B&H Event Space Celebrates Portfolio Development

Photography tends to be a solitary practice, which can often make it hard to maintain a sense of direction, and dedication to a given project amid the hustle and bustle of daily life. One noteworthy resource helping photographers to negotiate such hurdles is the eight-month Portfolio Development program, organized by the B&H Event Space.

Above photograph © Danielle Goldstein

Goldstein self-published her photographic exploration of people viewing, ignoring, or interacting with art in museums for the book, On Display.

“Portfolio Development arose out of me seeing a need our customers had,” says B&H Event Space producer Deborah Gilbert. “Many had taken our classes to master their camera’s technical aspects. They were at that ‘what next?’ phase with their work, and weren’t sure what to do. They needed direction, goals, and deadlines to work towards to push to the next level.”

After hatching a basic idea for a guided independent study program that would give participants the needed framework, Gilbert contacted lower Manhattan’s Soho Photo Gallery with an invitation to participate. “Once they were on board, we had this prestigious gallery, and an exciting concrete goal for the participants to work towards, so I knew we had something,” she says.

B&H Portfolio Development: It Begins

Now in its fifth season, this innovative program is offered free of charge to a growing number of enthusiastic attendees. The eight-month curriculum is an outgrowth of regular Event Space programming that has been a popular facet of the B&H SuperStore since its inception, in November 2007.

“I’ve attended many lectures and workshops, through B&H and other sources,” says Gene Nemeth, program participant and registered architect. “The Portfolio Development course allowed me to grow and self-chart my growth all in one place. But, more importantly, it forced me to ‘work’ at getting better. It’s very easy to say I will go out and shoot today, but then get lazy and do it tomorrow. If you did that in this program, it would show in your work.”

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To be considered for Portfolio Development, prospective students must attend one of several initial critique sessions, listed in the Event Space schedule under the title Portfolio Development: It Begins. Introductory critiques are scheduled from August to October, with upcoming critiques taking place from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. on Monday, September 25; and Monday, October 16. “We generally have three or four in all, but you only have to participate in one,” says Gilbert.

Advance registration is required, and all candidates must also bring a completed application form, along with five images to show the group, which includes Gilbert and Soho Photo gallery representatives Sandra Carrion and Lois Youmans. Gilbert says, “It’s a public critique, and your work is projected, because everyone learns from hearing about everyone else’s work.”

While the thought of presenting favorite images in an open forum may seem daunting, B&H critique sessions are all about constructive criticism rather than any kind of negative experience. “What we’re looking for are not necessarily the best photographers, but rather people who are enthusiastic and really want to participate. It’s about a willingness to learn new things,” she adds.

Creative Incubator

The program itself is largely self-directed, which allows the number of participants to be kept open-ended. “Assignments are not assignments per se, they are self-assignments,” says Gilbert. “It’s up to each individual what they work on.”

When deciding on a theme, Gilbert warns against agonizing too much over the perfect idea, which can lead to procrastination. “Just start working to get past the block, and the ideas will come out of the work,” she says.

“Flowers used to be my favorite subject matter,” says photo enthusiast and retired financial analyst Mary Catherine Messner. “I’ve participated in the B&H Portfolio Development program over the past two years. Some of the things I’ve learned include the amount of discipline good photography takes, and how great it is to be a part of a community of photographers that inspire you and urge you on. The most surprising thing I learned was that I can do it!”

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In addition to regularly making new photographs over the program’s eight-month duration, each participant is required to attend six “Classes that Count,” and at least two more monthly critiques. Classes are shortlisted from the roster of regular Event Space offerings that Gilbert finds relevant to portfolio development. “Some are technical, but a lot are aesthetic,” she says. They’re often about ways of thinking, and visualizing, and creating bodies of work.”

While the critique sessions served as the primary means for tracking progress during the first two seasons, in 2015 Gilbert decided to expand to social media by using Instagram as a sharing platform, requiring each participant to post one image per week. “In just two seasons, more than 15,000 posts have been put up,” she says. “That’s how we see that participants are doing the work.”

She points out, “Everyone is coming for classes and critiques at different times, and working on their own projects, but they’re also kind of meeting on Instagram. They go searching the #bhportdev hashtag to see what everyone else is posting, and they’re commenting on each other’s stuff. They’re really into looking at what everybody else is doing and searching in that way.”

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In 2016, the program’s curriculum was further expanded by an assignment to produce a self-published book using Blurb’s publishing platform. Gilbert says, “This gives the participants something else to aim for; they really have to buckle down to think in terms of the number of images needed for a book.”

The extra work had surprising and impressive results. “This season, we had the largest number of people who completed the requirements to date,” says Gilbert. “And by allowing us to push them outside their comfort zones, we’ve seen a dramatic improvement in participants’ work, and a renewed passion for photography, and the telling of important stories.”

This storytelling element can have a ripple effect that extends far beyond the program itself, as illustrated in a 2015 photo essay produced by self-taught professional photographer Marco Catini. He says, “My personal projects used to be all over the place, with little consistency or purpose. But the photo story I did during the Portfolio Development program forced me to stick with a theme and dig beyond one beautiful picture.”

Catini took on the challenge of documenting a young friend’s journey with brain cancer. Initially unsure if his pictures would be adequate to show what she was going through, he notes, “After a few months, I comprehended that her story had to be told, and I started posting images on my social media accounts.”

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“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive,” he says. “But I could have never have imagined the significance of my work, until I heard from parents that my photos had bolstered their children’s self-esteem, giving a voice to individuals and challenges we usually don’t hear about or see. To make a long story short,” adds Catini, “What I love to do and what may seem trivial to me can make a difference in somebody else’s life.”

Work on the Walls

Another major goal of goal of the program is to encourage participants to exhibit their photographs publicly, through its association with Soho Photo Gallery. Gilbert says, “For a lot of people, pictures only live in the camera and on their phone. We like to encourage people to print, because a photo deserves to be out in the world where people can see it.”

Toward the end of each season, participants deliver a three-print mini portfolio for Youmans and Carrion to review. “We don’t say anything, we just present the portfolios and the gallery decides who gets into the juried show,” says Gilbert.

“This teaches participants how to work with a gallery and follow submission requirements, as well as how to work with a printer,” she adds. The required prints are a special size with particular-sized borders, so they have to work with a lab like any other photographer would.”

This past July, 21 photos were selected for a month-long display in Soho Photo’s front gallery. For the last two days of this exhibit, B&H took over the entire gallery, and everyone who printed a final portfolio got to display three prints. “In addition to the works hanging on the walls, this year we also had the books on display in the gallery,” Gilbert says.

Looking ahead, Gilbert expects the program to keep the same format in future seasons, with a potential expansion into Livestreaming. “Since we’re Livestreaming so much, we’re trying to figure out a way to let people participate remotely,” she explains. “We currently have one participant who has traveled from Virginia for the past two seasons, but most other attendees have been from the New York area.”

With no cap on repeat attendance, Gilbert estimates that up to half the program attendees return for multiple seasons. There are also no minimum technical requirements for acceptance, “We meet them where they are,” Gilbert notes. “You don’t have to have a professional camera, and if someone wanted to go through with just an iPhone they could.”

The only firm condition is that everyone starts at the beginning, by attending an Introductory critique. These sessions are now in progress, and are expected to run through the month of October. For further details about B&H Portfolio Development and to RSVP for an opening critique session, click here.

To view more work from the photographers who contributed to this article, click on the names below:

Danielle Goldstein

Gene Nemeth

Mary Catherine Messner

Roger Batchelor Jr

Marco Catini

Have you participated in photography critiques or portfolio development? If so, please share your experiences in the Comments section, below.