We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Cooper Neill a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Cooper, so great to be with you and I think a lot of folks are going to benefit from hearing your story and lessons and wisdom. Imposter Syndrome is something that we know how words to describe, but it’s something that has held people back forever and so we’re really interested to hear about your story and how you overcame imposter syndrome.
Imposter syndrome as a photographer in the Instagram era is a tough thing to beat… we’re constantly bombarded with imagery from friends, co-workers, brands, influencers, other artists, etc… and it’s hard to not compare yourself with others. For me there are two things I do that help me get past this:
1) disconnect from social media every now and then. Social media is a good place for inspiration, keeping up with friends and staying up to date on current events but it’s easy to spiral down into a black hole so for me to disconnect every now and then helps me stay fresh and look at things with my own lens.
2) constant reminders that people are hiring me for my own vision / voice and not because they’re wanting me to produce something in a different style. My clients are coming to me for the product I produce – if they wanted something different then they’d hire someone different. It’s easy to see the trends and want my work to look like X, Y or Z but at the end of the day that’s not me and that’s not what I’m getting hired for.
It’s tough and there are lots of options to overcome imposter syndrome but these two have been helpful for me.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I am a freelance photographer based in Dallas, Texas. I work primarily in the sports / news area with clients such as the NFL, The New York Times, NBA, Rolling Stone, ESPN, Major League Baseball, UFC and others. Over the last few years I’ve covered presidential campaigns, Super Bowls, conflict at the U.S. + Mexico border, professional wrestling and everything in between for different folks around the world.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
1) Flexibility is key – as a freelancer work comes at weird times and you have to be ready and willing to take it when you can. It’s not the “you choose your work schedule” a lot of folks think it is.
2) Be reliable – if you can be the go to person in your field for your region people will share your name and you’ll grow your network and find more work.
3) Be trustworthy to your colleagues / other freelancers. A lot of work comes from recommendations of your other freelancers so treat them well. If someone passes your name to a client and you can do the job, do it and let them know that if the person who recommended you can’t do something in the future you’d be happy to help again but don’t try to make them your own client and pull them away from the person who recommended you.
Looking back over the past 12 months or so, what do you think has been your biggest area of improvement or growth?
As a freelance photographer having a variety of clients is important and something i’ve been pushing to improve over the last 12 months. Prior to covid the majority of my work was in sports and when the world shut down so did my income. I’ve picked up more newspaper / magazine work as well as some product photography I can do when I’m not on the road that gives me more clients in different areas so if something slows down I still have options.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.CooperNeill.com
- Instagram:instagram.com/cooperneill
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cooper-neill-03773546/
- Twitter: twitter.com/cooperneill
Image Credits
@CooperNeill
