Whether you’re a photographer, model, make-up artist, hair stylist, creative director, or videographer, you ought to have your work visually displayed in the best possible light. The humble portfolio is often the most important aspect of a job application and goes a long way to determine whether or not you get the job. It's also notoriously difficult to critique your own work and separate your personal connection to the work from an industry-standard visual representation of your ability.    Portfolio review expert and editorial fashion photographer, Dino Busch, offers essential tips on preparing your portfolio and reviews real portfolios live with the freelancers present to offer their thoughts.

Before I begin, let me tell you that I do not intend to intimidate or cause panic, nor do I use the word “entrepreneur” in a literal way.  That is to say that us freelancers need to be tech geniuses who can pinpoint a hole in the market, launch a startup, develop an app, attract tonnes of users, then secure some lucrative Series A Funding and very soon see our names in a Forbes Rich List.  No, I don’t mean entrepreneurialism like this. I’m quite content still being a copywriter for hire.

Over the past few weeks, the number of people testing positive for COVID-19 has increased dramatically. For freelancers, the necessary self-isolation that comes with a positive test means up to a week of no income and potentially losing their clients, even without any symptoms. So what can you do to stay productive during your enforced alone time?

It’s a strange one.  If I felt like doing “the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done”—which is always a tactical and shamelessly self promoting anecdote to embellish your dating app profile (we won’t get into this now)—and leaving London to go take a punt in the Big Apple with your freelance skillz that pay the billz, it would be just that…a punt. A swing of the bat. A shot in the dark. A drop in the ocean. I cannot actually weigh up the pros and cons.

Freelance photographer, Alexander Blair, was assaulted and robbed on London Underground? His kit and livelihood was taken and he is still battling with his insurance company. We hear from Alexander and, Partner at the legal firm Briffa, Eamon Chawke, about his ordeal and what rights freelancers can lean on during challenging times.

On the 1st of May, Freelancer Club is launching its first international location in New York City. We’re starting small, focusing on photographers, models and hair/makeup artists within the Brooklyn area, before gradually branching out to the rest of the city and beyond. We decided to start in Brooklyn thanks to its vibrant creative scene, full of exceptional creative individuals who are feeling disconnected and undervalued. Those we spoke to highlighted the need for a community platform such as the Freelancer Club to help them facilitate connections in a more meaningful way.

The pandemic forced many freelancers to adapt their core offering, offer online services and find ways to earn a living. The legacy of which is the rise of the multi-hyphen freelancer. We sit down with portrait photographer and specialist, Ivan Weiss, and model, dancer and creative director, Ella Judge, to discuss their pandemic learnings and the merits of a specialist versus a generalist freelance career.

As COVID-19 cases begin to rise again, freelancers who provide face-to-face services are being left in the lurch once more. Even with minor to no symptoms, the precautionary self-isolation that comes with a positive test renders freelancers unable to work on sets, in offices, at events or shoots of any kind. Make no mistake, there is more than just the direct one-off financial loss on the line. Our client relationships, social lives and mental health are also at risk. Once again, freelancers are being forced to choose between their health and financial stability.