Photography ‘Experiment’ – Pay What You Want Portraits

Posted by Matt Lange on Aug 3, 2009 in Information | 5 comments

**Read entire post before emailing**

I’ve been thinking a lot lately, about how to be innovative in this photography world. I always want to try something new, and sometimes it can be tough to think of things. After quitting my fulltime job to leap out into the world and do photography fulltime (a full new post will come tomorrow on this), I’ve been thinking a lot about money. How much money can I make to support myself? What do I need to do to earn enough money? Do I need to shoot any type of shoot I can for now? (the answer to that is a resounding yes) But what can I do that’s different?

So, I got to thinking about this last week, and it hit me. Do you all remember Radiohead’s album ‘In Rainbows’? I’m not a Radiohead fan, but I believe this to be their most recent studio album release. The reason I know about this album was it’s unique way of being sold. This album was to be sold as ‘pay what you want‘. That’s right, you could pay whatever you wanted for that album. In an industry being shaken to the core by free downloading, I thought this was an amazing move. A lot of bands would disagree. There was a huge backlash from other musicians, outraged at how ‘rediculous’ this idea was. They also believed this would ruin the industry. As it turns out, it was a huge success for Radiohead. The band experienced record numbers of albums sold and concert sellouts, merchandise, etc. And this was no surprise to me. Fans and people who respect their music, paid what they felt it was worth to them.

So it got me thinking. What would happen if I did this with photography? Well, ladies and gentlemen, there is only one way to find out. So here is what I am going to do. I’m going to apply this idea to portrait sessions, my typical portrait shoots to be specific (I don’t really shoot families in the traditional sense. Just a reminder). This can go for babies, seniors, portfolio work, whatever. Here are the stipulations: I will only take the first 4 people to email me at info@mattlange.com (not on facebook or yahoo). Title the email, ‘pay what I want’. Don’t tell me what you have in mind of paying me, that’s the surprise for later. If you tell me in the email, you will not qualify for this. Simply email me to schedule it. The money is due at the time of the shoot (which is normal) and you have to pay me personally. *Travel fees will be extra as usual* I will list the 4 people on this post, so everyone will know when it’s filled.

Must email me by Thusday August 6, 2009 @ 8pm.

So what is my photography worth to you? If you want me to photograph you, your kids or work on your modeling portfolio, what would you pay? Would you average what the market charges? Would you decide that this is a steal and give me a buck? Or would you think that there is a whole lot of value in the work I do and surprise me? This should be interesting.

**A note to other photographers. This is not something I’m doing to de-value the market. This is an experiment. It’s economics really. You will only really earn what the public wants to pay you anyway. So don’t get mad. And if you do get mad, don’t tell me about it.

Signed up:
Jordan
Kim
Adam