Crossover Hits
wedding, design and fine-art blogs, and “the response
was so overwhelming that we were booked for the entire year within a few weeks,” Wanger says.
It was through one blog in particular, Cup of Jo, that
I Heart Reps’ Dara Siegel, came across his photographs.
Even though Wanger had mostly wedding-based work,
Siegel thought it showed “huge commercial capability.” Siegel is now Wanger’s rep for advertising work.
“It’s just like any agent seeing the possibilities out-
side of what’s immediately there,” Siegel says. “There
are some photographers who come completely but-
toned-up with clients and commercial portfolios in
tow, and there are others who are just extremely tal-
ented and you know you can build something with
them.”
Though Wanger may have accidentally become a
wedding photographer, he was much more deliberate
when it came to marketing his wedding work. Even be-
fore signing with Siegel in 2009, he had been selective
about what he put on his Web site, posting only what
he thought were his best photographs from wedding,
engagement and portrait sessions as well as personal
work. He also had an e-commerce section, where he
sold his lifestyle-oriented prints and T-shirts with de-
signs inspired by his photographs.
Yet Siegel says, even though Wanger’s site “wasn’t
overtly for weddings,” the first order of business was
to revamp it, editing his work and reorganizing it
based on more commercial-friendly categories. His
commercial site is now organized with categories like
“Lifestyle,” “Travel” and “Love,” while Wanger works on
launching a wedding-only site.
BO TH PHO TOS © MAX WANGER
Wanger’s commercial rep believes his wedding photography (left) has an esthetic that can easily translate into editorial and commercial work,
as this fashion shoot (right) for the blog designlovefest shows.
