The eight photographs you need to launch

You do not need a portfolio. You need eight photographs, and each of them has a job.

The eight

1. The greeting. Eye contact, warm, not posed. This is the first thing anyone sees. It decides whether they scroll on.
2. The full length. One honest, well-lit figure shot. Withholding it reads as evasion.
3. The detail. Hands, jewellery, the hem of something expensive. Detail signals taste faster than a face does.
4. The environment. You in a room that says something — a bar, a lobby, a window at dusk. It tells him where he might take you.
5. The candid. Mid-laugh, mid-turn, not looking at the lens. This is the one that makes you a person rather than a listing.
6. The dressed-up. Black tie, an event, the version of you that walks into a room with him.
7. The quiet one. Reading, coffee, a hotel bed at ten in the morning. This is the GFE image, and it converts.
8. The one you would not send. Something you like that has nothing to do with work. Keep it for the private gallery.

What makes them work

Light beats equipment. A phone by a north-facing window at four in the afternoon beats a professional camera under a ceiling bulb. Every time.

Consistency beats quality. Eight images that share a palette look like a brand. Eight excellent images in eight different colour worlds look like a folder.

Backgrounds identify you. A recognisable window, a landmark through the glass, a street sign — check every frame for what is behind you before you check how you look in it.

Before you send anything

Strip the metadata. Every photograph taken on a phone carries the coordinates of where it was taken, embedded in the file. Most people have no idea. We remove it from every image we handle, but if you post photographs anywhere yourself, do it before you upload — not after.

Eight strong photographs, one palette, no landmarks. That is a launch.