So what is PR photography?

Photography has so many classifications, that is why to describe what is PR photography is really complicated task. First of all, I would say that PR pictures help to balance communication flows and to reach natural understanding. Sometimes a great picture can be published when words not. And the text with good photo is more appreciated by editors than just a textual report. That means – pictures are not just an extra material. Photos are even more important!

I have divided the PR pictures in several group. Of course, my classification is based just on my own observations, what I have discovered exploring the photo industry.

I was reading the websites of PR agencies and I’ve found that they put more and more emphasis on visuality. They create separate sections in the websites to explain how they deal with photo material.

Professional PR agencies more often include photography in them services. They use pictures as extra material of the press releases. They put emphasis to great quality and professional visual language of photos in order to attract the editors‘ attention.  For that reason PR agencies hire photographers that help to ensure full package of service.

The second group, for example such agencies as Alan Howarth, suggest PR photography as one of them workspace in photography field. So PR is lined up between architectural, website, advertising or people photography. It means that PR photography still stands more in photography than public relations field.

In such an organizations you can usually find a team of professional photographers, who are concentrated on doing best pictures, but the PR process finishes after selling the images to organization. They are not interested how the pictures will be integrated in PR process. They just shoot pictures.

So Public relation‘s department must decide if they are qualified enough to handle PR pictures processes and to buy photography service from PR photographers or they need to pass on responsibility to PR agency, that knows how professionally integrate PR pictures in effective communication processes.