How to Approach a Photo Editor (And How NOT to Do it)
Photo Editors get tons of emails. Here’s how to write one they’ll actually read.
“Photographers literally have about five seconds to impress when approaching an editor,” Andy Greenacre, the Director of Photography at The Telegraph Magazine, tells us. “It’s a buyer’s market, and competition is intense. If you are going to succeed, you need to demonstrate work that stands out from the crowd.”
But what exactly does it take to make an impression in a matter of seconds—and more than that, what does it take to be remembered, even months or years down the line? We asked nine photo editors, hailing from publications like The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg News, The Washington Post, Mother Jones, and more, to tell us the dos and don’ts of cold emailing (yes, cold emailing is still the best way to get in touch, in most cases). Along the way, they also shared some of their favorite ways of discovering new talent, online and in person.