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“He’s a business man and could see a gap in the market. We could see the benefits, so it’s a win-win,” asserts Liam Crawley, who is part of husband and wife team, The Crawleys, and one of the 20 wedding photographers to be selected for 20Collective. Adam Riley, winner of the 2011 Professional Photographer of the Year competition’s wedding category, was also approached. “I got an email from Jason. At that stage, four or five other photographers had signed up to be part of this collective. When I saw who they were, I knew their work and thought, ‘I definitely want to join in and be part of it’,” Adam explains. “We put some names forward of people who we really liked in the UK. Nearly all of those who we approached joined up.” Just as I wondered if the motivations ran deeper, Adam pipes up: “Jason also said there’d be a night out where we have food and drink and I’m looking forward to that!” Lyndsey Goddard, the only solo female photographer of the 20, admits that, for her, there was some deliberation: “As a photographer there are a hundred and one ways in which you can advertise yourself. I was already familiar, professionally and personally, with a number of photographers involved so I knew there would be some kudos for being on board. I also knew that Jason is well respected in the SEO world so I had to think about it, but I didn’t have to think too long!” Each of the photographers in the collective pays Jason a small annual fee for a group-optimised website that serves to act as a showcase for their work and creative style. “It is actually a labour of love and a real pleasure to be associated with them as a collective. Because my background is in search marketing and building websites, sitting at the top and controlling it has been very beneficial for them,” Jason explains. “They’ve all learnt a lot already.” The website has just tipped into the top million sites worldwide on the Alexa ranking, an incremental system that ranks every website. One thing that strikes me immediately about the collective is the ambition behind them. It’s not boasting, it’s realistic, but it is also unrelenting. Jason immediately shares with me an example: “The goal, of course, would be to appear in the top 500,000.” Of course. “He’s the SEO guru behind it, so we trust him,” Liam says. “He’s managed to get us on the third page of Google already for generic search terms but we’re all aware it’s a lengthy process and we’re all patient, and aware that in a year or so it’s going to be a powerful tool for us.” But what are the main aims of the 20Collective? For Jason, “the objectives really were to generate traffic, by the social media we have set up and the social machine that pushes their work up and in the search rankings.” And the photographers? “The main attraction for me was the chance to showcase my work,” Lyndsey tells me. “We’re all striving to make our voice heard in a sea of photographers. It can be quite daunting for a couple to start searching for a wedding photographer. Maybe a couple don’t even know what style they want and, if they do, Google will bring up hundreds upon hundreds listings. It was flattering to be asked, and exciting to get my work seen as part of such a prestigious group.” Being such an exclusive group, we began to wonder what made this group so distinct from the ‘sea of photographers’. Was this a reaction to weekend warriors making a
We’re all striving to make our voice heard in a sea of photographers. It can be quite daunting for a couple to start searching for a wedding photographer... It was flattering to be asked, and exciting to get my work seen as part of such a prestigious group.
The 20Collective has developed a strong sense of community and togetherness among the photographers, who share each other’s blog posts and are inspired by each other’s work.