PDN - January 2012

What can a publicist do for you?

Andrea Walker’s
goal for a client
like Paul Mobley
is to keep him
in the minds of
editors, “so when
the big thing comes
along, they haven’t
forgotten him.”

I can send out,” she explains.

To give a project a news hook, publicists frequently offer ideas
for events that might attract press. “I think it’s incredibly helpful
to have book signing events, exhibits, school visits,” Greenberg
explains. “It gives the publicist another reason to contact the
press.” For Lynch’s book, for example, Greenberg helped publi-
cize a book signing at the International Center of Photography
and a launch party co-sponsored by Radius Books and the
Mexican Cultural Institute of New York. “She essentially coordi-
nated both events” Lynch says, adding that they were both suc-
cessful: “good turnout, good exposure, good fun.”
Working on retainer with photographer Paul Mobley, Walker’s
role often extends to “brand development,” she says. Each
month, she talks to the photographer’s reps, “to find out how
they want him positioned.” Her goal for Mobley, as for all her
clients, she says, is to keep him in the minds of editors, even
when he’s not publishing a new book or photo project, “so when
the big thing comes along, they haven’t forgotten him.” For in-
stance, she suggests Mobley to editors as a source for stories.
She also pitched a story about him that was published in a maga-
zine in his hometown, Detroit. She adds, “I like to scope out with
the photographer to find out what’s happening in six months,
what’s an ongoing project, what‘s a project they’re shooting
tomorrow. Maybe there’s something we can send to the press
to pique their interest.” If Mobley, who is currently working on
two book projects, is about to shoot a portrait in, for example,
Kentucky, “I’ll call ahead and tell the local media he’ll be there to
see if they want to interview him.”
Whether hiring someone to work on a single project or a long-
term marketing campaign, the photographer needs to have a
rapport with the publicist. “The publicist has to understand your
work because the publicist has to be enthusiastic about what
[you’re] doing,” says Newman. She also suggests photographers

Above, left: From Paul Mobley’s series on heroes, an image of Geoffrey
Canada, founder of Harlem Children’s Zone. Above, right: Mobley’s
portrait of Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters. Left: Andrea Walker.

check out a publicist’s previous press releases and clips to evalu-
ate their tone and subject matter, and to find out the kinds of
media the publicist has worked with before. Walker warns, “If a
publicist is representing 16 photographers, it’s hard to say about
all of them, ‘He’s the best at what he does.’”
Walker recommends photographers start thinking about get-
ting press clippings by reaching out to online publications and
local press “as early as possible, because you’ll learn how to grow
your brand.” Newman says that even if your show is mounted in
a local restaurant, you benefit from trying to get as many people
to see it as you can. She notes, “Word of mouth is important.
Start getting it out there wherever you can get it.”
Janelle Lynch says that while the benefits of hiring a publicist
are hard to quantify, press contacts can help build name recogni-
tion. “I do know that there have been significantly more online
press and announcements and listings with my name on them
than there would have been” if she hadn’t had help from a pub-
licist, she says. “I think that anything in that regard has a poten-
tial to help promote not just a book, but a career.”