© Tim Gruber
© Jenn Ackerman
We had our first Skype interview in class today, with the photographic team Ackerman Gruber. Jenn Ackerman and Tim Gruber are husband and wife, and work collaboratively on photographic and video projects from their base in Minneapolis. They met while graduate students at Ohio University. The two imparted lots of wisdom on the class today, but I wanted to single out a few points they made.
• They talked about curiosity, and how it's an important element to their personalities and their working life - it's what inspires them, what leads to new project ideas, and what makes them good at relating to a wide variety of their human subjects. Additionally, they said that in order to have subjects comfortable with them, they took a real interest and learned about them, so as to make photographing them a comfortable experience.
• They read a lot, which is often the source for new project ideas. Jenn noted that the idea for their project Trapped: Mental Illness in America's Prisons came from a story she read in The New York Times.
• They maintain a story ideas folder, which they add to and revisit often.
• They suggested that we shouldn't be afraid to explore other realms of photography - and be open to finding inspiration in all forms of photography, not just the genre that we're most interested in.
• They stressed that students should just get out and shoot - stories and ideas can come from just being out in the world making pictures.
• Regarding how they keep a successful business going, they sited diversity as a key - the ability to shoot a variety of things. And they apply for a lot of grants to fund their work. They've also found that income from their archive images is another important source.
• On the topic of marketing, they said that in addition to making great pictures, you need people to know about those great pictures.
• When asked if students should take a business class while in school, they replied, "Yes."
• Jenn said that a transition to video can be best when someone has a solid foundation in still photography.
• On grad school, they said that (if you're ready), the process can be a liberating 2 year period to make lots of work and build a portfolio.
• They enjoy working collaboratively and suggest that teaming up with another creative can be empowering - it's great to be able to bounce ideas off someone else and to stay on track with projects.
• The process of writing a business plan was really helpful. They realized their true overhead expenses this way.
Thanks, Jenn and Tim!
© Tim Gruber
© Jenn Ackerman
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