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Master Photographers Tell You How

Charles Orrico - Interview by Nicole Tourtelot Corporate and industrial photographer Charles Orrico has perfected the art of pleasing the client through collaboration, innovation, and a great deal of patience. Article rating: 8.74

TakeGreatPictures.com (TGP): How did you get your first gig?

Charles Orrico (CO): When I started, I had about two sleeves of slides—personal work. You know, you take your girlfriend down to the beach and you photograph her. You take photos of your friend, your friend’s sports car, and you put a sleeve together. At that time, art directors were very open to seeing people on a one-to-one basis. Not like today, you can hardly get an appointment to see anyone now. Years ago, you’d call them up and say ‘I’m in the building, can I show you my photography?’ And they’d say, ‘Sure, come on by.’

TGP: What was your first assignment?

CO: They gave me one based on what I had in my portfolio, which was not much, but the art director liked what he saw. I think they were a lot more open minded then. They’d take a chance on new talent. And they hired me to go out to Vegas for a week. From there, I did a wine story in Naples, New York, a jet port story in Alabama, and it went on from there.

TGP: What’s the most important thing you’ve learned through your experience?

CO: Be tolerant. You need to have patience. You have to try to read between the lines and find out what the client really wants and give it to them within the time you have. You may not agree with it, but you have to do it, because the bottom line is they’re the client and they’re paying the bills. When you get back to the studio, you can cuss all you want and move on to the next assignment.

TGP: What advice would you give someone who wants to get into your line of work?

CO: It’s very difficult, but I would never tell somebody not to try something they like. I had photographers tell me when I was starting, ‘You’re crazy to get into this business, the corporate end, there are so many guys doing it, they don’t want to pay you enough, la-di-da-di-da.’ But if I had listened to them, I wouldn’t be in business. You have to go with your gut feeling. If you like it, do it.

TGP: How do you get most of your assignments these days?

CO: Word of mouth, definitely. Sixty to seventy percent of my jobs come from recommendations. I just did a shot for Holtz Rubenstein. They had seen a brochure that I did and said, ‘I wonder who shot that?’ They hired me to shoot their annual report in the same style.

TGP: What is your favorite thing to shoot?

CO: I like automobiles. I like people. What I’d like to do eventually is to travel around the country and shoot pictures that I like for myself. To not have to worry about somebody saying ‘Hey, Charlie, it’s too dark,’ or ‘Charlie, you should have done this.’ I want to answer to myself. Not to an art director. Not to an agent. Not to a publicist. That’s something you lose when you make the switch from amateur to professional.

TGP: How are you able to remain an artist in an environment where you have to take input from so many people, many of whom are less talented?

CO: Unfortunately, you can become an appendage of the advertising business. That’s the sad part about it. A lot of photographers do self-assignments. I think that’s what keeps you going. Otherwise, you’re just a button-pusher, following what the client wants—his whims, his how, where, why, and when. But to keep your sanity and your creativity up, you need to go out and shoot your own assignments. Deal with the client, but don’t lose your own personal look and style.

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