I got lucky with a client, not really profit, but quite entertaining. Once a week I go to Ein Kerem for a few days, and take pictures of a jeweler's pieces. He produces engagement rings, mainly in a very "Israeli" style - with traces of a hammer and saw, which become elements in the composition😊. The main distribution channel is Etsy, a site I knew very little about.
In negotiating the specifications of the works, it became clear that my client did not want a glossy "luxury" still life, which I am used to photographing. He doesn't want stacking, five flashes with fiber optic cables, expensive post-processing. When he introduced to me the models for photographing the rings, I was indignant about the labor’s calluses on their hands, and asked in which kibbutz he dug them.
He told me and showed me that Etsy is a site for selling "handicraft" products, and if a consumer sees a picture that was not taken on a knee with a phone, he does not believe in manual production, and does not want to buy. And secondly, the number of images is just as important, if not more, than their quality. The visitor to the page wants to see some kind of story, even not actually coherent.
On the other hand, it is necessary to somehow correct the perspective distortions, somehow "ignite the metal", somehow illuminate the scene... and because no one has yet invented what to replace the special optics, and the powerful light, which are rarely found in the equipment case of amateurs, or wedding photographers And that's what brought him to me.
Of course, I would love to put together a story for each piece of jewelry, a photocomic with ten photos allowed by Etsy, but the customer still prefers his kaleidoscope, and he has a right to it. OK, I photograph the jewelry on the hands of these "kibbutzniks" (who really aren't😊), against the background of equipment suitcases, on pieces of paper, and in the company of " Nine Pieces of Eight" - strange things that the client keeps under his desk. And so, I learn from him the visual language which is foreign to me, and new to me, and it is very, very fascinating.
