Philip Kuruvita has a thing or three to teach us about the creative AND financial rewards of working almost exclusively in black & white. Such lessons are invaluable now that clients of every ilk are steadily gaining interest in B&W imagery.
Maybe “hunger” is a better word than “interest.” There are few wedding couples and portrait customers that do not want at least a few B&W images. It’s quite typical for entire ad campaigns to be “shot” in B&W. And of course, the hybrid B&W/color images with almost surreal blending of hues and tonality are becoming a staple in the ad world.
Of course, RAW files allow photographers to easily produce images in color, B&W and a multitude of B&W-color hybrids from one capture. So it’s not surprising that increasing numbers of photographers are moving into B&W for creative satisfaction and economic rewards.
The Australian Kuruvita’s reasons for switching to B&W were driven entirely by his aesthetic preferences. It was only over time that he started to realize—and eventually trust—the financial rewards he could reap with B&W.
I highlighted Kuruvita’s path to finding success with B&W in the profile I wrote about him for this month’s issue of Rangefinder, called, “Philip Kuvuvita: The Power of Faces.” The story’s tagline sums up where Kuruvita path has lead him: “A colorful Australian photographer boldly embraces black and white—finding his true vision and reaping financial rewards.”
But don’t think for a second that Kuruvita was always so oriented to B&W. One thing that I tried to convey in Kuruvita’s profile is that he has laid-back, take-it-as-it-comes attitude towards life. Kuruvita’s easy going spirit came across in spades during our series of phone interviews. At first I was quick to assume this was simply part of Kuruvita’s “Down Under-ness.”
But as I learned more about Kuruvita’s life and work, I came to see that Kuruvita has always been as driven to succeed as any other successful photographer. It just took him some time to stumble upon his artistic passions. His first passion was and is photography. And once Kuruvita began to study photography, he poured himself into his studies.
But once Kuruvita began to work as an independent wedding and commercial photography, he struggled for some years. As far as I can tell, he committed the same creative/business/marketing error that most “young” photographers make: He did not focus clearly enough on making the images that he was most passionate about.
Kuruvita’s commitment to B&W imagery did not come as a light bulb moment of revelation. It was a slow process, first of creative discovery and then in terms of how to apply a business strategy to his B&W preference. And this was in the pre-digital, pre-B&W obsession days—making it a more challenging proposal.
To me, Kuruvita’s slow process of discovery seems to be much more in line with the realities of the natural creative process. However, in some ways this slow process seems at odds with today’s photography marketing strategies, more or less summed up as: define your market, focus on one style for that market, advance with a laser-tight focus in which art and marketing seamlessly mesh together.
Sounds good. But how realistic is such an approach?
Philip Kuruvita’s story raises two distinct issues that I believe are critically important to photographers in today’s business climate. It would be great to hear some honest responses from ACMetaforum readers on these topics:
- What is your current relationship with B&W photography, and how do you see B&W playing a role in your future efforts? Will your B&W work be driven by creative desire or market demand?
- In terms of the “path to success,” what are your thoughts about how photographers can best arrive at a place where their personal visions and their market strategies are most in harmony. How are you doing it?