cooked food instead of cooking it ourselves, instant messaging has replaced almost all of our communications, we want immediate success without doing the effort.

If you have a goal in life you must have the patience and perseverance to attain it, but also the vision to make it sustainable in time. Immediate success often comes with immediate failure. Our business community is so consumed in going from zero to profit in the least amount of time possible that no one seems to be focusing on how to survive after success. In my opinion, it is better to arrive slowly but to have a solid foundation that will keep us going for long.

Don't rush into things, not even when you feel that everyone else is ahead of you. Everything happens at the right time. You can't have 40 years of experience if you haven't lived for 40 years. The same way that you can't make a delicious homemade meal if you don't spend a few hours in the kitchen.

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I Wish I Had Known... About Fashion Journalism!

This is the third post of my series of monthly posts where I speak with people in the creative industries and ask them questions about the things that "I Wish I Had Known" when I started out as a creative myself.

Today I speak with Olivia Pinnock, Fashion Journalist, Copywriter and founder of The Fashion Debates, about what fashion journalism is all about:

1. I met you through the Fashion Debates but you are also a copywriter, a lecturer at London Metropolitan University and a fashion journalist. Who is Olivia Pinnock?

Oh I ask myself that all the time! I trained as a journalist and I do still really believe I’m a writer at heart but I’m very fortunate that I’m able to channel all of my skills and passions into many different areas.

2. What exactly is Fashion Journalism? Is it related to Fashion Critique?

Yes, all fashion critics are journalists, though not all journalists are critics! Fashion journalism is the reporting of news and trends related to what we wear. This can be interviewing designers, writing catwalk show reports, announcing changes to key staff in fashion companies, forecasting trends for the coming season, reporting sales figures for brands, and many more things! Fashion criticism is deeper analysis of these things. It could be putting a fashion collection into context and offering thought on whether it is a successful or unsuccessful. It could also explore why certain trends are popular right now, or what changes in the industry mean for business.   

3. How do you become a Fashion Journalist? Is it a separate career from journalism?

There’s not one path to go down. I studied Journalism at university and built up a portfolio of fashion writing to specialise and I believe that my training in traditional journalism skills has been very helpful. However, some people study fashion journalism and other people don’t study at all, they just train themselves through experience. I didn’t know I wanted to work in fashion when I studied so it was the right route for me.   

4. What is the role of the fashion journalist today in this day and age where a photo posted on social media is worth a thousand words?

Well we all know that what is posted on social media is not necessarily factual never mind good quality. While it can be even harder to stand out amongst all the noise on social media and the internet, I think we need top quality, trustworthy journalism in all fields more than ever.   

5. With great writing comes great responsibility. Do you think that a fashion journalist should actually know about fabrics, pattern cutting, design, and the basics of the fashion industry to be able to do their job?

Absolutely! You would expect a political reporter to understand how government works, you would expect a war reporter to understand the history of the conflict, you would expect a football reporter to know the rules of the game, so you must educate yourself as a fashion journalist to understand every aspect of the industry and its history.

The module I teach at London Met is called Fashion Branding & Journalism but as part of our classes I give them quizzes on current fashion news, names of fabrics, shoe styles, important figures in the industry, etc. We also take a trip to a factory to see how clothes are made. I feel very strongly that this is something that is very important and yet often missing from fashion journalism education.  

6. I know that you are also a copywriter. For the rest of us: what is copy?

It is any writing that is done for a brand, and therefore has a commercial purpose. It’s a very broad term that covers anything from product descriptions, to press releases, to advertising slogans, to e-newsletters and social media posts, to company information on a website or catalogue.  

7. Is it right to think that sometimes the copy on the cover of magazines or in advertisement is trying to exploit our insecurities?

Of course it is. It’s not necessarily so obviously at the forefront of editors and advertising executives’ minds when they write them but it is a very long-standing technique in order to get people to buy things and it’s very effective. However, we are now much wiser to this and there is quite a backlash to the negative impact the constant bombardment of messages that tell us we are not good enough unless we buy things to solve all our problems has. This is very slowly heralding a new age of advertising and media.  

8. How about fashion brands? How honest is their message? What can we do as consumers?

Well, that really depends on the brand! I think we should always be aware that any brand’s ultimate purpose is to sell and make a profit, but that doesn’t necessarily make them evil. Of course, sometimes they cross a line and we have an awful lot of power as consumers to boycott brands we disagree with and to hold the brand’s we do like to a higher standard when they miss the mark by using our voice. It’s important to think critically and always be aware of the motives behind the things you see, read, and watch, and while brands can have an amazing impact on raising awareness or money for certain issues, don’t expect them to be saints. Expect them to be companies who need to make money in order to survive.

9. What are the Fashion Debates and when and where do they take place?

The Fashion Debates is a series of panel discussion events in London which explore ethical issues facing the fashion industry. Our past topics have included sweatshop labour, environmental pollution, racism, the health of models, and unpaid internships and work. And there’s many more to come! You can find out when the next one is coming up on our Twitter and Instagram accounts, or on our Facebook page and there’s also a newsletter sign up form on our website.  
    
10. How can people from outside London take part on the debates?

We stream all our debates live on Facebook, make sure you’ve ‘liked’ our page! And by sharing your ethical fashion style every Wednesday with our hashtag #OnWednesdaysWeWearEthical.

Amazing! Thank you so much Olivia for taking the time to answer my questions and for explaining with such care what Fashion Journalism is about. This is everything that "I Wish I Had Known"!

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If you haven't read the other posts of this series, you can check the whole series here. I hope you liked this new post and stay tuned for a different creative each month!

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The New Trend Is Truth

Last June, The Global Language Monitor announced that the Top Trending Global English Word for 2017 was 'Truth'. Not 'meme', not 'god', not an animal nor the name of a celebrity, but 'Truth'. People just want the truth. In a world with so much falseness, could it be that being real is all you need to stand out?

Truth. Such a strong word, for words themselves are very powerful; mightier than the sword, has been said. Used with good intentions they can move us, unite us, incite love, support and confidence; used with the wrong intentions, they can manipulate us, lead to hatred, destruction, and war. But, sometimes, we are not aware of the consequences of our words. We throw them unwittingly without stopping for a second to think if they are hurting others, or even ourselves. And nowhere is this more obvious than in social media these days. The internet age has made us feel as if everything was ephemeral, short living. We post something today and a few minutes later is not in our timelines anymore, it is gone, forever. Or so we think. But, it is not. It is just hidden, waiting patiently somewhere in the depths of an internet server to come bite us back. When I was growing up I was always told: "The spoken word can't be taken back." Replace "spoken" with "posted" and it is our reality today.

Therefore, we must be very careful with what we say online, specially in our businesses accounts. Our brands can be easily tainted by the wrong use of words, and the trust from our clients, present or future, might not be that easy to gain back. Before we post anything we must always ask ourselves: Is this true? Do I have proof? Does this represent me or my brand? Does this hurt anyone, including myself? Is this disrespectful to others, even the ones who are not like me? Think about the words that you like being told to you. Think about how it feels when someone tells you that they love you, that they support you, that you mean the world to them. Think about how you like it when people are honest with you, when they tell you the truth. Other people, including your clients, would appreciate that feeling as well.

Use your communication channels (voice, social media, email, online, print) being true to yourself and your branding but with respect, empathy, tolerance and transparency. Your clients, and your peers as well, might have different opinions or backgrounds than yours and just because they do business with you that does not mean that they see life the same way that you do. If you show them respect and truth they will more than likely show you their trust.

All the love or all the hatred in the world can fit in one word. Use words wisely.

Photo credit: Tana Benavides

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I Wish I Had Known... About Submissions!

This is the first post of my series of monthly posts where I speak with people in the creative industries and ask them questions about the things that "I Wish I Had Known" when I started out as a creative myself.

Today I speak with Wayne Noir, fellow photographer and the Editor-In-Chief of London based Rion Magazine, about what is a submission based magazine and how can creatives get their work published:

1. First of all, tell us about RION Magazine

RION magazine is a creative platform that showcases the very best in creative talent from around the globe. These include photographers, MUA’s, stylists, designers and music artist. We are both online and in print, and in the future an app too!

2. What is your job at RION and what responsibilities does it entitle?

At RION, I am the Editor-In-Chief of both the online magazine and the print issues. My duties include the running of the magazine. I have to set themes, ensure that all the creatives get mentioned, scheduling post for online, social media and email marketing. The due diligence behind the business in making sure we comply with everything. 80% of my time is making sure these things are checked, doubled checked, ticked, filed, and backed up. It can be easy to make a mistake and once it's in print, it can't be taken back. I have to make sure that every article, editorial, image, social media post is non judgemental, not slanderous in any way or offensive. If anything is sent to us in terms of advertising, I need to ensure that we let our viewers know this. Which can change people's opinion of an article. I tend not to publish anything that relates to advertising, though it may be contradictory, as if it's the artist I'm publishing, and therefore, if the feature is about a designer, that can be seen as advertising.

3. Why are you submission based? Will this ever change? As in, will you ever consider hiring a crew to shoot for the magazine?

Purely for content really, when I started RION 2 years ago, it was a WordPress blog that I used on my phone. We've grown now to a worldwide readership. We are still very new and I think that we will stay submission based for the time being but I'm not ruling it out just yet. Although we don't have the budget to pay creatives at the moment, I’d love to, believe me. We continually support the growth of the creatives and the community. We don't just accept their work, publish it and that's it. No, we constantly support by following their social pages, engaging in their work, giving shout-outs, any job posts that we see we put out to our creative community; we offer professional advice in some cases, too. Any profits that we do make we give to charity. Our current issue, the NOIR issue, is for a charity called MIND, to help boost awareness for mental health.

4. Why would a creative be interested in having their work published?

To get recognised for their work and their creative skills, to try and boost on your own profiles alone can be very hard when you are starting out. When I started as a photographer, I knocked on all the modelling agency's doors until one agency agreed to test with me, from there on I got booked for more test shoots, then proper shoots and then OK! Magazine. Once I was published, and I had a publication on my CV, other magazines, modelling agencies, and models seemed to take me more seriously. You just need that break.

5. What sort of photography is RION interested in?

RION is a creative platform, anything creative and high fashion is what we love. I love black and white so that's always a winner for me.

6. How is your submission process?

All submissions can be sent to submissions@rionmagazine.com, whether you are a writer, a designer, photographer, MUA, musician or in the creative arts. We request that you name your feature, and send us low-res images. Once our creative team accepts your submission, you'd then be asked to send over 300DPI images via Dropbox or WeTransfer and we ask that you include ALL the credits with this and fill out our disclaimer form that we will send you. This is just to make sure that the original copyright owner agrees and accepts your submission (If it’s not the photographer who is submitting it). We then file your submission, the supporting document, and credit list, and then our graphic designer pulls this from our server and does his thing. This is why we ask: please, please do make sure that you credit everything and everyone. Once your submission has been accepted and moved onto the next stage, it cannot be changed.

7. How do you decide which photos to publish?

I look for something that is different. Something that shows emotion, passion and creativity. Anything black and white that is raw with attitude is always a winner with me. But it's not just about the style, the images need to capture the designs, the model and personality. Every member of the team has worked on that shoot so the images should reflect every creative who was involved. 

8. Who is allowed to submit? Only the photographer?

No, anyone can submit to RION, we only ask that the original copyright owner signs the relevant release form and accepts that they are happy for us to publish their work.

9. What are the common mistakes that creatives make when submitting their work?

There are quite a few actually:

• Not naming the editorials. It's your work. We don't want to name it, It's your thought process, so name your editorials.

• Bulk sending submissions, it's really hard once the graphic designer has your work and starts the design process only to be emailed to say that another magazine has published it already.

• Not crediting the whole team. There is no "I" in team. Everyone needs to be credited. There is no limelight with RION. The light gets shined on every creative that has worked on the shoot.

• Not sending the high-res images, they might look fine on the screen but in print they can be very pixelated and don't reflect the hard work that everyone has put in. We only want to show your very best work and you deserve that.

• Lastly, changing their mind at the last minute and adding or taking away images or changing the credits.

10. Should creatives pay a magazine to have their work published?

Oh gosh no. This is a big “no, no” for us and a topic that we are very strongly against. No one should pay for their work to be published. Never!

11. Any other word of advice?

Enjoy what you do, it can be stressful, there will be times when things go wrong and not according to plan but that's where your creativity can really blossom. Enjoy the ride, keep your portfolio updated and engage with other creatives, established or not, we all started from the bottom. Everyone is equal.

12. When is the next issue?

The next issue will be in September 2017, any submissions can be sent to submissions@rionmagazine.com. The deadline for this is the end of June 2017.

Brilliant! Thank you so much Wayne for taking the time to share all this valuable information with me. So many things that "I Wish I Had Known"!

Thank you, JC!

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If you haven't read the other posts of this series, you can check the whole series here. I hope you liked this new post and stay tuned for a different creative each month!

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