Commercial and fashion photography, just like anything involving fashion and entertainment, is not just about who you know, but also who you have worked for. More importantly, assisting a highly successful photographer can play a great role in your own career as an aspiring professional photographer. You can definitely learned so much more from being on set during their shoots than just going to photography school or just working on your own entirely.

I know this because one of the photographers I assist from time to time, New York-based BJ Formento (formento2.com) assisted the legendary Annie Leibovitz for 5+ years. Talk about being in one of the most elite of trenches!! That’s the equivalent of being one of Phil Jackson’s assistant coaches! He said that he had learned more about photography and what it takes to succeed in the industry working as one of her assistants than learning photography in school and on his own for 10+ years.

Many of the great photographers have produced other great photographers. As one of the commentors on Melissa’s blog pointed out:
Steven Klein has produced Jason Kibbler, Sharif Hamza, and Benny Horne
Steven Meisel: Tom Monroe, Steven Pan, and Sebastian Kim
David Sims: Daniel Jackson
Mario Testino: Greg Kadel and Roberto D’Este

So if you are like me and am trying to break into the highly competitive world of commercial and fashion photography, be sure to check out this article by one of Melissa Rodwell’s assistant, Tyler Mitchell.


Words from the Trenches on Assisting a Fashion Photographer


You can check out Tyler Mitchell’s work at his site: tylermitchellphotography.com

Stay creative!

Joe Gunawan | fotosiamo.com
Joe Gunawan is a commercial and fashion photographer based out of Los Angeles, California. Check out his work at fotosiamo fotografie

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