I’ve said that in the world of commercial photography, the headshot is a modest affair. I’ll venture further: headshot photography may not even be considered commercial work.
Here’s why: anyone can become a headshot photographer. All that’s required is a camera and (perhaps) a website. There’s no market to penetrate: no art director, graphic designer or photo editor to be persuaded that a headshot photographer is up to the job.
Headshot photographers are hired by individuals – usually, actors in need of decent images of themselves for submission to agents, managers and casting directors. Actors may get recommendations about photographers from other actors and/or judge for themselves as to whom to hire.
But there’s not a formal marketplace. No barriers exist to allow or deny anyone permission to become a headshot photographer.
Actors are left to hire someone from an undifferentiated pool of photographers ranging from expert to inept. To the untrained eye it can be difficult to distinguish who’s great from the not-so-great.
Pursuing an acting career? You’re not alone
SAG-AFTRA – the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists – has around 160,000 members: actors, voice artists, and other performers working professionally in film, television, and radio. This figure doesn’t include people involved in theatre at all levels or participants in acting schools and workshops. Platforms such as Backstage and Casting Networks have millions of registered users, many of whom identify as aspiring actors. A lot of people in this group hope to have acting careers. Most of them want or need headshots.
How to choose a headshot photographer?
Photographer fees are usually (but not always) a “tell” – an indicator. Anyone charging $99, or $200, for example, is likely to have limited experience and skill. At the same time, someone charging $1000 may have both — but not be fun to be around. Which matters: it’s going to be difficult for you to relax while someone with a challenging personality photographs you. You’ll be disappointed with the results.
A headshot is a form of identification. But so is a passport photo and a driver’s license photo. Your headshot has to convey an element that institutional photos lack: your essence. Your energy and vitality need to be evident. It’s up to the photographer to enable these qualities to come forward during your session.
In a sense your headshot session is a performance. A good photographer is also a good director. Choose carefully.
If during your session a photographer asks you to smile – an amateurish direction, guaranteed to make anyone tense – you’ve chosen the wrong photographer.
If a photographer talks about him/her/their self during your session – you’ve chosen the wrong photographer.
A headshot or PR session is YOUR session. Think of it as a party held in your honor. The focus must only be on you — and you, only. Choose carefully.
Casting directors
Casting directors won’t linger over your headshot — or anyone else’s. They don’t have time for this. Your picture will get a moment’s notice.
I know this from long experience. As a large-scale producer of high-end lifestyle photography for stock- photo agencies for 20 years, I was my own casting director. I held periodic in-person casting sessions. Typically 150 actors would be called in, but only after 500 headshots had been reviewed — this was the print era — and the ones that seemed amateurish had been eliminated. Almost always we called in actors who’d had themselves photographed properly.
During my stock-production years I reviewed 50,000 headshots and hired roughly1200 actors as models. During the shoots, with a few exceptions, everyone performed impressively.
Again: casting directors will look at your picture briefly. Often, VERY briefly.
The value of the headshot
Likely your headshot is going to be the first thing people in a position to call you in for an audition will see of you. It’s not going to get you hired. But it’s a critical first look at you – a passport to the audition. So: humble though a headshot may be in the world of professional photography, it very much matters. It needs to be staged and lit well. It needs to show your energy. It needs to make an impact. On a scale from one to ten, it should be an eleven.
