Self Promotion examples and analysis (1)

When working in a creative field it is important to be able to promote ones self successfully. Here I have picked out a few examples of self promotion in the creative field and I will analyse the success of these people, and whether there is anything of theirs I would incorporate when promoting myself.

Example 1

Platon

Photographer, aged 50, British

Known primarily for his portrait work, Platon is a British photographer who's worked with some of the most influential people across many subject areas, including Vladimir Putin, Prince, Serena Williams and George Clooney.

Platon presents himself almost entirely through printed work, with publications in famous magazines like 'Time' and also through gallery work. This is appropriate for his sophisticated style as his work often crosses into the definition of art. His subject matter and style therefore are mirrored in the way he presents himself, he has no social media presence (possibly because this is associated with a younger generation)

I think that Platon's established reputation often means that he does not have to promote himself very much, rather other professionals recommend him based on his past success. This has clearly been an effective way of marketing himself.

Platon does have a simple website with many galleries of his work, along with a small bio although this serves mainly as a record of his past work, and does not have a promotional feel to it.

Platon's style of promotion would not work for me, as the rise of social media and marketing has left many paper publications in the dust to some extent. My own portfolio of work, includes a range of video, audio, animation and graphic/ photography work. Only a few of which of these could even be showcased in a magazine. I would also argue that the market of people trying to draw attention to their work has become more competitive, perhaps Platon's more relaxed approach of marketing himself would not be as successful nowadays.

I stumbled across Platon's work in his collaboration with the Netflix original series 'Abstract:' which was released in 2017. I realised a few minutes in that I recognised a lot of his work, athough I had never heard his name prior to this. I feel like this documentary was a way of showing people who this photographer actually was, and having people realise that they already knew a lot of his work.