Editorial Photography: Working for Magazines and Publications

Lower money, higher visibility

Editorial photography — work for magazines, newspapers, and their online equivalents — is where a lot of photographers make their name even if they don't make their fortune. The budgets are modest, sometimes barely there, but the work is often creative, the credits are public, and a strong editorial body of work is one of the best calling cards there is. Art buyers and commercial clients read the magazines too.

Think of editorial as the shop window: it rarely pays the rent on its own, but it gets you seen by the people who commission the work that does.

What the work actually involves

Editorial covers a lot of ground:

• Portraits — the accompanying image for a profile or interview. Often shot fast, on location, with minimal setup and a subject who has fifteen minutes.
• Reportage and features — telling a story in pictures: a place, a community, an issue, an event.
• Lifestyle and still life — food, interiors, travel, product-in-context for the features pages.
• News and documentary — the fastest, most reactive end, with its own skills and ethics.

The editorial photographer usually works to a brief from a picture editor or art director, but with more creative latitude than a commercial job — they're hiring you partly for your eye.

Who hires

• Picture editors and art directors at magazines and newspapers.
• Online publications and digital titles, an ever-growing slice.
• Sunday supplements and weekend magazines, some of the better-paying and more coveted editorial work.
• Trade and specialist press — less glamorous, often more reliable.

Relationships with picture editors are everything. They commission repeatedly, and a photographer they trust to deliver on a tight brief and a tighter deadline becomes a regular.

What it pays

Honestly? Often not much. Editorial day rates and space rates are among the lowest in professional photography, and budgets have been squeezed for years. Understand the licensing — editorial usage is specific and limited, and you should retain rights to your images for other uses. Many photographers treat editorial as an investment in profile and relationships that pays off in commercial commissions, rather than as the income itself.

How you break in

• Have a point of view. Editorial commissioning is about your eye. A book that says something — a way of seeing people, places, or stories — gets you noticed.
• Approach picture editors properly. A tight, relevant portfolio, a polite and specific introduction, and persistence. Show them the work that fits their title.
• Shoot your own stories. Personal projects and self-generated features are how many editorial photographers get their first commissions — you arrive with the work already made.
• Be reliable on the boring bits. Deliver on brief, on time, with correct captions and metadata. Picture editors re-hire the photographers who make their job easy.

The honest picture

Editorial is where craft and reputation are built, and it rarely pays what it's worth. Go in clear-eyed: value it for the visibility, the creative freedom, and the relationships, and don't rely on it to pay the bills alone. Paired with steadier commercial or corporate work, it's a rewarding part of a career. Chased for the money alone, it will disappoint.

Related: the agency route — a strong editorial book is often what gets you there.