I've Been Doing This Every Week For Six Years!

This month of November my blog turns 6 years old! I have been writing on my blog every Wednesday over the last 300+ weeks about my experiences working in the Creative Industries in the UK. In my posts, I talk about what it's like being a photographer working commercially in fashion and portraiture in London but also how I use my work and my platforms to raise awareness of Mental Health, Human Rights and National Identity.

I also interview other creatives and fellow-photographers and ask them about their roles and careers so that people who want to start a career in the Creative Industries know what to expect. Thank you to everyone who reads me, whether you are subscribed to my newsletter or whether you read me on my social platforms. YOU are the reason why I do this every week.

In my blog you will find:

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Posts about working in the Creative Industries

Our Economies Need More Artists

Art Puts Food On The Table

The Fatality Of The Creative’s Life

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Posts about working as a Photographer

How To Prepare For A Portfolio Review

Aspiring Models: Beware Of Fake Model Agencies

Overcoming Creative Block

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Posts about the social issues that I raise awareness of

Notes From The Fashion Debates On Mental Health

Is There Such Thing As A Sustainable Photographer?

Stand Up For Human Rights

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Interviews with other creatives about their roles and careers

I Wish I Had Known... About Photo Editors!

I Wish I Had Known About... TV Adaptations!

I Wish I Had Known... About Pattern Making!

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Features on fellow photographers exploring images from their portfolios

A World That Others Can’t See… with Gabrielle Motola

A World That Others Can't See... with Ivan Weiss

A World That Others Can't See... with Ameena Rojee

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Also, I have a Patreon channel In which you will find videos where I explain the projects that I'm currently working on, like my project where I am raising awareness of neurological diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer's:

• Memory Part #1 - Starting a new project

• Memory Part #4 - How Do You Portray Memory Loss?

Posts with explanations of how I shoot my images and behind the scenes:

• How I Shot It and behind the scenes

and Tutorials:

• Tutorial #1 - Train Your Eye To See As A Photographer

• Tutorial #3 - Introduction To Project Management

6% of my patrons' support goes to a different charity each month:

• Charities we have supported thus far.

This way together, my patrons and I, can contribute to making this a better world.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

How I've Learnt To Embrace Feeling Vulnerable About The Photography Projects That I'm Working On

There is infinity in the blank page. Before you write the first words, your story has endless possibilities of what it could become. And sometimes when you write, you don’t know what you are writing until you finish the story and someone else interprets it for you. The same happens in photography. Before releasing the shutter, the image only exists in our minds. There is an infinite amount of ways in which that image can be exposed to the photographic medium. And, more often than not, we won't know how our work will make other people feel until they see it. That is why the minute we bring a photograph to life the meaning of the image stops being ours and it belongs to the world. Photography, like writing, is meant to be shared.

Bringing art to life is a very intimate process. It's intimidating and scary. As an artist, you are always self-conscious about how your work will be perceived. Will they like it? Will they know what it means? Will they want to hire me when they see it? Will they want to see more?

Stories and images coexist in our minds long before we give them shape in their physical form. And, when we finally bring them into the physical world, we must accept the limitations of the medium that we have chosen to represent them. We have to make compromises, there is always a trade-off. For photographers, images in our minds speak louder than words but there are limitations to the photographic medium that prevent us from telling the whole story in just one photo.

Every time that we look through the viewfinder of our cameras we start a journey, and unknown journey in which the photograph that we envisioned takes a meaning that we have no control over when we release it to the world. And that's ok. It's part of being an artist. Your creativity gives birth to work, but its interpretation doesn't belong to you. It belongs to the world.

Almost every photographer that I know is self-conscious about letting other people see their RAW files, their negatives, their unfinished and un-retouched work. We don't want to show others our work in progress because we don't want to misrepresent ourselves. We fear that we just have that one chance to show that person what our work is about and we don't want to be put in such vulnerable position.

However, I've recently discovered that learning to accept that vulnerability has made me stronger. By opening up my practice on Patreon, explaining my creative process and talking about how I put my work together I've actually felt more reassured and self-confident. And not necessarily because of the feedback that I get from others, but from learning myself everything that I have to offer. I am less afraid to talk about my work and I am more confident about the impact that I want to have with my practice.

Admittedly, at first it wasn't easy. While I was recording myself in my first videos talking about my ideas and showing the inspiration for the project that I'm currently working on I felt like everyone was going to see what a terrible photographer I was. Meanwhile, another part of my brain was telling me that in every video I was basically begging for someone else to come and steal my ideas and come up with a better project.

The truth is that none of that has happened. Supporters on my Patreon channel are there because they are interested in what I do mostly because I'm the one who is doing it. In the end, anyone else can try to copy what I do and probably create something better than what I can create but it will never be exactly the same. Because they are not me. They don't have my motivations and they are not moved by the same things that inspire me.

This year has been very challenging in ways that are unfathomable, but something good that came out of it is that I made the brave decision of showing my work on Patreon. I hope that everyone who comes over and signs up for the ride can perceive that. You might see me at my most vulnerable, but you will never see a more real version of me.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

I Have Been Awarded SILVER in the AOP Photography Awards 2020

I still have no words to describe how honoured I am to have been awarded Silver in the AOP Photography Awards 2020 in the Fashion and Beauty category. The category was judged by Nick Knight – Photographer, Director and Founder of SHOWStudios. The AOP Awards are a celebration of the best from image-makers working professionally in the commercial, fine art and creative sectors.

The awarded image was part of my series Spring Cleaning. It depicts a juxtaposition of fashionable and extremely ordinary. I've been interested in the influencer culture for some time now, and how they present their lives as being above the ordinary. Behind all those glamorous images on their social media, influencers are just regular people like the rest of us. But we perceive their lives as aspirational and unattainable, and that has a toll on our self-image and our mental health.

The creative team that worked with me on this shoot were stylist Patricia Machado Medici, hair and makeup artist Rachel Williamson and model Tamara Long from Models1. The winning image is as much mine as it is theirs.

Back in April, I was interviewed by The Trampery when I learnt that I had been selected as a finalist in this category. You can watch the interview on this link.

The awarded images were featured by The Guardian who called us head-spinning talent. Read the feature here.

The results of the competition have also been featured by BBC news on their website where they said that they found the images striking. You can see the feature on this link.

The Association of Photographers - AOP - is the leading body representing photographers in the UK. They have been running the AOP Awards for almost 15 years.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

The Photographers In My Blog

Over the last two years, I've been featuring fellow photographers in my blog to showcase the diversity of creatives that surround me. These photographers are people who I deeply admire, not only because they are very talented artists but also because they are exceptional human beings.

Our role as photographers is to capture a world that others can't see, and in this process, we leave a little bit of us in every photo that we take. In a way, every single one of our photographs is also a portrait of ourselves.

In my series A World That Others Can't See, I ask fellow photographers to talk about an image from their portfolios in order to discover the stories behind their work and to learn about the person behind the lens.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

Interview By Kodak One

The lovely people of Kodak One interviewed me a few weeks back for their blog. They were particularly interested in my work to promote Mental Health Awareness and we had an interesting chat about how to use our work as photographers to keep the conversation about Mental Health going.

You can read the whole interview on this link: Kodak One Official.

Photo credit: behind the scenes image by Aaron O'Dowling-Keane.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

It Takes A Village

Whenever I hear an awards acceptance speech, no matter how long, I always think of the people who are not mentioned. It must be difficult for the person accepting the award to decide who to include and who to leave out when you have such a short amount of time to deliver your appreciation. If I were ever put in that position, I think I would just say “it takes a village. I’m grateful to you all.”

In her poem Our Grandmothers, Maya Angelou wrote: “I go forth along, and stand as ten thousand.” When I read this line for the first time, all the people in my life who brought me to where I am right now came to my mind. Nobody, absolutely no one, has gotten to where they are today on their own.

Starting with your own family. I am here because two people met and decided to have me. Those two people are here because other two couples made the same choice. And those four people were here because eight people before them did the same. Our lives represent the success of our ancestors.

The same way, every single one of our achievements is not only ours. We put the effort and we do the hard work, but it is, in reality, a collective feat. Your teachers, your mentors, your guides, your influences, your peers, your community. They are all reflected in your work. Even those people who had fleeting appearances in your timeline have left their mark in your life.

By acknowledging this, it's easier to understand why our community is so important. We are part of something greater than ourselves and we owe our communities our appreciation and support.

When you finish reading these lines, make a mental list of all the people in your life who have contributed to bringing you right to this moment. Right to this place where you are reading my words. How long would your acceptance speech be?

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

When Words are not Enough

I'm not going to pretend that I can answer the age-old question of what is art. But, one thing that I can say is that art is a form of communication. As an artist, especially when you are starting out, you are always told that you need to find your voice. The problem is that a voice is not something that you acquire by studying or following certain steps or instructions. Your voice will come after many years of pouring your soul into your work. In the meantime, even if your work is not fully voiceless, you may still need to find the visual vocabulary to express yourself truthfully.

Photographers are visual storytellers. We use our visual language to show the world what we see through our lens. And we can spend our whole careers trying to find our voice, only to realise that if we finally find it we will probably be the last ones to notice.

Ever since I was a child, I was always the relative or the friend who had a camera. Wherever we went, people always expected me to take their photos and tell the stories of our trips or gatherings. However, growing up I never considered it as a possible career. I come from a part of the world where the arts are not valued and where family encourages you to pursue careers in science, technology or law instead.

Despite the lack of support, I had a teacher at school who always encouraged me to read, write and appreciate the arts. I became an avid reader and writer, and for a long time, I thought that if I ever left my day job I would become a writer.

Looking back, I can see now that it wasn't about writing or about a specific medium to express myself. It was about telling stories. That is why I feel that at some point I came to the realisation that I could use photography to tell my own stories.

I don't think that I have a voice yet. I can feel the words stuck in my throat trying to make their way out through my visual vocal cords. But they still need to properly take shape before they can come out. I'm still at that place in my career where I'm examining the world around me and trying to find answers to all the questions that come to my mind.

Our role as artists and photographers is to look around and try to make sense of the world that surrounds us. By studying it and interpreting it, we can present it to society and offer a different perspective on the issues that we care for.

Making art is like trying to have a conversation with another person in a very noisy space. The other can see you opening and closing your mouth, but the words that come out of it are unintelligible until you find that one person who can finally understand what you are trying to say. From there, you spend the rest of your life trying to find those people who can get your message.

If art is a communication channel, then photography is the language that we use to encourage others to question their own realities. When words are not enough, our work gives shape to our thoughts, our concerns and our emotions.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Andrzej Gruszka.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

Imagine A World Without Light

One thing that all photographers have in common is our fascination with light. The pencil of nature, as Fox Talbot called the camera, literally writes with light on the sensitive surface where the image is imprinted. If there is no light, there is no photograph. Even if you use infrared technology to capture an image, the camera still needs the infrared part of the spectrum of light to record the photograph. Being able to control light is one of the most important skills in a photographer's toolkit. In a way, shaping light is our superpower.

Imagine for a second a world in which we couldn't control nor shape light. A world with no artificial light sources, no electricity, no lamps. During the day, indoor spaces would only be lit by a window or an opening nearby. But at night, everything would be in pitch darkness. If you had access to making fire, you would light a torch or a candle. If you were modern enough, you would have a gas lamp. However, these methods wouldn't render enough light to see the world the way we see it today.

This was the world we were living in when photography was invented. When Fox Talbot invented the photographic negative in the early 19th century, his experiments needed a strong light source that at that time could only be provided by the sun. Similarly, Daguerre invented the photographic process around the same time in Paris, a city that was only lit by street gas lamps.

All the art that was conceived before electricity lit our homes and streets, was created either in plain daylight or under very dim conditions. Consider the limitations and the circumstances under which your favourite artworks were created. Don't you have a new appreciation for them now?

The same way that light is essential to register the information that is visible in a photograph, darkness is important to provide volume, mood and character. As photographers, we are sometimes so obsessed with the light that we forget that the shadows play a decisive role in how our subject is perceived. My friend Facundo Bustamante always says that shadows are another element to take into account when creating an image because they provide shape to your photo.

Classic painters understood this very well, maybe because their world was so much darker than ours. In Britain, the first street to be lit with electricity was the rightly named Electric Avenue in Brixton in 1880. Over the next decades, the first switch that was flicked in most homes was the light switch. On a BBC interview, engineer Hector MacLean remembers that the instant response of his parents to the brightness was "look at the dust, we need to repaint".

If you want to create work that resembles the classics, you must recreate the environment in which the classic artists worked. Turn off all the lights and close all the curtains. Better if you do it at night. Then, gradually, start adding different light sources to your composition. As you build your image, you will see how light behaves on different surfaces and also how the shadows fill the space untouched by the light.

This is how I learned to light my subjects when I started out, and to this day it is still the technique that I use when I'm photographing someone. I start in pitch darkness or set the camera settings to leave out the available light. From there, I add the different light points working my subject as if it were a sculpture created by lights and shadows. Try it yourself. I promise you won't see light the same way again.

Photo credit: behind the scenes by Emma Steventon.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

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5 Things I've Learned In 20+ Years As A Project Manager

Before becoming a full-time photographer, I worked as a Project Manager in different industries for more than 20 years. I worked in everything from Hospitality, to Telecommunications, to Consumer Electronics, to Fashion. My projects were of all sizes and scopes. But, when I transitioned to photography I thought that all those years of sweat and tears were going to go to waste. Luckily, I soon realised that Project Management skills are transferable and are very useful in all types of industries.

In all our jobs, we have skills that can easily be used in other roles or industries. You are not just one thing, even if it is easier for the majority of people in your life to put a label on you. If you are a lawyer, you have the skills to be a therapist. If you are a cook, you have the skills to be a wedding photographer. If you are a receptionist, you have the skills to be a project manager. What all these roles have in common is that they all have skills that can be transferred from one to the other.

This brings me to the first lesson that I learned as a Project Manager:

1. The words project management may sound intimidating, but in reality, we are all project managers already in our daily lives. Even if it is in a very informal way. If you are baking, you are managing a small project. If you are planning vacations for the family, that is a medium-size project. If you are renovating your whole house, that is a larger-scale project. In all these examples, you have a scope, a start and an endpoint, you have your tools and resources, and you have to work within a budget. These types of projects might not qualify for a mention in your CV, but if you enjoy doing them that means that you have the skills needed to run a project.

2. The second lesson that I learned is that Not All Projects Are Created Equal. Projects come in all shapes and sizes. From the informal aforementioned ones to the more complex projects. And there is not just one way to run a project. If you run a business, you may perfectly create your own Project Management procedures that work for what you do. However, there is a very powerful reason to subscribe to an already existing methodology that fits your industry: standardisation. If you want to be able to communicate with other people and businesses who also run projects, you've got to speak the same language. This is particularly helpful when you seek Project Management tools and software, when you onboard new staff, or when you communicate with partners and suppliers.

3. This leads me to the third lesson. Every organisation and every industry organizes its projects in different ways. This is the reason why there are so many methodologies. Each methodology is adapted for a specific way of working. Different industries choose different methodologies. PMI (waterfall) is one of the most traditional ones, best suited for linear projects like manufacturing, construction or even photoshoots. Agile works best for the software industry, where you are constantly releasing deliverables instead of waiting until the end of the project as you do on traditional methodologies. Prince2 was created by the UK Government and it is best suited for large-scale projects, particularly Government IT Projects.

4. If it doesn't have an end it's not a project. This sounds like something obvious, but if you don't define a start point and an endpoint for your project, you are not running a project. You might actually be running a process. A project, by definition, needs to have a beginning, an ending and at least one goal that needs to be achieved by the end of the project. This goal needs to be something that you can measure and that you can evaluate after the project has ended.

5. The process of project management never ends. Projects end; Project Management doesn't. Most Project Managers are running several projects at the same time. The process of managing projects requires that you follow up on the status of each project with regularity. When managing your project and following up on your tasks on a regular basis, you get motivated as you see the tasks being accomplished. Every time that you tick a task off your to-do list or you move a post-it in your Kanban, you are one step closer to completing the project. Additionally, by following up daily on the progress of your projects you can minimise risks before they happen or identify if things are not going as planned and apply corrections as soon as you discover them.

A Project Manager is someone who plans, organizes, evaluates, directs, controls, and leads the project from conception to completion. Being able to juggle several projects at the same time is a mandatory ability for a Project Manager.

Project Management requires a combination of soft skills and hard skills, but in my experience, it's the soft skills that are quite crucial. You must be self-motivated, flexible, methodic and a problem-solver. And above all, you must enjoy running projects and bringing structure to chaos. Funny enough, I just described myself in these two last phrases. Do you recognise yourself too?

Photo credit: I can’t remember who took this image. Probably my boss. We were on a 3h-train on our way to a meeting, preparing the last details of our presentation. Do I look corporate enough?

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

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This Is NOT How You Talk About Mental Health

One of my dearest friends has been struggling with her mental health for many years. A few weeks ago, she called me on the phone and during the conversation we discussed invisible illnesses. In her experience, every time that she has to talk about her mental health she is repeatedly faced with the same type of comment: "you don't look as if you were ill." The image that we have been sold of how a person dealing with mental health issues looks like has always been of a deranged person locked down in an asylum. And this is the reason why so many people struggling with their mental health are afraid of being open about it.

This has never been more obvious than last week, after Vogue Portugal decided to feature on their July 2020 cover an image depicting a troubled young lady being washed by two nurses in what looks like a psychiatric hospital. The Vogue Portugal team named the issue "The Madness Issue" and the copy on the cover reads "It's Summer Outside."

According to a statement from Vogue Portugal on Twitter, their intention was to shine a light on this important issue and open up a discussion about Mental Health. But, nothing in the creative direction of this issue points towards an honest and positive conversation about the topic.

Starting with the name of the issue: The Madness Issue. I searched in different dictionaries the definition of the word madness, trying to find one meaning that didn't have a negative connotation. But all that I could find were definitions like "a state of severe mental illness —not used technically", "The state of being mentally ill, especially severely", or "insanity."

If the intention was to take the stigma out of the conversations about Mental Health, they could have named the issue "The Self-care Issue", "The Wellbeing Issue" or simply "The Mental Health Issue".

Secondly, the copy on the cover: "It's Summer Outside." On their statement, Vogue Portugal wrote that they were trying to address human behaviour during the pandemic confinement. It is true that the global collective experience during these last few months has had an important toll on our mental health. But, instead of sending a supportive and optimistic message to their readers, the creative direction of the magazine opted for slapping us on the face. "It's Summer Outside", while you are trapped inside with your own fears.

A more helpful copy, one that could have also highlighted human behaviour during the pandemic, could have spoken about resilience and how this whole situation is temporary. "This Too Shall Pass", "We Will Get Over This" or "This Won't Last Forever".

Lastly, the cover image. How do you visually convey a topic like Mental Health? Well, as my friend pointed out over the phone during our conversation, you put a person who apparently doesn't have any illnesses nor disabilities on the cover and you say "This Is What Struggling With Your Mental Health Looks Like."

Mental Health problems belong to a group of conditions called invisible illnesses, according to The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. An invisible illness is one that does not show any visible signs nor symptoms to others. This makes it really difficult for whoever is struggling with their mental health because help is not often given to someone who doesn't appear to need it. What's more, as an ally, how can you identify if someone is in need of support if you can't tell just by looking at them?

It is this lack of understanding of how mental health issues work that leads to some people associating mental health to images of insanity or madness. And this makes it really difficult for someone to open up about their struggles for fear of being labelled as crazy or weak.

All of the above makes me question the good intentions of the publication, even if the statement they released before pulling the issue out from the newsstands says otherwise. It feels to me that they were just trying to be amongst the trending topics of the day, even if it were for the wrong reasons.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

The Biggest Lesson I Learned When I Changed Careers

Before becoming a photographer, I worked for 20 years in another industry as a Project Manager. It was a very technical job, and even though it was easy for me to navigate that environment I never felt like I fully belonged. I was always interested in the creative aspects of my job and not on the technical side. And this feeling of not belonging was the cause of many frustrations during my twenties and my thirties. There wasn't a day in which I didn't think about following a different career path.

However, the older I got the more lost I felt and the harder it was for me to consider changing careers. When everyone around you sees you as a specific "title" or specific "job type", it is very difficult for others to even consider that you could explore becoming something else.

On top of that, the thought that all those years of your life that you spent building a career might go to waste, even if it was in the wrong industry, prevents you from moving forward with your career change.

Now that I'm in my mid-40's, I've finally understood what people meant when they said phrases like "it's not the destination, it's the journey" or "enjoy the process". The most important lesson that I've learnt is that every single experience that you have in your life stacks on top of each other and become part of the person who you are today. None of it goes to waste.

• All those years taking photos of family and friends everywhere we went developed my eye as a photographer.

• All the times that as a child I wrote "essays" for my parents or poetry for my friends at school developed the writer in me.

• And all those years managing projects, even the days when I got back from work and cried on my couch out of frustration for feeling trapped in the wrong career, developed my skills and inform the way in which I manage my projects these days.

Every experience in your life is a learning opportunity. You might not see it today, but I can assure you that one day you will.

Photo credit: I can't remember who took this image, but it's me back in 2004 when I used to work in telecommunications.

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

I'm On Patreon Now!

Hello everyone! I am super excited to announce that I am on Patreon now: www.patreon.com/jccandanedo. Patreon is a subscription-based platform where I'll be uploading content that I am not showing anywhere else. I’ve come to realise that I am involved in many different projects but I’m not sharing any of them with you because they are very different from the commercial work that I show in my portfolio or my social media.

Apart from my work in fashion and portraiture, I work in community-related projects exploring human rights, mental health and national identity. I also run workshops where I share my knowledge and I teach people interested in photography how to train their photographer’s eye, how to turn ideas into photography projects or how to manage their projects.

So I've been very busy these past two months creating content for you guys on my Patreon Channel. This content will be different from my other channels because I am going to break down my creative process step by step explaining everything that goes down behind the scenes of my projects. From their inception to everything that goes on inside my mind before I even start shooting.

And, for selected membership tiers, I will share all my Educational content to help you improve your photography while making an impact in the world. Your membership support will go towards the creation of all the behind the scenes videos, the development of creative ideas and the production of the educational material.

Additionally, 6% of what my patrons pay monthly will be donated to a different charity each month. One that my patrons and I will select.

If you support the arts, have an interest in photography and believe that together we can change the world, then my Patreon page is perfect for you. Just a small amount per month can go very far, and you can cancel your subscription at any time.

So head on over to my Patreon. I can’t wait to see you there!

You can find my Patreon profile on https://www.patreon.com/jccandanedo

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

You can also subscribe to my weekly blog posts here!

"Spring Cleaning" Is A Finalist!

I am happy to announce that my image “Spring Cleaning” has been selected as a finalist for this year’s AOP Awards in the Fashion Category. The AOP Awards is run by the Association of Photographers and it has been running for 14 years, each year attracting entries from around the world. The Fashion Category was curated by photographer Nick Knight, Founder and Director at SHOWstudio.

This image is part of a fashion editorial in which I collaborated with stylist Patricia Machado Medici, Hair Stylist - MUA Rachel Williamson, and model Tamara Long, from Models1. The shoot took place at The Trampery Republic.

The 2020 AOP Awards exhibition will take place at One Canada Square, Canary Wharf, in the main public lobby of the building. The exhibition will be open to the public from 14th September until 13 November 2020.

Things to look forward to for when the lockdown is over! Save the date and wish me luck!

Do you like what you just read? Consider becoming a patron on patreon.com/jccandanedo where you can learn more about my creative process and the stories behind my images. I’d love to have you as part of my Patreon community.

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Overcoming Creative Block

One of the biggest fears that we face as creatives is not being able to create better work than the last piece we were proud of, or not being able to create any work ever again at all. This fear that prevents us from creating new work feeds from the notion that we are not creating anything new. It’s a vicious cycle. It's paralyzing. And it can bring our creativity to a halt or even put an end to our careers. The good news is that creative block can be managed, and there are some proven techniques that I've used myself and I can assure you that they work.

The main cause of creative block is having high standards. Starting any project with the expectation that it will be the best work that you have ever produced sets you out on the wrong foot. If you approach your work with an experimental spirit, thinking of it as just trying out new techniques or as just letting the child inside you play freely, great things could happen.

Admittedly, if you are feeling uninspired you wouldn't even know where to start this experimentation process. And, even though some people say that procrastination is great for creativity, I am someone who prefers to take action.

So, here are a few exercises that I've used to get my creative juices flowing:

• Freecreating: ok, I may have just made this word up but I borrowed this concept from writers. I am part of a poetry club, and the lovely and uber-talented poet Erin Bolens taught us this technique.

  For writers, if you set the timer for 10 minutes and just write whatever comes to mind (it could even start with "I am forced to write for 10 minutes, this sucks!") after a few minutes of rambling your brain will start forming interesting ideas. It may perfectly be that you don't write your new novel in those 10 minutes, but there is always a chance of getting interesting lines that can feed your next writings. I do this almost every day and I'm really proud of some of the things I've written using contents from my freewrites.

  For the rest of creatives, just taking out your tools and creating freely for a set amount of time without restrictions can spark some inspiration in your mind. Take your camera and start photographing corners of your home, take out your paints and brushes and just make random strokes on the canvas, take your pencils and draw the contents of your kitchen cabinets, open your wardrobe and accessorize your clothes with bedsheets, towels or items from your bathroom cabinets, style your hair using empty cans or old headphones. The possibilities are endless. Just be playful and non-judgemental with yourself.

• Try someone else's technique: Is there an artist in your field or any other field that you have always admired and thought their work was fascinating? Is there an artist that has a technique that you find dull? Emulate their technique. I'm not saying "copy it", even if there is a whole book on how to copy other people's work. I say, improve it. Make it yours. Tear it apart. Try to bring new techniques into your practice.

  This project of mine came to life after years of experimenting with a technique that I learned from another artist and that I found fascinating.

• Use prompts: this is another technique that I learned from Erin Bolens. I've seen many exercises online for all sorts of creative disciplines inspired by this technique. Choose a random topic or look for online prompts (it can be any prompt for any discipline, just adapt it to your craft). Someone who does this brilliantly is Carl Burkitt. He offers on his twitter feed prompts for writers and poets, but some of them I've even found interesting to create photography projects from.

  For instance, on April 13, 2020, his daily prompt was "The trifle was surprisingly tasty". It is easy to take this line and start writing from it, but what do you do if you work in a different discipline? Well, if you are a photographer, how can you convey "surprisingly tasty" in an image. The same goes for painting or illustration.

  If you are a makeup artist or a hairstylist or a fashion designer or a stylist, imagine that the brief is "A Surprisingly Tasty Trifle". How would you develop this concept? Which colours would you mix? Which textures would you use?

• Limit your tools: this technique has been very effective for me as my style has developed over the years. We are so used to creating new work with the tools that we have, that we can arrange our work setups with our eyes closed. No matter how complex they are. I have a fail-proof 2-light setup that I use in the majority of my portraits.

  But, what if one of my lights failed? Or what if my whole kit was lost and I only had my camera to shoot? Would I be able to work? This technique forces you to experiment and try to create new work under very limited conditions.

  If you are an illustrator, painter, designer or a make-up artist, try using only one brush and one colour. Would you be able to create something with those limitations? For stylists or fashion designers, give yourself the challenge to work with only one colour or one texture. What could you create?

  For writers, choose one word and repeat it in every line, or every stanza, or every paragraph. Where would that take you?

These are just a few techniques that have worked for me whenever I've been on a creative dry spell. Do you have any others that work for you? Let me know in the comments below.

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The Power Of Photography

When we take a photo or a selfie, the instant that we captured is gone forever and the photograph itself becomes a time machine. Every time we look at the image, it has the ability to take us back to a moment in our history that is frozen in time. It makes us relive in our minds the experience immortalised on it. Yet, an image can also trigger memories and emotions even if the picture itself isn't ours or about us. There is a powerful connection between our mind and what we see in a photo. In the times we are living, examining what photographs make us feel can help us reconnect with ourselves and with those around us.

Photography nowadays is so ubiquitous, available and disposable, that its significance is often overlooked. Our phones are full of images that we hardly ever look at. Only once in a while, when we are looking for something else, we run into an old image and we smile, or we cry, or we cringe by the memory it triggered. That is the power of photography.

Photographs are reproductions of reality. In the art world, reproductions have less or no value in comparison to the original. But, in photography, the value of the reality depicted on the image acquires a different dimension. No matter how many times you copy or print a photo, the instant in which it was taken will never be possible to replicate. That makes it invaluable. It is unique, it has attached historical, emotional and documentary value, but it also has a subjective given value.

Take for instance this image:

At first sight, it's an old image of two kids in a pool. I say old because of the yellow tone and the film feeling, but it could easily be a photo taken yesterday and aged digitally in Photoshop. It speaks of childhood, of summer days, of friendship or family ties, it awakens joy.

On closer examination, you can see the way the boys are dressed and try to infer the year when the photo was taken by the clothes they are wearing. It is still difficult to say because the clothes could be second hand, they could be a returning trend or they could have even been selected on purpose to portray a period in history.

The first real clue relies on the t-shirt worn by the boy on the right. If you Google what it says, you will find out that it is an advertisement for medicine that dates back to the late '70s early '80s. It still doesn't tell us if the photo is from that time because it could be a t-shirt made to look vintage, but it gives us a little more information.

However, I don't need to do all that forensic analysis to know exactly where it was taken, when it was taken and who are the children on the photo. As you may have guessed, the boy on the right it's me. That's my brother on the left. This photo was taken at a hotel where my parents used to take us at times on weekends. The hotel doesn't exist anymore. The photo was taken in the late '70s.

You don't need to have all this information to make a connection with the image. You might not even care about the details that I gave you about the photo because they still don't change the way this image makes you feel. You made the image yours and that is completely out of my control.

By looking at it, you may remember your own childhood, the places where you lived or where you went on holidays, your relationships with relatives and friends back in the day. Maybe you see your own children or grandchildren or nephews and nieces and it brings you feelings of joy, of longing, of grief.

I can tell you what this image makes me feel. It is one of the oldest memories that I have, and one of the strongest ones. It is a moment in my life that I constantly relive in my mind and I don't know why. Every time that I remember that day, I think of this photo and, just like today, I waste too much time trying to find it. I should have my childhood photos better organised and labelled so that I can retrieve them easily whenever I think of them. I will do that later today (I probably won't).

There were some other kids in the pool that day. Children from other guests. I started playing with them (can't seem to recall where my brother was) and the game took us around the pool area and into the rooms hallways of the hotel. Suddenly, the tables turned and the other kids stopped being friendly to me. I must have said or done something to upset them because they started chasing me around the hotel. They were yelling that they had to get me and kick the hell out of me.

I got scared and ran as fast as I could to our room. We had a cabin by the pool and, to my luck, the room door was open because my dad was just outside the room sitting on one of the hammocks. I entered the room, slammed the door closed behind me and hid below the bed. The other kids saw me go into our room and asked my dad, politely, if he could let me know that they were waiting for me outside. I could hear them from below the bed. I was terrified, petrified and my heart felt like it was coming out of my mouth.

My dad came into the room. He called me while looking for me in the bathroom and in the closet. When he couldn't find me, he went back outside to let the kids know that I was no longer in the room. He then went to fetch my mom to try to figure out what had happened to me. I came out from below the bed and stayed in the room for what felt like the rest of the day. I can't remember anything else. Even at 45 years old, that photo still gives me anxiety. That's how this image makes me feel.

Why don't you try this exercise today? Take your phone and look for the oldest images. Pick one of them and examine how it makes you feel. Which memories does it trigger? How do you feel about the people, or the places, or the things depicted on it? Is it worth reconnecting with them? Are you still in touch? Do you recognise the place? Does it still exist? How does it look like today? They might have a website. Do you recognise the objects in the image? Do you still own them or know where they are?

If you feel like sharing, use the comments below to tell me how this exercise made you feel.

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Meet An Arab Woman

As a species, human beings are inherently creative. Creativity is what we use to solve our everyday problems or to do things in a different way using our imagination. But, having this ability to create and actually creating something are two completely different things. That's why we are so impressed when we see people who create something which we consider beautiful. It makes us say "wow, they are so creative!" From the person who doodles on their notebooks, to the one who cooks imaginative dishes at home, to the aspiring Picasso's and the Beethoven's of the world, we are surrounded by creators.

However, for a creator to be considered what we call in the industry a "Creative", they require way more than just creativity. They require a constant awareness of everything that happens inside or around them. They require an unquenchable thirst to interpret life and present their view of the world to the rest of humanity. They must feel the need to create something every second of their lives without even questioning themselves why. That, for me, is a Creative. And I can count myself lucky for being surrounded by such talented ones.

One of those creatives is Sandy Abdelrahman. Sandy was born in Egypt and grew up in East London, where she is an activist and creative social entrepreneur. She is also the founder of Skaped, an organisation that uses art as an engagement tool to educate and raise awareness of human rights issues. She has a track record that includes representing the United Kingdom at the United Nations Youth Summit 2017 in New York and working with Amnesty International.

Sandy is currently studying for her Master's Degree in Art & Politics, for which she has devised an interesting project on the perception that the non-Arab world has of who an Arab woman is. 'Meet an Arab woman', is a project that invites us to have an open-minded conversation on the burning debate about being a woman and being Arab. The project is intended to answer all the questions that the rest of us have about culture, political correctness and stereotypes on gender in the Arab world.

Through online conversations via video call, Sandy wants to answer our questions on gender inequality, discrimination, and racism while at the same time challenging many of the prevailing perspectives. If you want to find out more about inspiring Arab women, or simply learn who makes the greatest falafel, sign up to her project and solve all the doubts that you may have about what being an Arab woman means.

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Which Skills Do You Need As A Photographer?

Recently, one of the most searched topics on the internet, according to the Exploding Topics website, was the word Ikigai. Ikigai is a Japanese concept that refers to "what makes life worth living". It doesn't surprise me that, in the post-truth times we are living, where ethically dubious practices seem to be becoming the norm, people are looking into doing something fulfilling with their lives.

When I left the corporate world to become a photographer, I was also looking for my reason for being. And I think that after many years of trying different things, I successfully found it. My work makes me happy and gives me purpose.

However, as I was writing this post, I asked myself why is it that I do some genres of photography and not others. Is it because I don't like them or is it because I don't have the skills or personality to do them? Admittedly, one can always acquire new skills with enough training, but there are certain types of jobs that also require a particular type of personality.

I decided to write a list of the traits and skills that I considered that photographers need depending on the type of work that they are doing. It is a very subjective list, and not everyone has all of the elements that I suggest, but I think it's a good guide for those who are starting in the industry and have yet to decide for one genre of photography or the other:

• Fashion: you must love clothes and understand the inner-workings of the industry. This type of photography is all about how the clothes we wear make us feel. Fashion gives photographers a lot of creative freedom, playing with fantasy and the theatrical.

• Beauty: shooting beauty requires a lot of attention to detail and knowledge of lighting. Like with product photography and still life, it requires a lot of patience. But, because you are photographing humans, it also requires people skills and empathy.

• Portraiture: probably one of the genres of photography in which your people skills can make or ruin an image. Taking someone's portrait requires a lot of empathy and an ability to get people to share with you their real selves.

• E-commerce: it's a fast-paced environment, with lots of repetitive tasks. You need a knowledge of what type of images sell. A lot of people say that this type of work is where creativity goes to die, but it pays the bills. Bigger brands have their own in-house staff, but studio owners and freelance photographers also cater to this part of the industry.

• Still-life / Food / Interiors: photographing still-life, food or interiors might be the opposite of a fast-paced e-commerce environment. It can be a slow process that requires a lot of patience and attention to detail and a very good understanding of how light behaves in different environments and on different surfaces.

• Street: this genre of photography requires good reflexes and always being alert to what is going on around you. You must be physically fit, as you will spend many hours on the streets trying to find the perfect photo or waiting for the perfect weather conditions, a task that also requires a lot of patience. If you photograph people on the streets, you definitely require people skills to convince people to pose for you or to deal with them if they react negatively to being photographed in public spaces without their consent. You must be familiar with the local legislation and your rights as a photographer.

• Landscape: landscape photography is about capturing the essence of the environment around you. You must be someone very patient, capable of waiting hours for the right light angle or the perfect clouds, but also someone flexible enough to react to an unexpected change of weather. Someone who is good at researching and doing recces for locations and for perfect weather conditions but who also knows how to take advantage of a sudden shower.

• Press and Documentary: these two genres of photography are very similar in that they require storytelling skills. They are not so much about the technicalities of the craft but about telling a story with the utmost respect for the subject matter and the people you photograph. They require integrity and high moral standards, and in some situations, you must be willing to put your safety at risk. They differ mainly in the turnaround. Usually, press photographers are expected to have a fast turnaround, were documentary photographers tend to work more in long term projects.

• Sports: also a fast-paced environment, it requires good reflexes and a thorough understanding of the sports you are shooting. It usually involves expensive and heavy equipment.

• Advertising: this genre of photography is all about selling and trying to convince the viewer that they must have the product depicted in the image. It usually involves big clients with big budgets and large crews and the photographer is just a small piece in the whole production. Being able to coordinate with the rest of the areas involved to achieve the results that the client expects is essential.

• Weddings and Events: for me, this is one of the most stressful genres of photography. You just have one chance to get the images that you are hired for, and you are working on your client's most special occasion. It is fast-paced, requires nerves of steel, people skills, lots of equipment, very good reflexes and a love for weddings and events.

• Travel: this genre of photography is a sort of cocktail of other genres like documentary, street, landscape, food and portraiture. It is basically documenting the landscape, people, cultures, customs and history of a specific destination.

• Fine Art: this genre of photography is less about the photography itself and more about the vision of the artist and their creative expression. The artist uses the medium as a way to convey an idea, a concept or an emotion.

This is not a complete list, as there are many other genres of photography but it covers the most common ones. In general, photographers should be resourceful and must be able to solve last-minute mishaps promptly and with flexibility. Also, I believe that professional photographers should have respect for the craft, the industry (peers, crew, clients) and the subject (models, product). Only by respecting and understanding the industry is that we can contribute to improving it, but also we can benefit from its support.

Photo credit: behind the scenes image by Andrzej Gruszka.

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The Secret Formula For Success

When people ask me how did I go from working in a different industry and in a different country to starting a photographer career in the UK, I always feel like they want me to share a secret formula that will make all their dreams come true. The reality is that there aren't any formulas or magic tricks. You just have to want it as if your life depended on it. But, even if there are no secret formulas, there is a very powerful tool that you can add to your business skills toolset that will definitely have an impact on the success rate of your projects. Networking.

When I arrived in London at almost 40 and without knowing anyone in the business, I knew that I had a significant disadvantage in comparison to other fellow photographers. I didn't have a history in the UK, I was new, and I didn't know anyone from school, uni or from being brought up here. So, my solution to that lack of connections was to network like crazy. I literally typed in Google 'networking events for photographers in London' and started going to as many events as I could possibly fit in my diary.

Armed with a set of freshly printed business cards, I went from event to event introducing myself to as many people as I could. To this day, some of those connections that I made are still active, and I've made some really good friends from those interactions.

Apart from going to networking events, I’ve also joined professional communities and trade organisations that have helped me grow my network and strengthen my connections within the industry. Here are some of the communities that I’ve found the most useful:

• The Freelancer Club: in 2008, Matt Dowling unsuccessfully spent his last £300 on a lawyer to recover £11,000 that was owed to him from an unpaid invoice. Not long after, Matt met Nina, a freelance model who had her own set of freelance challenges. They shared their experiences and wrote a list of all the things they wished they had access to when they started out. They always wanted Freelancer Club to be more than just a jobs board and vowed to dedicate their efforts to freelancers who felt helpless, lost or frustrated. Today, Freelancer Club is a creative network that campaigns to end exploitative unpaid work and has become one of the leading voices in the creative freelance community.

• The London Creative Network: LCN is a development programme for creative practitioners in London. Delivered by SPACE, with Cockpit Arts, Four Corners and Photofusion, and part-financed by the European Regional Development Fund Programme from the EU.

• The Association of Photographers - AOP: The Association of Photographers is one of the most prestigious professional photographers' associations in the world. It aims to promote and protect the worth and standing of its members, to vigorously defend, educate and lobby for the interests and rights of all photographers, especially in the commercial photographic industry.

• The Trampery: The Trampery is a London-based social enterprise, specialising in shared workspace and support for entrepreneurs and creative businesses. They run Pathways, a learning programme designed to provide the space, resources, tools, time and support network for entrepreneurs who are doing pioneering work. The programme is funded by the European Regional Development Fund from the EU.

• The Societies: The Societies of Photographers is a group of organisations that encourage high professional standards and ethics in photography by providing continued training programmes for experienced professionals along with the newcomers to the business. The Societies of Photographers annual Convention is a four-day action-packed programme where brands and peers show the latest in trends, technology and design.

• The Boxed Community: the newly formed Boxed Community is a curated online community and virtual co-working space that provides support and development for entrepreneurs (startups, freelancers, and their teams) through ongoing learning programmes, business and personal development support as well as access to fellow members internationally. For more information, or to get on the waiting list, contact nicole@boxedcommunity.com

As Isa Rae, the producer and actress known for Insecure, says: we have to build connections with the people around us who are as hungry as we are. So, go out and meet them!

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I Refuse To Be One-Dimensional

Long before I started writing this blog, and even before becoming a photographer, I lived in a very different reality. It is difficult to remember a time when I didn't work in the Creative Industries, and some days it feels like I have been doing this forever. But, I used to live a very one-dimensional life where my career defined me as a person, and I wasn't involved in much else other than what I did for a living. From 9 to 6, I worked in the office, and after work, I would hang out with my friends and colleagues from the office. I spent almost a decade growing up professionally, but as a person and as a human being, I became stagnant.

These days, I sometimes feel that there are so many dimensions to me that it's hard to keep track. I find it difficult when others want me to define myself in just a few words. I work as a photographer, yes, but I am so much more than my work. And I am involved in so many different things that I have to tailor my introduction depending on the person that I am talking to. For my community projects peers, I am a photographer exploring social issues. When I'm in commercial environments, I work in Fashion. For my poetry club, I'm a writer. When I'm at the Ethical Society, I'm a fellow humanist. And for my mentees, I am sometimes mentor, sometimes project manager. To name a few.

Admittedly, we can't possibly go around introducing ourselves by saying the long list of things that we are involved in. But, sometimes, introductions can feel very limiting. Like when I have to introduce my work to someone who has never seen it before. Having just one online portfolio that shows a range of everything I do can sometimes get confusing. In this industry, you are supposed to be one-dimensional. Unless you are really famous, then you can do whatever you want. Otherwise, your portfolio must reflect the type of photographer that you are trying to sell yourself as.

Some types of photography are complementary. You can be a Food and Travel Photographer, or work at the same time in Fine Arts and Portraiture. But, when I try to explain that I am interested in exploring current social issues but that I also shoot commercially as a fashion and portraits photographer, it sometimes feels like I'm talking about two contradictory things. It might be because you are not seen as ethical when you work inside an industry like Fashion. But, like I always say, change comes from within, and it is us who work inside the industry who have the power to change it for the better.

What all the things that I do have in common is me. I am so much more than one thing or the other. I am the sum of all of them and so many more that I don't have enough space to mention. Like the founder of the fashion brand Sabinna, designer Sabinna Rachimova, said today: I like "taking on too many projects at the same time, forgetting that the day has only 24 hours". But we wouldn't do it any other way because this is who we are, right Sabinna?

Photo credit: behind the scenes taken by Diana Buntajova.

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Ceci N'est Pas Un Drill

This is not a drill. This is happening for real now. This coming Friday, January 31st, 2020, the United Kingdom starts the transition period to leave the EU. After 3.5 years of uncertainty on whether this might actually happen, on December 31st, 2022, the UK will officially be out of the EU. Funny enough, the Brexit campaign was based on vilifying immigrants, but anyone who has ever emigrated can tell you that migrants might be the only ones with the skills to navigate the tough times ahead. Adapting to this new reality is going to take a lot of resilience and a lot of sacrifices.

Leaving the EU means closing the borders to free movement. The Government has introduced a points system for those who want to immigrate to the UK as of 2021, which is being advertised by saying that the UK wants to welcome “talent from around the world while reducing low-skilled migrants.” The PM also added that “the UK is open to the most talented minds in the world.”

Admittedly, if the country is closing the borders as of 2021, a migration system needs to be put in place. But all those words that are being used like “most talented minds” and “reducing low-skilled migrants” send a clear message: the immigrants that we have nowadays are low-quality, and we need better ones. We want diversity, but we want it our way.

Defining what “most talented” and “low-skilled” mean will have a significant impact on many industries, including the Creative Industries. Lately, one of the criteria used to filter out the wrong type of immigration has become very controversial.

Currently, most skilled workers from outside the EU coming to the UK must have a job paying at least £30,000 a year. If nothing changes, this threshold will also apply to EU immigrants as of 2021. When you look around you, you might think that these low-skilled immigrants occupy jobs like cleaning staff, caregivers, security guards, to name a few.

The reality is that many skilled jobs nowadays, especially in the Creative Industries, don’t make it to the threshold either. The Creative Industries rely heavily on freelance workers, and according to a study conducted by Glassdoor, the average freelancer in this industry makes less than £30,000 a year.

I’ve written extensively about how the Creative Industries contribute to the economy of the country. One of the secrets of such success is the creative immigrants who come to enrich the industry. If we filter out those creatives, we would not only weaken one of the pillars of the UK economy and the UK branding across the world, but we would also leave many a position unfilled.

Some might think that it is an opportunity for UK nationals to have access to those jobs. Still, a study by the Creative Industries Federation shows that a third of creative business agree that there aren’t enough young people interested in creative careers in the UK. So, with these immigration regulations, we will not only have fewer people to fill those positions, but also the people available would only speak among themselves and not receive valuable influences from people from other parts of the world.

And this is only within the Creative Industries. Now take those figures and think about the whole of the UK economy. There aren’t enough UK nationals to do those jobs. Either because there aren’t enough UK nationals in the first place, or because they are not prepared, or they are not willing to do those types of jobs.

From freelance photographers like myself to multimillion-pound productions of the likes of Game of Thrones, being labelled as a creative from the UK makes us a referent around the world and adds immensely to our brands. And that reputation comes from the diversity of our industry. Why would anyone want to change that?

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