Another Rough Draft?

 Here is my next rough draft. touched up a few places and added more information.

              I’ve always thought that when it comes to writing, it’s just authors, English teachers, and students who do it. Being a Professional Photography student, I decided to study the type of writing, if any, a Photographer has to be able to do whether it’s communicating efficiently with future clients or emails for potential clients. I’m going to discuss these writings, analyze their conventions, and genres that even a visual artist must apply to their field.

            For a Photographer, a job doesn’t start with an image that has already been shot, edited, and processed, it starts with an email. In this email a lot of things come together to not only provide effective communication, but also to give a sense of who the individual is as a professional and artist. This first stream of communication with a new client tells them a little bit about what it is going to be like working with you. No one wants to hire the person who starts an email with “bro” and communicates saying using the terms like, kinda, or I guess. They need someone who can communicate their vision, show they understand what the client wants, and provide easy to follow details. This does not mean sound like a corporate robot, there is a level of formality and a level of casualty that sound be incorporated into the communication.

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I interviewed Brooks Institute alumni Bobby Curtis to explain to me how an email typically looks between new and old clients in regards to formality and how he communicates with them. Curtis graduated Brooks Institute in the visual journalism program. While he does do some visual journalism work, he also does a lot of Photography and Videography work. He has worked with ESPN at UFC, worked for NBA Photographer Andrew D. Bernstein, worked alongside National Geographic Photographers, photographed artists such as Max Cash, and has covered five marathons for Lexus. This is why I believe this made him the perfect candidate to help me learn and understand writing that visual artists have to do. He gave me the example to think of a new client as a new friendship; at first you are quite formal, but not completely, but as the relationship grows and develops, so does the level of formality, this does not mean all formality is dropped after a certain amount of time.

When Curtis begins communication with a new client he uses the same conventions and genres as we leaned in class. So, the email begins with a simple greeting before continuing on to state who you are, why you are interested in them, what your job is, what you’ve done for past clients, who you’ve worked for, and closing by thanking them or wishing them well. After Curtis has done this he then proceeds to insert his personal signature at the end of his email that includes his website link, email, back-up email, and phone numbers. He had also showed me an

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example of what his emails look like and he also inserts a special heading that displays his company name, Bobby Curtis Photography, at the top of the email. Bobby also shared a story with me about an individual he knew who tried to get a company to hire him by sending an email. In the story he talked about how this Photographer seemed very self-absorbed, used vulgar language as to “cut the bullshit”, and then would “kiss ass.” Needless to say, this Photographer did not get the job. Bobby explained to me that it’s important to be formal, but still casual, not to go out of your way to use big words, be yourself, be genuine, research and understand the company you are trying to work for, and then your work will speak for yourself. All of these things we have discussed in class as the correct genre and conventions to use in order to achieve of positive email in return. As the client relationship grows it become less formal and maybe even sometimes take he form of a text. However, the genre and convention are still the same. So, once the relationship has developed and the client emails you first, the email will still have a greeting, explain why they are contacting you, ask if you’re available, when the job will be, what the job is, ask if you’re interested, and inform you of payment details. The email still has the casual greeting, information on the assignment just like you provided information about yourself, what they want you to do just like how you told them what you can do, inquired for a job, and gave well-wishing.

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After the emails are out of the way and the photographer begins pre-production, the client and the artist still have to keep close communication. Whether it be a last minute change in set design, deadline adjustments, or even throwing out new ideas because next to the actual images, client relationship and communication is important. Bobby told me how there is a constant stream of emails, phone calls, and meetings throughout the entire production all of which requires crystal clear communication. While at this point, it’s far less formal communication and more business, you still have to treat it with care especially because you will encounter

clients who know exactly what they want and some who don’t. In order to assure you or the client knows what you want or can do for them, the wording in the emails

must be easy to follow to explain what you want to do in detail. I asked Bobby for any tips or advice on the matter and he responded with,  “Give options, but give options you want to do. Always word it so it works in your favour.”

I was able to briefly discuss artist statements with Bobby Curtis. After reading his statement, I recognized the conventions of it that we discussed in class. He has why he does Photography, awards he’s accepted, jobs he has had, and clients he has worked for. “[However,] I’m constantly writing and deleting.” He expressed to me how it’s important to keep your artist statement current. As your work changes, so should your artist statement in order to help it relate to the work that if on your webpage or work that is about to be put up.

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Lastly, I asked Bobby Curtis the most important question; Do you think that being able to write effectively and using the right genres and conventions holds an important role in everything, including something as artistic as Photography? He replied simply with “yes.” After listening to all of his stories and answering all of my questions, I too believe this. At first, I thought that clients know that artists were sort of free birds making formality, or using appropriate genres and conventions for communication, less of a requirement in showing their level of professionalism. However, I have realized that everyone must acquire the rhetoric expertise for their careers or feilds, artistic or not. Clients want someone they can clearly communicate with, who are able to deal with details and information and respond accordingly. The initial email is their first impression of you so you want present yourself as a professional who knows what they are talking about and be able to show that in that first level of communication. As long time Brooks Institute faculty member Paul Meyer would say, this is what helps separate amateurs from professionals. So, really the question is, Do you want to be taken seriously?

            In conclusion, everyone has to write no matter the field and they have to be able to write well. Before completing this assignment, I reluctantly believed that this assignment wouldn’t help me in the future and it was just busy work. However, I finally came to the realization that everyone, even artists, have to be able to write and do it well This interview has shown me and helped me realize how important it

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is to have or gain an understanding of conventions and genres of any field because it can help you monumentally succeed and handle any writing situation.

It's Not That Shitty of a Rough Draft

Straight Copy and past from my word doc. 

After our class last week I'm going to add in more about Bobby and what makes him a more reliable and credible source of information.

 

            I’ve always thought that when it comes to writing, it’s just authors, English teachers, and students who do it. I reluctantly believed that this assignment wouldn’t help me in the future and it was just busy work. However, I finally came to the conclusion that everyone, even artists, have to be able to write and do it well. Being a Professional Photography student, I decided to study the type of writing a Photographer has to be able to do in order to help myself communicate efficiently with future clients. I’m going to discuss these different types of writing, conventions, and genres that even a visual artist must apply to communicate effectively.

            For a Photographer, a job doesn’t start with an image that has already been shot, edited, and processed, it starts with an email. In this email a lot of things come together to not only provide effective communication, but also to give a sense of who the individual is as a professional and artist. No one wants to hire the person who starts an email with “bro” even if the Photographer shoots beach/surf lifestyle exclusively because maintaining a professional appearance is extremely important when dealing with clients, but you also don’t want to sound like a robot either.

I interviewed Brooks Institute alumni Bobby Curtis to explain to me how an email typically looks with new and old clients in regards to formality. Curtis

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graduated Brooks Institute in the visual journalism program. While he does do some visual journalism work, he also does a lot of Photography and videography work. He

has worked with {INSERT WHAT BOBS HAS DONE) making him the perfect candidate to help me learn and understand writing that visual artists have to do. He gave me the example to think of a new client as a new friendship; at first you are quite formal, but not completely, but as the relationship grows and develops, so does the level of formality. So when he begins communication with a new client he uses the same conventions and genres as we leaned in class. So, the email begins with a simple greeting before continuing on to state who you are, why you are interested in them, what your job is, what you’ve done for past clients, who you’ve worked for, and closing by thanking them or wishing them well. After Curtis has done this he then proceeds to insert his personal signature at the end of his email that includes his website link, email, back-up email, and phone numbers. He had also showed me an example of what his emails look like and he also inserts a special heading that displays his company name, Bobby Curtis Photography, at the top of the email. Bobby also shared a story with me about an individual he knew who tried to get a company to hire him by sending an email. In the story he talked about how this Photographer seemed very self-absorbed, used vulgar language as to “cut the bullshit”, and then would “kiss ass.” Needless to say, this Photographer did not get the job. Bobby explained to me that it’s important to be formal, but still casual, not to go out of your way to use big

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words, be yourself, be genuine, research and understand the company you are trying to work for, and then your work will speak for yourself. All of these things we

have discussed in class as the correct genre and conventions to use in order to achieve of positive email in return. As the client relationship grows it become less formal and maybe even sometimes take he form of a text. However, the genre and

convention are still the same. So, once the relationship has developed and the client emails you first, the email will still have a greeting, explain why they are contacting you, ask if you’re available, when the job will be, what the job is, ask if you’re interested, and inform you of payment details. The email still has the casual greeting, information on the assignment just like you provided information about yourself, what they want you to do just like how you told them what you can do, inquired for a job, and gave well-wishing.

After the emails are out of the way and the photographer begins pre-production, the client and the artist still have to keep close communication. Whether it be a last minute change in set design, deadline adjustments, or even throwing out new ideas because next to the actual images, client relationship and communication is important. Bobby told me how there is a constant stream of emails, phone calls, and meetings throughout the entire production all of which requires crystal clear communication. While at this point, it’s far less formal communication and more business, you still have to treat it with care especially because you will encounter

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clients who know exactly what they want and some who don’t. In order to assure you or the client knows what you want or can do for them, the wording in the emails

must be easy to follow to explain what you want to do in detail. I asked Bobby for any tips or advice on the matter and he responded with,  “Give options, but give options you want to do. Always word it so it works in your favour.”

I was able to briefly discuss artist statements with Bobby Curtis. After reading his statement, I recognized the conventions of it that we discussed in class. He has why he does Photography, awards he’s accepted, jobs he has had, and clients he has worked for. “[However,] I’m constantly writing and deleting.” He expressed to me how it’s important to keep your artist statement current. As your work changes, so should your artist statement in order to help it relate to the work that if on your webpage or work that is about to be put up.

            Lastly, I asked Bobby Curtis the most important question; Do you think that being able to write effectively and using the right genres and conventions holds an important role in everything, including something as artistic as Photography? He replied simply with “yes.” After listening to all of his stories and answering all of my questions, I too believe this. At first, I thought that clients believed that artists were sort of free birds so formality, or using appropriate genres and conventions for communication, didn’t apply to them. However, I have realized that everyone must

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acquire the rhetoric expertise for their careers, artistic or not. Clients want someone they can clearly communicate with who are able to deal with details and information. The initial email is their first impression of you so you want present yourself as a professional. As Brooks Institute faculty member Paul Meyer would say, this is what helps separate amateurs from professionals. So, really the question is, Do you want to be taken seriously?

            In conclusion, everyone has to write no matter the field and they have to be able to write well. Understanding conventions and genres can really help someone determine the correct way to handle writing in ultimately any situation.

Interview Questions

Here are the interview questions I was suppose to post a few week ago, during the actual interview I asked a lot more questions though.

How does communication with a client typically begin??

 (Emails, phone calls, interview) (How do you get the position?)

What does an email between a client and yourself look like??

            (Greeting, formality in body, “goodbye”, signature)

When you start actually shooting, do you continue to keep in close contact with the client through the duration of the project using these methods? Would you say it helps?

            (Because either deadlines changes, last minute change it set design, etc)

After you’ve finished shooting, editing, and processing, is there anything you email or say to your clients alongside the images? Or How does communicate end?

            (Like an email saying you’re finished, any problems, etc)

            (Thank you email, informing the images are on FTP or something)

Do you have an artist statement? How do you feel about it? Any writing on website besides a caption?

            (Do you feel like you effectively written who you are as an artist or a particular image?)

Did you notice how other photographers write their artist statement?

(Use similar genres and conventions or little tricks from them?)

Do you think that writing and the way you write has helped you in your career?

Week 7 // How to Read Like a Writer

(Typing as I read, so let's see if I can make sense.)

            "I realized writing is a word-by-word, sentence-by-sentence process.... [There are some] interesting ways that authors string words into phrases into paragraphs into entire books."

            Basically, reading is learning about writing, makes sense. The more you read the more you know if you like the writing style of an author and learn what not to and what to do in your own writing, even if you don't realize it. If you read a book from an author that is always incredibly descriptive and really helps you imagine an object, you'll probably end up incorporating it into your writing. However, if you read lame books, with lame authors, with lame words, lame stories, lame characters, lame, lame, lame, lame, and lame, you're writing might not be that lame because you know what not to do, unless you're lame. (I don't know why I did that... Probably because I'm lame.)

            If you want to better yourself as a writer by really analyzing the writing you need to ask why and how A LOT. How did they do this? Why did they do this?  How did they make me feel this way? Why did they place this here instead of there? Learn it's recipe. You'll probably destroy and burn the lasagna, but next time it won't be as burnt. Even if you aren't an author trying to write a book that will make millions, knowing and understanding how the way you write will affect your life especially through emails to potential clients or for any job, then I guess you're smart enough to see that you need to know this and understand how to apply and use genres, conventions, and all of that jazz we learn in class in our own writing.


Good Vibes

Week 6 // Everything's an Argument (Cont.)

            I must first say that I enjoyed the humour in the reading. Right now I'm taking Pop Culture and it's crazy how hand in hand these two classes go together. In Pop culture we are analyzing ads and we are asked to identify and answer some of the questions in this weeks reading; What is the purpose? What does it hope to achieve? Who is the audience? What appeals (logical/ethical)? What is the effect? etc. So, that made it somewhat more (but ever-so slightly) more appealing to me.

            Anyways, It was harder for me to gather examples of Pathos in reading, but the more I thought about it I can definitely see how writers can use it. But, as soon as I read about Ethos I became confused. Are they used together or separately is my question, I guess. For example, in the reading one of the examples for Ethos is, "We will not let fear break us!..... evil can kill a single person, but never defeat a whole people..." Isn't that playing off emotions as well? I mean, I see how it plays off of "character," because of the whole patriotic thing, but I don't know, it seems like it was designed for us to feel a mixture of things (scared, fearful, upset and then patriotic, strong, hopeful). I feel like that was a bad example. Rewording an example for Pathos, I believe that,"Filling the tank of an SUV in the U.S. has now crossed the $100 mark, stretching the wallets of families even farther than before," is a better example to me, but I don't know, now that I think about it, the same thing happens in my head, but for the most part I think it is Ethos. I just feel like you can't do one without the other without it becoming an entirely informative piece of writing, unless that's what Ethos was all along and I confused myself for no reason.

            I kind of feel like I'm running in circles at this point, someone ignore everything I just wrote and tell me blatantly what each is...... I think I understood everything else, like the logo's and such, but I'm so stuck on trying to understand this I don't even want to touch on it right now.


Good Vibes

Week 6 // Final Email

            I'm not going to lie. I didn't write the email. I chose a Brooks Alumni that I'm friends with and shot him a text explaining what I'm doing, so I'll just post the text and how my email should have looked.

(Text)

Hey Bobby, In my Eng 201 class we have to interview someone in a field we're interested in about their writing and the type of writings that have to do; emails to clients and so forth. I was wondering if you would be able to help me out and let me interview you for this project?

(Email)

Bobby,

            How was your trip photographing those artists? The shots looked amazing and it made me want to ask you to do an interview with me. I'm currently in English 201 at Brooks Institute and I have a project to interview an artist or someone in a field I'm interested in about the writing you have to do in your field.
           I know you graduated from Brooks Institute studying Visual Journalism, but I know you do a lot of Professional Photography work and I believe I could learn a lot from you and better prepare myself to enter the work force and create better relationships with future clients by having this interview with you. Please let me know at your earliest convenience if this would be possible or if you have any further questions so we can discuss a date that would best suit your schedule to make this happen.

Thanks,
Zhane
---------------
Zhane A. Ritchie
Student
Brooks Institute
[Email Address]
Mobile 123.456.7890

Week 5 // Crafting Electronic Messages

           How to start?.. I mean, this reading answered small little questions I had like how formal to be and so forth, but honestly, it kind of felt like they were answering questions as if we've never received or sent an email. I expect nothing more from a text book though so I'll move on.
       
            I've seen these conventions before, from school, work, etc. I know that you should always greet and sign off. Haha, I wonder how long it took that guy in the reading example to realize,"This is how everyone keeps sending me emails… maybe I should do that too.."

            Hmm, I'm struggling to write my blog for this one. It's an email. Pretty easy.

[Insert Greeting Here],

            Here is my formal email, but it's not that formal because, hey, I'm a human not a computer. No one needs an essay over the fact that lunch will be served in the conference room. Being that guy would suck… No one should be that guy. You're probably that guy always sharing and tagging people on crap on Facebook. Anyways, I digress… Here's the information you need from me and stuff. Cool beans. Woah, Don't abuse emailing. Keep your email hygiene up, yo! And don't spam your boss with an annoying group email. No one needs that crap in their lives.

Thanks so much!

Zhane

Zhane A. Ritchie 

Eng 201 Student

Brooks Institute

[Insert Email]

Office: [Insert Number]

Mobile: [Insert Number]

Please correct me if it seems like I'm being cocky, I don't mean to be, but we all have emails, right? It shouldn't be completely new.

I zone out when reading textbooks so I could be missing something crucial, but this is basically what I took away from the reading. I did read the other stuff about IM and Social media, so that was interesting (I guess), but I wasn't sure if we're only suppose to comment on the email part or not, but yeah. There you go.

Good Vibes

Week 4 // My Artist Statement

            So, After our last class I'm pretty sure this is wrong. But, here is my first draft I wrote for the assignment:

Reality is a prison and the surface is a lie.

I want to show you something more, the things others don't see that haunts us, the raw emotion we're told to conceal. But, I also want to show you something good, something pure, the thing we lost when we made the transition from child to adult; 

I want to show you complete self-honesty.

            That's it. I have the habit of listening to epic movie scores when I write, so things just kind of burst out of me when I'm told to write something I'm passionate about or when doing something like this. But, honestly, I found it bullshit that getting "too deep" is a no, no. As artists we're always feeling and always seeing something from a new perspective. If I have a piece that's "deep" I'm going to tell you something "deep."That's it. I'm not going to adjust because when you see an image of, for example, a homeless man all you see is a homeless man while I see a human being, a story, and a heart. I'm going to do that man justice by giving him an equally standing artist statement for the collection.

I'm definitely not dissing the assignment though, I like it.

Good Vibes

Week 4 // Everythings an Argument

            I must say, not sure if I didn't like this reading or not. While I know there are many different forms of arguments, I personal believe only one type should actually be used and, according to the reading, the Rogerian argument is probably just that. I feel like arguing for the sake of being right and drowning out another person accomplishes nothing. We're all too fucking busy to waste time being in a yelling match and trying to make every think and act the same way as we all do. Learn and be open minded to what is being said, TRY to understand. This doesn't mean you're admitting being wrong, you just understand why the other feels like that and gained a new perspective, no matter how messed it is. At least s-o-m-e-t-h-i-n-g comes out of it. You shouldn't try to convince or persuade, period. Lay down the facts, if they want to be ignorant and dismiss it well, that's just a shitty person. But, (sorry, reading as I type) I guess that's actually arguments to explore that I just described, but it makes sense that if you don't have all the information and simply assume something. If you're doing that though, as soon as new information is provided, you will adjust your stance accordingly.

            Oh goodness, so many reasons to argue, but now that I think about it we are always arguing. Arguing whether or not we should do our assignments or chill, arguing if we should get out of bed or sleep for another half hour. Yeah... I get it.

Good Vibes

Week 3 // Artists' Statements

            The artists' statements I read kind of varied. For example, Zhang Jingna, a photographer I've always been fond of, only had a simple about me, like where she was from and when she was born, and then proceeded to list of awards she has received while Christian Paul wrote about his vision and what photography means to him. I'm kind of torn between which approach I liked best.
         
            So, all of the artists' statements stayed pretty short and concise. I'm kind of just sitting here trying to write my own artist's statement and I don't know whether or not to do a short about me and things I've accomplished or what all of this really means to me. At the same time, I feel like statements are a preview to the work that is actually done. Like with Jingna, her photography represents where she is from and what she values and all of her awards basically testifies her life and how she feels about it. Paul's tells you what photography is to him and what it should do and it really show's in his work as well. So, I guess an artist statement is just suppose to represent your art and who you are as an artist before we move forward to actually feasting our eyes upon it.

Week 3 // Understanding Rhetoric

           This weeks reading was unexpected. I never thought I'd be in college being told to read a comic book about rhetoric and identities. Sometimes, when I'm reading long papers for school I forget what it was I was suppose to be learning, but it really made everything super easy to digest and understand. It was super refreshing though, having a comic to read, I'd pick it over my other reading assignment for school any day.
       
          The comic made sense. Everything we write requires specific components. For example, if I emailed Zack right now I probably wouldn't write:
                                             
                       Aye Bro, What crack-a-lackin? 
            I totally meant to do that blog thing, I just got S-H-I-T F-A-C-E-D last night and well, you know how that goes... (;     So, didn't feel like writing it. I'll try to hit the next one.
                                                                                                          You Da Man,
                                                                                                                      Ziggy Zee

(I'm so sorry that was a painful example to write... crack-a-lackin?.. yeah. punch me.) I have to keep in mind my audience, the purpose, identity, and so forth. The reading did a good job in displaying that. Putting on certain costumes to represent your identity that in return affect the responses you get. So, I should probably be a bit more formal and say something like:

                     Zack,
            I understand that the reading and blog should have been completed yesterday, however, I was experiencing technical difficulties and was unable to publish the post. While I also understand I should have completed my assignment earlier, I sincerely apoligise and hope you will consider giving me credit for it. 
                                                                                                               Thank you,
                                                                                                                     Zhané A. Ritchie 
That makes sense, right?
I take on the identity of a student because he assumed the role of professor instead of a homie.
Yeah, definately.
(I think I blogged somewhat correctly.)

Good Vibes

Week 1 // Navigating Genres

            After reading Navigating Genres by Kerry Dirk, it made me realise how often we actually generalize things to calculate a response, but I can definitely identify them now in my everyday life. For example, In the writing it talked about how we use social media to get a response corresponding to the genre on the post we publish. So, when you post a joke, you expect people to respond with "LOL" and "HAHA!" But, for those who have read the paper, I disagree that you can't update your Facebook status with "X has a huge wart on his foot," because obviously, the publisher is expecting people to reply with a genre of responses correlating with that of disgust.
            A part I found really interesting in the writing is when he wrote "...when something new happens that requires a response, someone must create that first response. Then when that situation happens again, another person uses the first response as a basis for the second, and eventually everyone who encounters this situation is basing his/her response on the previous ones, resulting in a new genre." (Dirk, 252) I just thought it was super cool because, to me, it exemplified how we kind of learn and grow based on observed and learned behavior. To try to clarify that, when something new happens and you have to create a response, you will try to think of the most similar situation that occurred in order to create a response most suitable for the situation. So, that's my two cents on the reading.

Good Vibes

Week 1 // About Me

            I've always hated writing the "about me" because I'd much rather be talked to and found out as opposed to giving you my watered down version of who I think I am. Alas, this is an assignment so here we go…

            I am currently 19 years old and looking forward to celebrating my 20th next month. 

            I'm a Professional Photography student at Brooks Institute.

            Why photography? Well, I got my first camera when I was about 12-ish, it was a shitty waterproof Barbie camera, but it was basically a disposable camera with gel wrapping it with "Barbie" printed onto the side. Anyways, I finished my roll shooting my siblings riding bikes on our loop driveway and decided I liked it. So, my next birthday, I got my first point and shoot and since has upgraded until I got a Nikon D5100, my first DSLR. I had taken Photography in high school, it was a film course though, and it wasn't until then I began taking it a little bit more seriously and thought of it as a career. I hadn't created and shot my own idea until I took Independent Study my senior year and it sealed the deal for me. Zhang Jingna's Motherland Chronicles is also a reason I'm forever fucked and in love with this intense career choice.

            What else..?

            I recently discovered I really enjoy camping.

            I've always known I like hiking.

            I enjoy all sorts of music; Instrumental (like movie scores from Howard Shore, Hans Zimmer, Johann Johannsson), Acoustic Folk type music (Margot & the Nuclear So So's, Stokes,William, Roo Panes), etc, but not country music.

            

I feel like this is long enough and I've covered the basics.

Good Vibes