Considering that Cam Kirk Studios is located across the street from the famous Magic City strip club in Atlanta, it comes as no surprise that the studios' namesake and founder has photographed Future, Young Thug, Lil’ Baby, Gunna, Migos (to name a few). Kirk started shooting artists back when he was dabbling in concert promotion and progressively learned how to monetize his influence in the hip hop community in order to pursue ever-bigger projects. His latest ambitious endeavor is opening a record-label style company for photographers, called Collective Gallery - something without much precedent in the photography world, but needed nonetheless.
With Cam Kirk Studios booking over 400 appointments each months, Kirk seems like the kind of person who can execute this vision. Kirk has discovered firsthand that to thrive as a photographer requires building a personal brand and diligently protecting it. Now, he wishes to pass on the knowledge that he has acquired in this realm to others. “Collective Gallery is one hundred percent rooted in creating a better landscape for photographers,” Kirk told Forbes. “I wanted to build another complementary company that can further assist in my mission of sustaining the photography industry and help pass the torch to other creatives like me.”
Kirk will use his own career as a model to promote the new talent that his company brings onboard. Collective Gallery aims to help photographers with touring, merchandising, and content distribution. Now that they have launched, their doors are open to portfolio submissions and they are offering a $20,000 advance to their first signee.
Kirk's business partner, John Rose, is an entertainment attorney by trade and he made clear to Forbes that Collective Gallery's priority is protecting the art of photographers. “The reason I wanted to become an entertainment attorney was to protect the art,” Rose said. “How I will measure success for the company is if the artists are well-protected,” Rose said. For this reason, Collective Gallery has no set template for their deals and is interested in working around what's best for their signees.
