Spotlight Sessions: JC Candanedo, Photographer and Humanitarian
Today on the blog we’re interviewing photographer and humanitarian JC Candanedo. He speaks about falling in love with photography, his career change and gives some top photography tips for budding new photographers.
Hi JC, how are you today?
I like this question because usually you get asked “how are you?”, in generic, as if your state of wellbeing or your mood were constant things. You ask “how are you ‘today’?” and, to me, that shows me that you are here with me, in the moment. And the answer is: today I’m feeling inspired. These last few months have been very challenging, so I feel fortunate that I’ve managed to stay creative and focused. I bet you weren’t expecting such a long answer for such a short question!
How and when did you get into photography?
I started as a full-time photographer back in 2014. Before that, I was always the friend or the relative with a camera keeping a photographic record of every event or trip. But, I never saw photography as a career. It was just something that I enjoyed doing. I didn’t even see it as a hobby, it was more about documenting memories.
My path in the creative industries began at a very adult age. I worked in a different industry for 20 years and I never saw a creative job as a viable career. Where I come from, being a creative is not considered a proper job so I had to study engineering when I went to university to please my family.
“I never saw photography as a career. It was just something that I enjoyed doing. I didn’t even see it as a hobby, it was more about documenting memories. ”
It wasn’t until I was in my mid-30’s, when I saw the fourth decade rapidly approaching, that I started thinking that I couldn’t possibly work on something that I didn’t like until retirement age. By the time I get to retire, the retirement age will probably be 90! Imagine being stuck in the wrong job for 50 more years!
I also started this journey in a new country, right after I moved to the UK. So, I started from scratch in a new career, a new industry, a new country, a new culture and a new language. It was literally starting from zero.
The difference this time was that I already knew what I didn’t want. So I focused only on what I wanted. First, I wanted to become a photographer after working for 20 years in an unrelated field and having no photography experience. So the first task on my to-do list was to learn how to be a photographer. I enrolled in photography school, and after 3 years I had a degree that said that I could be trusted with a camera.
Second, I wanted to work as a photographer in a country where I didn’t know a single person. I didn’t grow up in this country, I didn’t have school mates, or relatives, or flatmates, or former coworkers who could lend me a hand and introduce me to people. I had no background and no history whatsoever in the UK. So the second task on my to-do list was to go out and meet people. The first 2 years of living in the UK, I spent an average of two times a week going to networking events, assisting other photographers, researching on Instagram people who worked in the industry to connect with them and trying to meet as many people in the industry as I could.
Third, now that I was starting to meet people, I needed to have a body of work and a portfolio to be able to show potential clients what I was able to do. So the third task in my to-do list was to shoot as if my career depended on it. Because it did. I collaborated with as many people as I could and that’s how I was able to put my portfolio together. I organised a different test shoot every month for over 4 years.
While I was doing all this, I also joined creative groups and organisations that could help me develop my creative and my business skills. I also met some of the mentors that have guided me along the way and have helped me steer my career in the right direction.
Why is photography important for business?
New information is stored in the human brain through our senses. Imagine that you are trying to sell your product or service face to face to a new potential customer. That person will hear what you are saying, will see the product or will see you if you offer a service, they will get to touch the product or shake your hand, they will smell/taste the product or smell the air or taste the coffee they were having with you while you were talking to them. If you manage to make them feel related to you or your product, you will be able to convert them into a customer.
“No matter how beautifully designed your marketing is or how perfectly-written your text is, if the person can’t see what they are being sold they won’t convert.”
Now, imagine that this potential customer is on the other side of town. Or in a different country or even a different continent. How do you recreate this experience? No matter how beautifully designed your marketing is or how perfectly-written your text is, if the person can’t see what they are being sold they won’t convert.
Think of it as going into a dating app which featured no images, just text. Would you date anyone from that service? That’s why images are so important for business.
How do you come up with ideas/inspiration for your personal projects?
There is not a “one-size-fits-all” answer to this question. Sometimes I see something that catches my eye and I get so obsessed with it that the only way that I have to deal with it is to photograph it. This happened to me when I worked on a project about the effect of the 2008 recession on the high street in Barcelona. Seeing all the commercial spaces closing down one after the other, like in a domino effect, made me want to document them.
Other times, I hear a phrase that gets stuck in my head and I can’t get it out until I do something with it. When my friend Patricia told me that her family back in Brazil called her London-born son “the little Briton” because he had a British accent when he spoke Portuguese, I knew I had to photograph him.
Over the last few years, I have been a bit more experimental and my approach to projects comes from playing with non-traditional photographic techniques.
Your non-commercial work focuses on Human Rights, Mental Health and National Identity, why are you drawn to these topics?
When I was a child, my dad always used to say that I was a paladin for justice, that I had a superhero complex. I was always concerned about what was fair or not. As I grew up my priorities changed, studies and career got in the way and I was more concerned about making a living and making it to the end of the month.
Then, as I entered my 30’s, I started to notice the world around me again, the injustices that I saw committed towards others but also the discrimination that I was being submitted to. That’s when I started to feel the need again to give back to the community. I started volunteering my time for the causes that I believed in.
It wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I realised that my professional life and my personal life had one thing in common: they were both mine. So it only made sense to also help the world through my work.
“It wasn’t until I was in my 40’s that I realised that my professional life and my personal life had one thing in common: they were both mine. So it only made sense to also help the world through my work.”
My first projects focused on Human Rights, specifically the Right to Self-determination which is a lesser-known right that we all have and it ties up with the concept of national identity. This guided me to explore my own identity, both in my heritage and in the context of the place that I now call home.
Eventually, I also started working on Mental Health related projects after seeing the unethical practices that took place in the fashion industry. And that got me really interested in exploring human condition as well.
What’s been your favourite project to work on?
The project that I’m currently working on is always my favourite! I learn so much from every project that I get involved in. I guess that, if I had to pick one, the project in which I’ve invested myself the most and that sadly hasn’t been able to see the light of day yet due to the pandemic is my project about the connection of London with its river. It’s a project about finding commonalities with other members of our communities in an effort to help people come together and find common ground. Watch this space.
What’s been the proudest moment of your career?
The first time that I answered “I’m a photographer” when asked what I did for a living.
Any tips for budding photographers who are looking to get into photography as a career?
Sort your finances first. There is nothing wrong with working full or part time in this or other industries until you can live from your photography work.
Work on personal projects: when clients look at your work, they want to see what you are passionate about and how you approach the topics that you care for.
Assist, assist, assist
Network as if your career depended on it. Because it does.
Seek mentors. They will change your life.
Any last words of wisdom?
The business of photography has very little to do with photography and a lot to do with business. You end up photographing maybe 5% of your time. The rest of your time is spent dealing with clients, working on administrative tasks, networking, pre-producing, post-producing and self-promoting. So, brush up on your business skills.
