How personal work became the foundation of this photographer’s success
Published Apr 11, 2025 | Abby Ferguson
This film Friday, we’re sharing a video profile of Australian photographer Trent Mitchell. Mitchell has been a photographer for more than 20 years, working in both digital and film. He won the Moran Contemporary Photographic Prize in 2015, has been featured in the International Photography Awards, Sony World Photography Awards and more, and his work has been acquired by the National Library of Australia.
RECENT VIDEOS
Flotsam Festival – an annual surf film and photography festival hosted on the Gold Coast of Australia in May – produced the video as part of its Liquid Lens lens series. The series aims to showcase ocean-based filmmakers and photographers who capture “the waves and their riders, while illuminating their artistry, inspirations, and passion for the sea.”
Mitchell started using a camera as a tool for his art process diary, but he explained that he didn’t know anything about the medium, so he couldn’t get good images. Then, a few years out of school, he was doing design work, and he realized photography was the perfect skill to add to what he was already doing.
In the video, Mitchell talks about balancing personal work and working for someone. He explains that he loves personal photography and that paid work has resulted from that. “You can work personal work into your job as well,” he says. “They’re not these separate things.” Spending time on personal projects is an especially good tip for new photographers hoping to get paid work. It not only gives potential clients something to look at before you have much of a portfolio, but it can also be a critical tool for finding your style and voice.
Mitchell also touches on how he doesn’t believe the common sentiment that everything has already been done. “Tomorrow’s never been done, so there’s heaps of opportunity to do new things.” He says that while there may be themes that recur, everything’s new all of the time, so there are always new things to do.
“A successful project is anyone you finish”
Finally, the point that stuck out to me the most was when Mitchell explained what makes a project successful. “A successful project is anyone you finish,” he said. Mitchell said he has worked on all sorts of things but has plenty of unfinished projects, so they aren’t successful. As someone with plenty of unfinished projects sitting on hard drives and in portfolio boxes, this one hit especially close to home.
Tags: film-friday, photographers
We asked the experts: How will the US tariffs affect photography gear prices?
Published Apr 8, 2025 | Abby Ferguson
UPDATE 04/09
On Wednesday, President Trump issued a statement saying he has authorized a 90-day “pause” on many of the reciprocal tariffs that his administration levied and said that the “reciprocal tariff” rate would be lowered to 10% during that period. This likely means that some of the tariffs discussed in this article will, at least temporarily, no longer apply. However, the White House hasn’t outlined its plan for what will happen after those 90 days.
The tariffs on imports from China have not been paused. In his statement, President Trump said they would be raised to 125%, following a back-and-forth between the two countries where each announced additional retaliatory tariffs.
There’s no ignoring that the latest US tariffs are a hot-button topic right now for Americans who are looking at paying more for products made outside the country. Since the tariffs are so far-reaching, questions are swirling about the impact on the pricing and availability of goods for each industry. That includes the photography and videography industries, since most equipment is made outside of the United States. Unfortunately, things aren’t looking great. There’s a lot of speculation, but we spoke with experts whose job is to analyze the potential impact.
RECENT VIDEOS
Ad ends in 2
Australian photographer Trent Mitchell shares insight into his career, the importance of personal work and what makes a project successful.
Product pricing, in general, is a complicated endeavor, even with standard tariffs. It involves many calculations, ranging from tariffs to forecasting future changes in relative currency values. While new tariffs are broadly applied, the rates vary depending on the country. Given that many goods could have individual parts from multiple countries, the situation becomes complex quickly. Additionally, some companies might manufacture certain products in one country while other items in their lineup are made in another, resulting in inconsistent pricing changes across their catalog.
When we look at the three big brands – Canon, Sony and Nikon – all three are based in Japan, but Nikon and Sony have shifted much of their production to Thailand and China. Canon makes some of its more budget-focused equipment in Taiwan, Thailand and China, but it also manufactures some in Japan. Anjali V. Bhatt, the Communications Manager and Research Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE) explained that products from Japan have a tariff rate of 24%, while products manufactured in Thailand face a 36% tariff. “So Canon products made in Japan might actually become more affordable than Nikon or Sony for comparable/substitute products, depending on where the gear is shipped from,” she said.
Bhatt went so far as to suggest opting for a lens adapter that allows you to use Canon lenses on Nikon or Sony gear. That way, you could save money on new lenses since Canon lenses may become more affordable compared to Nikon and Sony as a result of where they are produced. Of course, that will only save you money if the Canon version of what you want is made in Japan and the alternatives are made elsewhere. Additionally, given that even Japan is subject to tariffs, Canon won’t be immune to pricing changes, either.
“All photography equipment not made in the US…will be more expensive.”
The tariffs could also push companies to adjust where they manufacture cameras and lenses. That doesn’t necessarily mean coming to the US, though. Since many of these companies have existing ties to Japan, it could simply mean moving production to Japan because of the lower tariffs. “Since Nikon and Sony have extensive production capabilities in Japan as well, it’s possible they reshore production back to Japan, away from Thailand,” Bhatt said. “But the bottom line is that all photography equipment not made in the US, which is a significant majority of it, will be more expensive,” she explained.
Outside of cameras and lenses, auxiliary equipment like tripods will likely also become more expensive. That’s because much of it is produced in countries like China or Vietnam, which “will see even higher tariffs (the estimate for the tariff rate on Chinese products is around 75%; Vietnam has been assigned a 46% tariff),” Bhatt said.
Because of the complexity of import tariffs and wholesale pricing, we likely won’t see a 1:1 correlation between tariff rates and price increases. In other words, Chinese products likely won’t cost 75% more, Japanese products won’t cost 24% more and Thai products won’t have a 36% increase. The system is a lot more complicated than that. However, economists agree that there will be price hikes of some amount across the board.
Leave a Reply