Branded: A Reality Show for Photographers

Since the dawn of reality television, we've seen a plethora of professions and niche topics covered. That said, there have been very few photography-focused spinoffs of the reality genre. Photo Challenge Show aims to take a step in changing that.

The crew over at Photo Challenge Show has created a show concept to pit two photographers against each other as they compete to earn a brand contract. As with any reality show, photographers are given limited time and resources to create a small portfolio of images to pitch to the brand owner. In the pilot episode, the photographers are paired with models and given products from the company, and following some brief insight into the specifics of the brand, are sent out to capture and then edit their images. We get to see the planning process, pieces of the shoots, and then the final pitch to the owner of the brand, who gets to select the winner.

While there are a few other photography reality shows out there, this show presents the topic in a more down-to-earth way. It is also different from the other options since there are no judges, but instead, the brand owner gets to decide what they want to actually use. It looks like they will also infuse a tiny bit of photography history into the show, as an incentive for the photographers to earn more resources for their shoots.

There are some specifics about the show that aren't totally clear, such as if the same two photographers will be competing over the course of a season (if they get to the point of shooting a full season) or if it will be two new photographers each episode. It is also very much a pilot episode, and further development of the idea and execution would be beneficial. The website for the show mentions there will be an educational component for each episode, something that draws me in as an educator, but that wasn't included in the pilot episode. I am intrigued, however, and look forward to hopefully seeing where they take this!