Heresies - The Proxy - Why Listening to Your Clients Might Be A Bad Idea

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When a client says "I want exactly this," are they hiring you to execute their vision—or are they asking you to solve a problem they can't articulate?

This is the first episode in a five-part series called Heresies—where we say the uncomfortable things the industry doesn't want you to think too hard about.

In this episode: Why listening to your client might be killing your work. Why taste is a technical skill, not a preference. And the difference between being a problem-solver and being an expensive tripod.

We'll talk about threading the needle between "authentic" and "amateur." About knowing when you're hired as an artist versus a technician. And about the clients who want you to recreate their blurry iPhone photos of tennis racquets at impossible angles.

(Yes, that's a real story. No, I don't want to talk about it.)

This isn't about ignoring your clients. It's about knowing when to translate what they're asking for into what they actually need.

What We Cover

• Why your job isn't just to press the button
• The difference between consumer clients (hiring your taste) and commercial clients (hiring problem-solving)
• How to build a visual vocabulary (and why scrolling Instagram doesn't count)
• Red flags that signal a client wants a proxy, not a photographer
• What "taste as a technical skill" actually means
• The museum exercise: 20 minutes, one painting, no phone

Quotable Moments

"You're not an equipment rental with legs."

"Clients don't hire us to give them what they want. They hire us to give them something beautiful. Something effective."

"If you don't have a vision, you can't translate someone else's vision."

"You're not a photographer. You're just someone with a camera, waiting for instructions."

"The cost of saying yes to the wrong client isn't just time and money. It's the slow, quiet erosion of why you started doing this in the first place."

For Photographers Who:

• Struggle with confidence when clients have "very specific ideas"
• Default to saying "yes" even when the request doesn't make sense
• Haven't developed their visual voice yet (and don't know where to start)
• Are tired of being treated like a vending machine
• Need permission to trust their expertise
• Want to know how to spot bad clients before signing the contract

Links & Resources

The Terrible Photographer
Website: http://terriblephotographer.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terriblephotographer/

Lessons From A Terrible Photographer (The Book)
https://www.terriblephotographer.com/the-book

Support the Show (Buy Me a Coffee)
https://www.terriblephotographer.com/support

Subscribe to Pub Notes (The Newsletter)
https://the-terrible-photographer.kit.com/223fe471fb

Patrick Fore
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickfore/

Get in Touch

Have a question? A story? Hate mail?
I respond to everything.
Email's in the show notes.

Credits

Podcast written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Fore
Music licensed through Epidemic Sound & Blue Dot Sessions
Episode photography from Adobe Stock & Unsplash
Recorded from my garage in San Diego, California

Stay curious. Stay courageous. Stay terrible.