Artistic work can be a solitary endeavour – but when artists form a co-op, they can share experience and ideas, as well as space, resources, and expenses.

For The Blackfish Collective in Victoria, BC, forming a co-op of photographers was a great way to share the workload and provide members with an incentive to grow the business by sharing the profits. The business — whose members include photographers and a model coach — focuses on portrait and boudoir photography services, as well as studio rentals.

“We would like to become known as the preferred place to go in Victoria for high-quality photographic work, as well as providing an example of an alternative business model to traditional photography studios,” said founding member Stephen Ban.

Co-operatives First was pleased to assist The Blackfish Collective to incorporate their co-op!