Our final day we met with Sports Illustrated and Open Society Foundation.
At Sports Illustrated we met with Brad Smith the Director of Photography. Brad opened the talk with how Sports Illustrated works to complete a story and image. Editors, photographers and writers come up with ideas then pitch the idea, if the idea is approved then the team comes together and completes the idea. Sometimes the idea is pithed 6 months in advance and once it gets close to the deadline it may have been sitting for too long or gets knocked out by a newer story which is likely to happen. After talking about the ideas, Brad showed us the new magazine. The magazine cover features a mentor and a student from basketball teams. The cover is also regional based making it easier to sell to a larger market. The regions are broken up into four different areas, having the four covers means having four different photographers. Hiring four different photographers makes it cheaper for Sports Illustrated. Brad then transitioned into the three things he looks for in a photographer.
1. Where do you live?
2. Can you do quality work?
3. Does he want to work with you?
The third thing Brad looks for is the point that he drove the most. Working with people that are jerks are the people you wont want to keep in touch with. You're representing Sports Illustrated poorly and that's not what they want. The talk ended with a few questions and one of them directed towards internships. There are a few internship possibilities and it's a paid position. The position pays $16.88 which Brad found very funny.
Our last destination of the trip was Open Society Foundation and we had the pleasure of meeting with Maggie Solday the Director of Photography at Open Society Foundation in New York City. We had previously been to Open Society Foundation for a gallery opening, but Maggie brought us through a second time with a much more in-depth talk about each artist work and background. Open Society Foundation has locations in six areas of the world, Africa, Asia, Europe, Middle East, United States and Latin America/The Caribbean. Maggie also talked about the Open Society Foundation Instagram account that is handed to a photographer each week to show current or completed work. This Instagram account is a good way of showcasing your work and having a wider audience see it. The meeting came to an end with a short talk about internship opportunities.