For my second David duChemin book of the year, I chose Visionmongers. I didn’t know what to expect in this book, but I knew the bar had been set very high after reading and enjoying David’s Photographically Speaking. Not only that, in Visionmongers, David interviews a handful of successful photographers in various fields - including Chase Jarvis and Joe McNally - for their path to success.
In Visionmongers, David talks about the balance of starting a business, servicing clients, and pursuing a passion. I have to admit, I was initially disappointed with Visionmongers. It approached running a profitable photography business from a more basic level than I’d hoped. For someone who came from business school and has a few healthy years of business and entrepreneurship knowledge, I found the book more rudimentary than I expected.
Is this the only book I would recommend for a photographer considering going pro? No, I would supplement this with other literature on the topic. But I would recommend amateur photographers to read Visionmongers before even making their first step towards starting a business. There are no secrets paths, every photographer David mentions - including himself - took a different path to success but the fundamental building blocks are all the same: have passion, ask for help, work hard, be financially smart, work hard for the right clients.
