Double chins can bust a career
Ten tips for when a business press photographer calls
Pasted on a wall on the second floor of the building housing the Financial Times
are three portraits of business people, as they appeared on the City pages of various British newspapers: one of Kevin Lomax, founder and executive chairman of Misys; one of Sir Michael Bishop, chairman of British Midland; and one of Charles Allen, chief executive of ITV.
I have walked past them unthinkingly for months, but the other day I asked the FT’s photographers why they had taken the time to put them up. The answer came after a slight hesitation: they were all examples, they said, of business people who couldn’t fold their arms properly.
I was intrigued. Business photography has a bad reputation. Too often it depicts grey men in grey suits, standing against grey backgrounds, or interacting awkwardly with some kind of product. And usually, it is the photographers and picture editors who get the blame. But should business people take some of the responsibility?
After discussing the topic with Charlie Bibby, an FT staff photographer, my conclusion was: yes. And in an effort to be constructive, Charlie and I decided to compile a list of Top 10 tips for business people about to have their picture taken: Learn how to fold your arms Practise by extending your arms in front of you, taking your right hand and tucking it under your left armpit, taking your left arm under your right arm and placing it on your right bicep. Don’t clutch your elbow or your forearm. It will make you look weird. Do not have the picture taken from below If you have one chin, it will make you look like you have two. If you have two chins, it will make you look like you have three. Smile The smirks pulled by some business people make them look like Wallace, the eccentric, cheese-loving inventor from Wallace & Gromit. But, in general, people do look better when they smile. Leave at least 15 minutes at the end of an interview to have your picture taken Too often, business people spend hours talking to a reporter and then say they only have a moment for pictures. They then despair when the resulting picture makes them look like Wallace, the eccentric, cheeseloving inventor from Wallace & Gromit. Remember: not everyone will read the piece, but everyone will see the picture. It is worth investing the time. Make sure no colleagues are milling around It is almost impossible to act natural when being photographed. Everyone feels like an idiot. But it is even more difficult if you have lots of colleagues nearby pulling faces. Do not play office politics with the photo Too often a chief executive or chairman will insist on being photographed with their finance director or human resources director or tea lady, to demonstrate they are a team player. All this does is increase the likelihood of a bad picture being taken and decrease the likelihood of it ever being published. Shave beforehand Unless you want to look like Bob Geldof after a weekend of boozing, if you are having your picture taken in the afternoon, be sure to shave. Obviously, this doesn’t apply to women. Avoid costumes
This is not something that only happens only television. I once interviewed a media executive who volunteered to get dressed up as Gladiator Maximus Decimus Meridius for his portrait. He thought it would make him look tough. In reality, he looked like a fat bloke in a dress. Understand men in suits are boring, even to men in suits Business photographers are always looking for ways of bringing pictures alive. The bad ones go too far — we all groan when we see pictures of serious business people doing things we know they never do — digging the foundations to a building, demoniacally waving around a company product, and so on. But the good ones are on your side and will not make you appear an idiot. Try to be helpful. Make suggestions, but don’t get carried away Joan Collins may be able to insist on certain light and angles and lenses for photographs, but the average chief executive probably can’t.
I have just flicked through the archives and discovered while 20 years ago stories about companies tended to be illustrated with formal headshots of business people; and while 10 years ago stories about companies tended to be illustrated with pictures of business people posing awkwardly with some product or another; nowadays there seems to be a preference for illustrating them with arty shots of products or of real customers using the products.
This may seem paradoxical — even though business news is becoming more personality driven, there are fewer pictures of personalities. But if they are not worth looking at, then the move is to be applauded.