Guide: Premium Data For Photo Students

They say, “there are things you know, things you don’t know, and things you don’t know that you don’t know.”

When I graduated from college, I knew that newspapers hired photographers because I read The New York Times, and I knew that magazines hired photographers because I read Vogue. But that’s about all I knew. So when I realized that I would need more than two clients to sustain a freelance photography career, I decided to do some research. Back then, the Philadelphia Business Journal used to publish a Book of Lists showing all the biggest companies in the area. I remember starting at the top of the list and working my way down, calling each one and asking if I could come show my portfolio. The answer was mostly “no!” but I occasionally got a “yes!” I started to get assignments, and I continued with my research so I could further expand my opportunities.

In addition to finding clients, I saw that I needed all sorts of other information too. I needed to know all the photographers in my area so that I could get assisting jobs. I needed hair stylists and makeup artists once I started shooting magazine covers. And when I decided to travel overseas, I knew I would need an agent to help get me assignments. Over the years, I filled my rolodex with information about every aspect of our industry (until I finally got a CRM).

So when I started Wonderful Machine in 2006 with the intent of connecting photographers and clients, I already had a head start knowing who everyone was, and I then proceeded to hire people who shared my peculiar fascination for this type of data. Our research team has now grown to 25 people who track down clients, photographers, crew, agents, and all sorts of other resources for photographers. And with the launch of our new website last year, we’re now making that information available to the people who need it (and we’re making it free for students!)

The fact that you’re reading this probably means that your university or workshop teacher has provided you with a login to our our website. If not, please have someone from your school get in touch with me and I’ll get you set up too.

Once you’ve logged in, here’s what you’ll see in the FIND menu (you can click to read more about the content and search functionality for each):

• Clients are the companies that hire editorial and commercial photographers to create visuals that tell stories and sell products and services. We currently track 16,580 publications, agencies, and brands (we can separately provide you with names and contact information for the decision-makers at those companies).
• Photographers are the people who make visual content (still and/or video) for clients. We have a curated list of 8890 commercial and editorial photographers, representing the best of them, from all over the world.
• Crew are the people and companies that help make photo and video shoots happen. We have 5611 hair stylists, makeup artists, location scouts, digital techs, and more.
• Agents help photographers connect with customers. We have 1780 agents who represent corporate, editorial, advertising, and fine art photographers for assignments, stock, and print sales.
• Resources includes all sorts of other people and organizations in our industry. We’re in the process of uploading 1948 intellectual property attorneys, equipment manufacturers, photographer directories, website templates, and more.

And if all that data seems overwhelming, we also have lots of articles that can provide you with more context about our industry, which will help you put this information to work for you.

• Photographer Spotlights are stories about individual assignments our photographers have worked on.
• Case Studies are stories about projects that our consultants and producers have helped photographers on.
• Evergreen articles include Expert Advice, Specialty articles, and Crew articles that explain just about every aspect of the photography business.

Here are some of the schools and workshops using our Premium Data:

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Want to learn more about our Premium Data? Reach out!