2026/05/18 – “So What’s Your Niche?” Cue Existential Crisis

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Here’s this week’s letter and question:

“So what’s your niche?”
Ah yes. My favourite question.
I always feel like I should have a slick, polished elevator-pitch style answer for this, as if I’m on Shark Tank or something. Instead, I waffled about portraits and branding and food, and basically fumbled it.

Now, bear in mind I wasn’t at a networking event or meeting up with a potential client. This was a casual friend of a friend joining us for an impromptu coffee, who just happened to work in advertising. She then regaled me with why she needs to be able to put photographers into boxes so she knows who she can call to work with. And I can understand why that makes life easier for her in the job she does.

She wants to be sure she’s working with a specialist, and needs to trust that they can deliver what’s needed, to spec, on time and on budget. That’s no small ask, and many photographers aren’t able to do that. Hiring the wrong person (from her point of view) would be career suicide. The problem is that for a lot of photographers, it just isn’t as straightforward as that.

One week, I might be photographing a live music event, shooting food for a restaurant, and then a branding session for a small business. And then maybe on the weekend, I might go take some landscape photos for fun. None of which fits particularly neatly into a single sentence, or neatly gift-packaged box, which is kind of what it felt like this woman was expecting.

Now, I’m admittedly not shooting weddings or doing family or baby portraits, and there’s definitely a thread of business-to-business photography going on in all my work. However, it’s not like I live in New York City and can survive by only shooting fashion, so I do feel a need to diversify slightly, and so far it’s working for me.

All of this goes against everything we are told. We’re supposed to have one niche, one lane, or “thing” we are known for. Something simple enough to explain quickly and consistently across Instagram bios, websites, networking events, and these slightly uncomfortable “so what do you do?” conversations. Apparently, clarity is the ultimate goal, but how much is it really serving us when we still have to pay rent and taxes?

I do understand the appeal of quickly being able to categorise someone. There’s something very comforting about clarity, especially in a world where everything moves quickly, and attention is limited. It makes you easier to remember, easier to recommend, and easier to categorise. But I also think there’s a difference between being clear and being simplified to the point of distortion.

When I look at my own work, I don’t actually see random unrelated shoots. I see repetition of thought and style across everything. Not necessarily of subject matter, but of approach.

I notice I’m often drawn to atmosphere and storytelling more than perfection. Much of what I shoot has some sort of cultural link, whether it’s a plate of food, a performer on stage, or a small business trying to show who they are. The underlying intention is often the same: trying to create something that feels like their identity, but presented visually.

That’s the part that often gets missed when we talk about niches, because maybe the thread that connects a lot of your work isn’t what you shoot, but how you see it, and why. The subject might change, but the instinct and thought process behind it doesn’t.

For me, it’s usually about translating something intangible into something visual. Atmosphere, identity, energy. A sense of place or personality that can’t always be explained in words, but can be suggested through an image. That might show up in very different forms depending on the brief, even though the underlying intention remains surprisingly consistent.

This is why I’m not entirely convinced that reducing photographers down to a single category is always that useful, at least not beyond the surface level of marketing. In reality, most of the work isn’t really about the “what”, it’s about the “how” and “why”.

I think that’s where things get interesting, because once you start looking at work through that lens, it becomes less about fitting yourself into a box and more about recognising the pattern that already exists in what you do and being open to taking inspiration across all genres of photography and beyond.

Last year, I spent a weekend learning how to shoot motorsports, not because I suddenly want to be a Formula One photographer, but because it was interesting. It opened me up to using speed and movement in my images in ways that I might not have thought of before. This is why it’s helpful to have photographer friends who can encourage you to try other things! Your “niche”, if there is one, might not always be a subject matter at all, it might be a way of noticing things, or simply how you show up.
It’s also worth remembering that the phrase “Jack of all trades, master of none” actually has a second line that gets conveniently forgotten:

“But oftentimes better than a master of one.”

So if you don’t have a neat answer to the dreaded niche question yet, you’re probably in better company than you think. And if you do, I’m slightly jealous. My brain, however, has other plans.

What are your thoughts on niching down to one genre of photography?

Have a great week,
Alex and the DIYP Team