Who are you associated with?
Until a few years ago I was a member of the BIPP as an “licentiate member” via the qualifications route as a consequence of obtaining a Foundation Degree. This meant that I paid them about £250 a year in order to put the letters BIPP after my name and receive a magazine every month with loads of industry adverts, and articles about wedding photographers in it. I did attend a couple of workshop sessions run by professionals which were interesting but ultimately pointless, so eventually, I decided to terminate my membership back in 2018.
There are a few photographic associations that cater to various sections of the professional community as long as they’re wedding or baby photographers, and they often offer the same thing - some pointless letters after your name, a magazine, and the odd workshop. The suffixes beloved of old blokes everywhere can be upgraded by paying more money and submitting prints of weddings and babies (or occasionally moody landscapes…..yawn). You can go from LBIPP to ABIPP to FBIPP - Licentiate, Associateship, & Fellowship. The following is a bit of a “tongue in cheek” description of some of the other bodies. Check out the websites to see if my words paint a realistic picture:
The SWPP is dedicated to soft-focus pictures of women and pets, plus some dreamy weddings.
The RPS is for old people with film cameras.
The Guild of Photographers is for people who love overdoing Photoshop.
The NPS is the SWPP in disguise.
Anyway, the only association I’m interested in at the moment is the one that commands respect (and commissions) from every art buyer and commercial photographer in the land - The Association of Photographers. The AOP costs a bloody fortune and is very difficult to get into as it comprises most of the big-name guys and gals who produce the top-level commercial industry in the country. The resources are extensive, and the exposure to high-end clients is invaluable. Looking at some of the interior and architectural work on there can give you an indication of whether you’re ready to compete in that arena or not, and I can say with some certainty that my output matches or exceeds much of the stuff produced by many of the folk on there.
The only difference between me and them is professional contacts and location. This part of the country is a commercial desert compared to London and the south-east, and the chance of getting on here is minuscule. Some of the guys in the south can command hefty day rates and licence fees, whereas I’m in the world of poorly paid estate agency jobs to eke out a living.
Entry to the AOP is via submitted work and references from commercial art-buyers, the latter of which I simply don’t have. In essence, I’m locked out of the system. I might try and gain membership later this year, but in the meantime, it’s back to the hard graft.
