I have no recollection of my first-ever portfolio review. I must have been too traumatized, or I was so overconfident I couldn’t see the buzz saw I was walking into. 

I do remember pasting my darkroom silver prints on the wall during photography school. Each of us had to complete an assignment, make our edits, print them, and paste them on the wall so our fellow students could rip them apart. I remember feeling annoyed but motivated to do better work. 

Showing your photographs online and asking for feedback can be interesting, but I find it mostly lacks in real, constructive criticism, positive or negative. The online space is mostly reserved for pats on the back. Suggesting someone might improve their image is often met with anger and banishment, not to mention, those providing the feedback may or may not have any experience in the professional photography world. They may not have the critical eye required to help you move from prosumer to pro. 

Showing your work in person to a real-life, professional agent, editor, art buyer, curator, or gallerist can provide you with the level of feedback required to better understand your strengths and weaknesses. Meeting with this type of reviewer can also force you to ready yourself for the moment, and this is where I have some suggestions.

Don’t like reading? Check out my video.

Do like reading? Let’s keep going!

Step 1: Prep and research

First, learn how to speak about yourself, your practice, and your work. When a reviewer asks, “Why are you here?” it is important to have an answer. Simple, eloquent, concise, and preferably with a little humor worked in, so that they know you take your work seriously, but can also keep things in perspective. 

Next, know your reviewer. You should research who you are meeting with. If you are meeting with a book publisher, you should know who they have published previously, and how your work fits into their style as a publisher. If you are meeting with a gallerist, you should know who they represent, who they have exhibited in the past few years, and how your work does or does not fit into their stable of artists. 

Step 2: Print your work

When it comes to showing your work, make prints, books, or both. Showing work on a laptop or iPad does not hold the same resonance as showing work on paper. I’ve had windows, glare, and overhead lights that make viewing my work on screens far less than optimal. Why take the chance?

It’s also far too easy to leave subpar images in a presentation created for the digital space. Print requires you to pay for each print, which means you often give those images far more consideration compared to images in a digital gallery. Reviewers know this, and remember, you are only as good as your weakest image.

Printing isn’t just about presentation—it’s an editing discipline. When each image costs you something, you slow down, you think harder, and you make better decisions. That process alone often improves the quality of the work you show. 

I suggest capping your work to twenty or twenty-five images, which is more than enough for an experienced reviewer to understand your voice, your consistency, and your current level. 

But while you should only show the best of your best, make sure to have work in reserve. If a reviewer sees something they like and asks, “What else do you have?” you need to have a secondary body of work on hand. This could be more images from the same project, or a completely new second body of work. 

Showing a second body of work also shows your ability to consistently produce work from story to story. One good body of work might have been lucky, but two bodies of work show you know what you are doing.  

Step 3: Leave a good impression

During the review, you will receive feedback that might be positive or negative. Either way, be gracious. The reviewer isn’t there to make you feel bad or insecure. The reviewer is there to be honest in their assessment.  Honesty is what you need to fully understand your skill level and the context as to where you work fits in. As you get to the end of the review, there are several things to keep in mind. First, always have a printed leave behind for each reviewer. This does not have to be anything expensive or fancy—a simple flyer or small print piece works. 

I use a MagCloud Digest or 5×8-inch Blurb paperback. I’ve had reviewers keep and reference my leave-behinds for years after our initial meeting, and again, a print piece has a different resonance than sending someone your social media accounts. 

Don’t forget, saying “thank you” goes a long way, and reviewing work is not as easy as it might appear. A day of reviewing is an exhausting experience, so being human, respectful, and focused makes their life and their experience better, which in turn can often leave them feeling better about you and your work. 

Lastly, walking away from a portfolio review with feedback is valuable. Walking away with a growing contact list is even more so. Over the course of your career, your network (editors, buyers, curators, and collaborators) may become the most valuable body of work you build.

Go do it!

If you are serious about your photography and have never been to a portfolio review, I highly suggest you do so. Having a skilled photography professional share insight can be life-changing and career-changing. My prior review experiences provided me insight into how to represent myself online, how to better edit my work, and how to blend personal and professional projects. 

My past reviews also led to magazine assignments, commercial assignments, and several publishing offers.  Now that you have a list of things to help you prepare, you will be better prepared to engage when the time comes. 

***

Dan Milnor is Blurb’s creative ambassador. He shares photography, marketing, and self-publishing advice monthly. Register to get his insights straight to your inbox.