I think it would be fair to say, that as photographers we are introduced to the medium by images that impress us. We may know who the photographer is, we may not, but that doesn’t matter at the very beginning. All that matters is that we get the feeling that we want to make photographs that look like the ones we like.

At that point we have a series of questions. How do they do it? Do such images need a special camera? A specific lens? A particular depth of field or ISO? All valid questions to ask, but they miss the point of photography completely. Photographs that connect do so at a personal level. They have an emotional connection. Two elements that cannot be purchased in a store. This presents the beginner with a dichotomy. Wanting to improve, but not being able to buy that improvement. The simple solution is to pay for a workshop. To pay someone to unlock the secret of success for you. That can work, but the issue is how to find someone who has the right key for you.

If you want to learn how a camera works, you can find someone who you connect with on Youtube, that offers simple ‘how-to’ videos for free and that should give you all you need to know. However, that will not improve your photography. It will give you the ‘how’, but not the ‘why’ and it is the ‘why’ that informs all photography that has an emotional connection. To get the ‘why’ you need to look inside yourself, but I accept that is not easy. Someone who can help with this could be a mentor or teacher, but not all mentors or teachers will be able to help.

The question I always ask all students to ask of themselves before they choose a programme to sign up for, is to look at the people teaching on that programme and decide if the people teaching on it, know what they want to know. Now, this may seem an easy question to address, but of course it presumes that the potential student knows what they want to learn. Not knowing is a common problem that I experience in these conversations and I have a way to address this. First I ask what they want to photograph and then where they want to be at the end of the programme. With these answered, I suggest that the student tracks backwards to identify what they need to know to achieve their expectation and what kind of knowledge and experience their teachers will need to ensure they arrive at their hoped for destination. This thought process is the same when looking for a mentor or paying to attend a workshop.

Without a defined expectation it is difficult, if not impossible, to choose the right programme, workshop or mentor. You might get lucky, but you are more likely to make an expensive mistake. However, when you have defined the expectation, it has to be met and that is when the questions of those looking to teach you have to be asked. The more questions you have the better. If the person being questioned doesn’t like being questioned, then move on to someone or somewhere else. No one should fear being questioned in my opinion, and my experience is that usually not enough questions are asked. Maybe that is British reserve and it’s different in other countries. I don’t know, but when I have worked in the US, Canada and Europe, more questioning definitely takes place.

If you are looking for professional knowledge of the commissioned industry make sure that they have current knowledge, not experience from ten years ago. If you want to get published, make sure they have been. If you want to work on location, relevant experience applies. But most importantly make sure that the people you are learning from make work you like and respect. Once you have all of your questions answered and you have made your decision become a sponge. Soak up all of that person’s experience and knowledge and do not leave one drop unused. Using that metaphor of a sponge, think of it as soaking up the foamy bath water, only to squeeze all that moisture and the bubbles down your back! I know that sounds a little wiered but stay with me on this. A good teacher will not only respond positively to this approach, they will also keep giving more than either of you expected. Remember this is a metaphor and I am not suggeting the sharing of a bath! However, this relationship is not a one-way street. The more you give the more you will get back; those that give nothing and only take, never receive all that they could. That is the true reality of learning.

Dr.Grant Scott
After fifteen years art directing photography books and magazines such as Elle and Tatler, Scott began to work as a photographer for a number of advertising and editorial clients in 2000. Alongside his photographic career Scott has art directed numerous advertising campaigns, worked as a creative director at Sotheby’s, art directed foto8 magazine, founded his own photographic gallery, edited Professional Photographer magazine and launched his own title for photographers and filmmakers Hungry Eye. He founded the United Nations of Photography in 2012, and is now a Senior Lecturer and Subject Co-ordinator: Photography at Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, and a BBC Radio contributor. Scott is the author of Professional Photography: The New Global Landscape Explained (Routledge 2014), The Essential Student Guide to Professional Photography (Routledge 2015), New Ways of Seeing: The Democratic Language of Photography (Routledge 2019), What Does Photography Mean To You? (Bluecoat Press 2020) and Inside Vogue House: One building, seven magazines, sixty years of stories, (Orphans Publishing 2024). His photography has been published in At Home With The Makers of Style (Thames & Hudson 2006) and Crash Happy: A Night at The Bangers (Cafe Royal Books 2012). His film Do Not Bend: The Photographic Life of Bill Jay was premiered in 2018.

© Grant Scott 2026