Many of us have experienced loss over the last year, whether it’s an inconvenience or something more permanent and profound. This month is a reminder of my past loss.
March is the month Chip Hooper and I met. It’s also the month he was born and when he died.
It’s been 5 years without Chip in my life, but he has given me a lifetime of lessons, inspiration, and laughs.
Origin Story
I did my first exhibition with Chip at Edward Carter Gallery in 1999.
We mounted a beautiful exhibition of his landscape and seascape photography. It was a smart-looking show. Chip used an 8 x 10 camera, so the images were tack sharp.
The night of the opening, he took my colleague, Janis, and me into my office and shut the door. He thanked us for our hard work and made a toast. Then he did something that no other photographer (or artist) had or has ever done. He said that we could choose any print out of the exhibition for ourselves, frame and all.
Unexpected and generous. I chose Crashing Waves and Splash.
I ended up selling 14 prints of this one image and did very well with the rest of the exhibition.
The law of reciprocity works.
“When someone does something nice for you, you will have a deep-rooted psychological urge to do something nice in return. As a matter of fact, you may even reciprocate with a gesture far more generous than their original good deed.”
But, it only works when the intention behind it is full of kindness. If it’s calculated or done with gain in mind, it won’t.
Next time you do an exhibition, give something away at the start. If you want to go even deeper, let them pick. If you are working with an editor on your book, invite them to choose a print at the end.
When artists give me work, I am always surprised. Likewise, when I am not given work, I am never surprised. I don’t expect it. When it does happen, it generates a bond that moves that relationship forward.
If you are an editorial or advertising photographer, give your agent an image they love.
Give it away. Over and over again.
From the Archives
Chip could always take a good joke, but it was almost impossible to pull one over on him, but I think I came the closest.
It was Hooper’s second solo exhibition in New York at Robert Mann Gallery. He always wanted to be the best at what he did. So, I created his greatest adversary: Jemma Chansel, Norwegian Photographer of the Sea. A complete fiction, I wrote a press release, pulled together some stock images of the ocean, and sent it to him, telling him this guy is a rival and maybe even better than him. To make the story more believable, I showed up at his opening with a captain’s hat, fake beard, cane, and corncob pipe.
The real Jenna Chansel.
At the opening, I wandered around a bit. I passed Chip, and I could hear him say to his friend, “New York’s got all sorts of characters.” That’s when I knew he didn’t recognize me. I walked up to him; he tried to ignore me. I persisted. “Hi, I’m Jemma Chansel.” For a moment, just a moment, I had him! Then he burst out laughing.
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