Home > Culture > Mentor Showcase > The 2007 Best-of Series: Kim Kauffman
The 2007 'Best Of' Series
We have now produced an annual Best Of issue of the ASMP Bulletin for the third year in a row. As before, we selected twenty projects for our issue — but this year, we had nearly 200 excellent submissions! It was a tough decision, and we thank all those who submitted their work. We hope you will enjoy reading about these projects.
Kim Kauffman, Lansing, MI
Web site: www.kimkauffmanphotography.com>
Project: Fine art display prints of industrial products for Classic Turning’s corporate offices
A longtime client tapped Kim Kauffman for a corporate assignment that merged her fine art sensibility with industrial parts. The project leveraged each player’s strengths: a client who creates great products, an interior designer with a holistic approach, and the photographer’s skill at turning machine-tooled objects into classic still lives suited to her abstract style. A win-win-win situation for all.
All photos © Kim Kauffman
ASMP: How long have you been in business?
25 years.
ASMP: How long have you been an ASMP member?
Since 1984 … 23 years.
ASMP: What are your photographic specialties?
- Executive Portraiture
- Photo Collage and Illustration
- Advertising
- Products, Still Life and Catalog
- Food
- Corporate-Industrial and Annual Reports
- Fine Art
- Horticulture, Gardens, Botanical
ASMP: Please describe the processes and techniques central to the making of this work.
I have always been drawn to line, form, and the play of light in a very abstract way. This thread runs through much of my work in both my fine art and commercial assignments. It is, I believe, one of the strengths I bring to my work and helps to distinguish my images. This point of view is what took these photographs beyond product documentation.
ASMP: What do you consider your most valuable piece of equipment?
I have never been much of a tech or gadget person. Image making is my passion. At the same time, I understand photographic tools are essential to my craft. The tool that is most important is the one that helps me best realize the image I have in my mind’s eye at the moment. We are fortunate to have so many options today.
ASMP: What is unique about your style/approach, or what sets you and your work apart from other photographers?
My eye for making abstract and visually interesting images, often from commonplace subject matter, sets me apart.
ASMP: You seem to move easily between fine art and commercial photography. Do you see them as two different disciplines?
Yes and no. I have always felt that each area of my practice helps me make better images in mutually beneficial ways. With the fine art, I make images for myself that hone my personal vision. This vision carries over into my commercial work. Commercial assignments push me technically in directions I might not have explored otherwise. These become tools for my personal work. Greater technical skills and a strong personal vision better both of my practices.
ASMP: Is your thought process different when you are shooting a commercial project as opposed to fine art?
Again, yes and no. When I am working on my own projects, I am generally working alone, disengaging my internal dialogue and just letting the image(s) evolve. When working with a commercial client, their needs and knowledge of their product/subject must be foremost. Even in that situation, they are often looking to me to establish a point of view — that’s my job. I’m the visual professional; they may not be (I often work client direct). Once I believe I understand their needs and they feel confident with me, I try to get to the place I am when working on my own projects. If the process/client allows, I’ll try and push the images we are collaborating on beyond what we initially agreed to create. But the commercial side is driven first by my customer’s needs. So in that sense, yes, my thinking is different. Number one is getting the photograph that makes my customer happy and meets their needs. Once the parameters of the project are established, the process of creating the composition, correcting the light, tweaking the composition, is essentially the same in both my fine art and commercial work.
ASMP: Which type of shooting do you prefer, fine art or commercial, or does it matter to you?
I love them both. Working on my own projects is a joy and I also enjoy collaborating with clients. I am glad I haven’t had to choose one over the other. I think my work is better for doing both.
ASMP: Your work has a strong abstract quality to it. Do you find that concept hard to sell to your commercial clients?
I think it is important to understand when an abstract point of view is appropriate. I realize that my work doesn’t speak to everyone, and that’s OK. Marketing is a numbers business, and the more potential customers I can get in front of, the better chance I have of finding people I connect with and who connect with my work.
I have found that building strong long-term relationships plays an essential part in fortifying a career in our hugely competitive market. Trust is key. If the client trusts me, there is often more room for experimentation, which allows for the magic to happen.
Recently, after successfully photographing a product to my client’s satisfaction, I continued to make a few photographs on my own. Making abstract photographs is a very intuitive process for me. Though the client really liked all the photographs we made together that day, I had to chuckle when he picked the ones I made on my own. He recognized it and said, “That’s why I keep coming back to have you photograph my products. You have such a great eye. I should let you work on your own more often”.
The Classic Turning photo you chose for this compilation came from this same kind of trusting, respectful relationship.
ASMP: Do you have different books or marketing strategies for the different types of work that you do?
Absolutely! With today’s technologies (Web and ink-jet printing) there really isn’t any reason not to have a portfolio tailored specifically to a proposed assignment. If someone is looking for a style then I’ll try and show them my vision across a variety of subject matter. I have a portfolio I’ve titled Duets that juxtaposes fine art images with assignment images on the opposing page, emphasizing their compositional similarities. It was fun to put together and really explores my vision as a creative artist working in both the fine art and commercial realm,s highlighting my graphic abstract style. I’ve always shown my fine art work to selected commercial clients whom I feel are receptive to it. This has often lead to some of my favorite assignments.
ASMP: B&W seems to suit this project perfectly. Do you find that industrial subjects have a particular affinity for B&W or was it just this particular project?
I have always loved B&W. Like most photographers of my generation and earlier, we learned B&W photography first. The magic of the image appearing in the developer was instantly addicting. In this project, working in B&W emphasized the abstract play of line, form, light and shadow that are the strength of the work. I think that industrial subjects are often quite beautiful in color, and I have often chosen color for other projects.
ASMP: How much do you shoot in B&W as opposed to color? What influences your decision?
The last photographs I made with B&W specifically in mind were the Classic Turnings images. That was early 2006. So, not often. In the past I’ve observed that clients often chose B&W when reducing printing costs. The cost of printing in color has dropped significantly, and many clients exclusively use the Web to market their products today. My fine art has been color in recent years, although much of the color is added or manipulated. My earlier work was all B&W, and I have ideas for some new work that may take me back to B&W.
ASMP: Are you shooting film or digital? Please describe your printing/output process in making the prints. If you are shooting digitally, what kind of conversion process do you use?
The photographs I make today are primarily digital. I am very much a digital advocate — a fact that still surprises me. I believe that the digital darkroom offers me greater creative control than I had with a wet darkroom. I can adjust color, contrast, saturation and cropping of the digital files, finessing an image to my heart’s content before printing.
The B&W prints I made for the Classic Turning assignment were made with an ink-jet printer on fine art paper. I worked closely with a local lab to produce them. They are absolutely gorgeous.
My fine art prints are produced in collaboration with a lab on Fuji Crystal Archive paper using LightJet Technology. I am also starting to produce some in-house with an Epson printer.
Commercial clients want digital files. My film choices and professional E6 processing are now unavailable in my city. After getting through the digital learning curve, I find I enjoy the capabilities of digital. We have more control than ever before. It is exciting. However, I do look longingly at my old transparencies sometimes.
I generally deliver RGB tiff files in Adobe RGB 1988 color space and smaller jpeg files for my commercial clients’ web needs. I occasionally do CMYK conversions if the client can supply me with the ICC profiles of the output device they are using. If prints are needed, I can produce small quantities in-house, but for larger PR type needs I’ll use a production-oriented lab.
ASMP: What kind of licensing rights were negotiated for the use of this work?
The license for Classic Turnings read as follows: “Images will be supplied as B&W prints for display only. Any advertising and/or reproduction use requires an additional license and associated usage fees. All rights not specifically granted in writing, including copyright, remain the exclusive property of Kim Kauffman.”
ASMP: Do you have the ability to resell these images as fine art prints or license the images to other parties?
Yes. Though the products are so specific to this company and their industry that I would probably be hard pressed to find another commercial use beyond the original customer. If I found a commercial buyer, I would be careful about conflicts/concerns that might arise with the original client. I’d certainly consider selling additional fine art prints.
ASMP: You have three different Web sites for different aspects of your work and business. Please describe your strategy for design and content selection for each.
I actually have four now, yikes! I see each site as a different brand focused on different audiences. The sites are designed as portfolios with ease of navigation.
www.kimkauffman.com is aimed at high-end design buyers in the national/international market and features my graphic abstract style. I’ve found buyers in these markets prefer to view a narrowly focused portfolio that reveals a unique style.
www.kimkauffmanphotography.com is aimed at an audience whose photographic needs are broad and need an excellent photographic generalist. I think of it as my local/regional market. The site features a wide range of work.
www.synecdochestudio.com is my fine art site. It features a variety of personal work/projects I have created over the last thirty years. Most of the work is editioned and therefore higher priced. I don’t expect buyers to make purchases of this work site unseen, so this site is not aimed at making sales. The site is essentially a catalog of my work with support materials (rèsumé, artist statement, etc.) to aid the galleries. My prints are primarily sold through galleries that represent the work.
Finally, www.florachromes.com is my first attempt at selling fine art prints directly via the Web. The images are non-editioned, lower price point fine art prints. It is brand new and I’ve yet to really begin marketing it. We put it up in June 2007 and are still tweaking parts of it.
I support all these sites with a mix of direct mail, email, occasional print ads and source book advertising.
ASMP: How do you balance these different aspects of your business?
This is a big challenge. It is sometimes hard to allocate equal time for both practices. My partner, Ed Bonnen, handles the business side (accounting, marketing, sales, etc.). This leaves me more time to make images. We meet regularly to review and discuss our evolving vision of our business and to set goals and objectives that aim us in successfully achieving that vision.
ASMP: How much time do you dedicate to your fine art work in relation to your commercial work?
Over the past several years the relationship has changed. Synecdoche Studio has really begun to pull its weight financially in terms of the time invested. With so many day-to-day demands, if I don’t schedule time to make new work on the fine art side it doesn’t happen. I now schedule two days a week for making new work. I often work at home in the evening and weekends as well, to make sure I keep up with all the demands of each business.
ASMP: What is your approach to marketing these different aspects of your business and aesthetic approach? Do you niche market to different client segments?
The overriding principle I use in all my marketing (both business and fine art) is that all the markets/buyers are visually sophisticated. Every marketing vehicle needs to be of the highest quality. Our experience is you get one chance with potential buyers. The design, photography, printing, and presentation have to be top notch and well thought out.
On the fine art side we have been experimenting with a variety of vehicles to grow awareness and interest in the work. We’ve placed ads in sourcebooks, send regular show announcements (at least 4x/year) and enter competitions with judges who we want to see the work, or if the theme is a good fit. Building a regular exhibition schedule is a must. We work with our galleries to promote the work through public relations efforts to get articles, reviews and placement in calendars of events. Unlike the commercial business, a written rèsumé is an essential ingredient in the fine art marketing mix. We have developed a package of previous exhibition announcements, reprints, articles, cd/catalog, resume and artist statement that we give to patrons, galleries and museums that have expressed an interest or to a gallery or museum we are particularly interested in. I have also developed an artist talk that I offer.
Underlying all the direct marketing is good a prospect list. Ed has been doing regular research for the past four years, building a mailing list from a variety of sources, primarily trade publications and industry association member lists. We qualify the names with site visits and through reviewing web sites to see if my work might be a good match.
On the commercial side, we use a mix of direct mail, e-mail and public relations (submitting articles and press releases to publications) to build awareness. Each customer is pointed to a particular Web site that most closely meets their particular needs. If I have approached a national design firm, I’ll point them to the kimkauffman.com site with its focus on my style/vision.
We don’t do mass mailings any longer. We send communications that are directed at the particular needs of clients and prospects. A lobbying business will get a nicely made portrait, while a manufacturer gets a great still life or location photo. A hotel/restaurant would get a sumptuous food or environmental photo. We follow up with phone calls or e-mails. Voice mail and e-mail can be impersonal and you don’t always get a response. But it is another contact. We believe if done professionally it never hurts and is another chance to make an impression on a potential client.
Word of mouth from satisfied customers is a significant part of our business. Once we have a good customer, we work very hard to keep them happy and satisfied. Regular communication, sending thank you notes and going beyond the call of duty to service their needs is at the top of our marketing to do list. We are now developing a strategy to enlist our customers’ help in making referrals that actually turn into customers. Check back later.
