About cooperation with photographers, joint work on materials and how best to submit your project so that the media wants to publish it, says photo editor of The Kyiv Independent Iryinka Gromotska.

Irinka Gromotska studied in the American city of Columbia and worked as a photo editor for the Columbia Missourian newspaper. She interned at the Magnum Foundation and helped with the Magnum Photos workshop in New York City. Irinka worked as an assistant photo editor for the book FotoEvidence “Ukraine: War Crimes”, where she ensured the involvement of many Ukrainian photographers. Since December 2023, Irinka Gromotska has been working as a photo editor of The Kyiv Independent, a leading English-language media that tells about Ukraine to a foreign audience. It actively develops cooperation with Ukrainian photojournalists and documentary photographers working in Ukraine, shapes the aesthetics of the publication and maintains the professional level of the visual component of the media.

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How to prepare materials for submission to the photo editor

Irinka Gromotska cooperates with many Ukrainian photographers and photographers, but she is always open to new proposals and topics. She shared her experience of working with authors and told how best to pitch photo stories to editors. “We need to take into account that photo editors are in a fast pace of work — they work on daily news and editorial materials,” Gromotska says. “You should immediately submit all the necessary information about your photo project or photo story.” Irinka suggests following the following tips so that photographers' communication with editors is as comfortable and productive as possible.

First, in a letter to the editor, you need to describe in a few sentences the idea of a photo project or photo story - what exactly and who the material will be about, where and when the shooting is planned. It is worth indicating why this topic will be interesting to the audience of the publication. For a photo editor, it is important when the photographer understands who the publication works for and knows its publications. “Be sure to write whether you have already started working on the material, what steps have already been taken for its implementation and what needs to be finalized,” says Irinka Gromotska. - It is important to understand how much your topic is provided for visualization. A story can be very interesting and profound, but if a photographer doesn't have a vision of what it will look like, you have to go back to the beginning and think about it.”

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Photo: Olga Kovalyova

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You should add your photos to the letter with the description of the photo project — you can combine them into one file in pdf format, you can add a link. “It is not necessary to attach photos of the project you plan to work on to the letter. It is worth adding your portfolio or a selection of photos so that the photo editor or photo editor understands the style of the photographer or photographer”, - emphasizes Irinka Gromotska. She adds that she always stays in touch with the authors if they have started working on a story together.

Regarding the photos that photographers attach to the letter or send a link to them, there are also certain requirements. Irinka Gromotska says that she expects photographers to sample up to 12 photos, files in jpeg format, no larger than 3 MB in size and with clear names. It is worth renaming photos — in the title you can specify your name, surname and sequence number of the photo, or write in the title the name, place or date of shooting. The photo editor, when he uploads the photos, will not be confused and will clearly know from whom he received the material. Irinka says that she usually uses Google Drive or WeTransfer file sharing to transfer photos. You definitely do not need to send photos one by one through social messengers.

“The great pain of a photo editor is when the metadata of the photo does not contain any information. When there is no signature, date of shooting, etc., - Gromotska shares. - The information to the file must contain captions - who is depicted in the photo, when and where the photo was taken. The photo editor does not have to take additional steps and ask the photographer for additional information.” It is not necessary to write extensive captions, but it is worth noting the basic information about the photo. “If you follow the simple requirements for pitching photo stories: clearly articulate the theme of the story, understand the audience and the interests of the editorial staff, make a selection and signatures for photos, rename the files, then you will be perceived as professional and cool people with whom you should cooperate,” says Irinka Gromotska. She adds, if the photographers have described the idea of the project well and did not receive a response to the letter, it is imperative to write another email, because the editors receive many letters and messages every day.

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How to build a professional relationship with photo editors

Relationships with colleagues are necessary and important, especially in a fairly close community of photographers and photo editors. “In our industry, a lot of people know each other and cross each other on different shoots. It may happen that a colleague with whom you shoot, for example, rallies, will invite you to participate in the exhibition in the future,” says Irinka Gromotska. “Abroad, editors and photographers often invite strangers for coffee to establish professional contacts. It is important to be active and courageous in this regard, but remember that it is still not worth calling the photo editor late on a Sunday evening.”

Irinka Gromotska emphasizes that the authors should decide on their specialization and the topics that they would like to shoot. “When we plan a story for our media, for example, about the relationship between mother and child, then I turn to a photographer who has experience in such shooting. Photographers and photographers need to have a specialization, but at the same time be able to work on different topics, to be multifunctional,” says Irinka.

“For me it's a red flag when people don't ask for any payment for their work at all. A photographer or photographer who performs their work qualitatively and takes it seriously can discuss the price. Each media has its own budget and it is worth finding out the fee before starting work,” says Irinka Gromotska. “We at The Kyiv Independent have a separate payment for work in territories closer to the combat zone, for large reports or photo stories. I advise you to openly discuss the issue of fees, and the sooner the better.”

If a photographer has an idea of a photo story that needs to be worked on for several months, he should find grant support. “It happens that I would like to take a photo story for publication, but we do not have enough budget for it. Then we can pay the author a fee, but part of his expenses will be covered by the grant. If they tell me that they are applying for a grant and need to specify a place for publication — I always support authors and authors,” explains Irinka Gromotska.

The photo editor emphasizes that it is worth communicating with the editors, not being afraid to ask questions and consult during the work process. In particular, the question of how many photos from the project should be sent to photo editors. “I work in several steps: long, short and final sampling. If a photographer is shooting a photo report, I ask him for a longer sample — 35 photos. Next, I review the photos, shorten and make a final sample, which includes 10 or 12 photos,” Gromotska says. “When I work with photographers for a long time, I ask them to make their own short sample. Then I can look at their selection, add something or, conversely, take away.”

If a photographer has collected a lot of material from the shooting, then he can try to make similar stories for other media. However, it is worth waiting for the publication in the media with which the agreement was the first priority. “When we buy an exclusive for our media, we don't want the same material, with the same selection of photos and captions, to be published in other media. Instead, if the author has a lot of material and from it you can make several similar stories “under one umbrella” - this is quite normal. However, it is worth discussing this with photo editors in advance. Communication solves many issues,” says Irinka Gromotska.

In The Kyiv Independent, most of the materials about the events in the combat zone are made by special correspondents. If you need to illustrate the news, then Irinka Gromotska uses pictures from the Getty Images agency, to which this media is subscribed.

Professional photographers usually have a recognizable style of shooting and processing photos. When the photo editor negotiates with the photographer about a photo story or a report, he is sure to take these points into account. “That is why I will order the shooting from certain photographers, because I understand what I can get as a result,” Gromotska says. “However, if you are just starting to take pictures, but feel that you have a strong and coherent story, you should write letters to the publications that have long been dreamed of.”

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The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Katya Moskalyuk
Bildeditor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar