Summary: <br> Camera Work 46: Photographer Kawanna Curry joins John Ricard.<br> <br> I love attending photography workshops and I love watching photography instructional online, but at times, the slow pace drives me crazy. Sometimes you will see an instructor give a great presentation one day, but then you see them on another day, maybe when they are doing a sponsored presentation, and instead of being good presentation, its just a big commercial for a camera related product.<br> <br> Is it ever frustrating to watch what other photographers are doing? Kawanna says sometimes it is indeed "very frustrating" if she is not out shooting when someone else is. It can make her depressed. Today, the term "hating" has become popular in urban slang. The term is used almost anytime someone criticizes an album, tv show, book or statement that a person has made. "Why are hating on her?" becomes the question anytime you level a criticism of someone. For me, if I don't enjoy looking at the Instagram feed of someone who is doing the work I'd like to be doing, that doesn't mean I am "hating" on them. It just means that my desire for those to achieve is so strong, that I don't necessarily enjoy watching someone else live my dream. Kawanna says, sometimes you are asking yourself, "What is stopping ME? Why am I not out there?"<br> <br> On the day we recorded this episode, I had just presented a "Solutions" workshop at my studio. One of the activities we did was to look through someone's Instagram feed and try to determine, "Who is this person?" Then, you read the person's description and see if that matches the images they are posting. Sometimes you see an IG feed that only communicates, "I know how to take a selfie", but you read the description and it says they are a scholar. <br> <br> Kawanna asks if it is best to have a separate personal and professional page for your IG account. She acknowledges wanting to show the person side of her life, but she also wants people to see her work. When she posts a selfie people will like it and comment and like it, but then when she posts a professional image that took her 90 minutes to retouch, it doesn't get the same reaction. For me, if I want to get "likes", I post an image of my daughter.<br> <br> There is a good side to this however, imagine the account of a guy who posts photographs of sexy women. Let's imagine he has a large following. If he posts a photo of himself taking his son to school, it is probably not going to get a larger reaction than his other work. Nobody really cares about him. They just want to see the naked women. So, when people are responding to your personal images, it shows that they care about YOU. And bottom line, people hire people. The don’t hire work. They must have a connection with you. Kawanna says if people are going to spend an hour or two with you in the studio, they have to connect with you in some way.<br> <br> In my view you should have only one IG page. It’s so time consuming, who wants to manage 2 separate accounts. The personal images, don’t have to be just selfies. It could be you at Yoga or you eating lunch. The personal images could show you at a museum, or they can show that you travel or that you hang out with cool people. The personal images can still serve to build you professionally.<br> <br> Kawanna mentions that Jeremy Coward is a master of balancing his personal and professional work. The interesting thing about his account is that his personal imagery of his kids and such, is a strong as his professional images of his clients. For me, while I might love the image of my daughter that I post on IG, I understand that it isn’t a great photograph. In the case of Cowart it is indeed a good photograph.<br> <br> Kawanna wonders if the personal images generate actual work. I mention that it is just one small part of your marketing. When I send out an email newsletter, I don’t expect it to directly gener
