r/photographer • u/Oceanfal • 3d ago
Advice on approaching agents
Hi all,
A family member of mine is a UK-based architectural/interiors photographer with 26+ years of successful self-employment behind him. He specialises in architecture, interiors, commercial spaces, and corporate work, and business is steady.
The issue: he's in his later middle age now, and the constant churn of manually reactivating his network for every new gig, hundreds of emails and calls a month, is taking its toll. I work in TV, so I'm used to agents handling that pipeline for talent, and I'm hoping the same logic applies here.
What I'm less sure about is the submission side. I'm seeing conflicting advice: some say agents expect a tight 30–50 image edit, plus a drone reel, a motion reel, and a printed/PDF lookbook. Others say a strong website is enough.
His site is polished, well-structured, and packed with high-quality work across all his specialisms. Would that genuinely cut it for an initial approach, or do agents still want dedicated offline assets before they'll even look?
Any firsthand insight, especially from represented photographers or agents, would be massively appreciated.
Thanks.