A friend’s daughter recently emailed me some questions for a school-project she’s working on. After completing the questionnaire, it occurred to me that these might be worth sharing.
Thanks for your interest, Brittney Lyn!
1. What made you interested with photography?
When I was in college, I was studying illustration, and had to take a photo-course to complete my degree. I hadn’t done photography seriously before, but it “clicked” with my sensibilities and I’ve been photographing ever since.
2. When did you start?
1993
3. Is photography your main job? If not, what is?
I’ve been self-employed for 10 years. It’s pretty hard to make a living on self-employment and I don’t think I was properly prepared when I started. I’ve been learning better ways of doing things ever since.
4. Did you go to school or are you self –taught?
I went to school and have learned a lot on my own and from friends and associates.
5. Do you work for someone or are you self-employed?
self-employed
6. Where do you work?
I work out of a home-office, but my photography is always done “on location” for my clients.
7. Why did you choose this profession?
I like meeting new people and solving creative problems. This job is always presenting something different to me. That said, depending on yourself for all aspects of your employment, is pretty stressful.
8. How big of an Impact has it had on your life?
HUGE. It’s a risky move being self-employed. You need to have a head for numbers, you need a LOT of self-discipline and a even more self-confidence. No one is gonna be looking out for you, except you. I’m lucky in that I don’t have a great head for numbers, but my wife IS good at that, so she helps me stay on track in that regard.
9. Has this career ran through the family?
Nope. I grew up on a dairy farm (self-employment of sorts).
10. What was your first camera?
A Ricoh KR-30. The first significant camera I owned was a Nikon N90, then a Contax AX and currently, a Leica M6TTL.
11. What was your first experience with photography?
A Photography 101 course in college. I was an art student that wanted to draw Marvel Comicbooks.
12. What was your first job for photography?
I worked as a salesperson at Mike Crivello Cameras for a year. After that I worked at Helix Photoart, in the rental department. In 2001, I went independent.
13. During a photo shoot, how do you know how many pictures to take?
You have to “feel” it. Sometimes the client determines how long you can shoot–you may only be allotted a few minutes of their time. The more experience you have in photography, the better you get at determining when you’ve got the shot
14. What was the farthest distance you have travelled for your job?
I once flew to Miami for 3 hours, for a European trade magazine. They needed a portrait of the president of the American Welding Association, which is based in Florida. I was on a plane at 6a.m., in Miami by noonish, at the client by 1:00, done with the shoot by 3:30 and then back to the airport. Flights and layovers landed me back in Milwaukee about 10:00 that night.
15. What method do you prefer; Digital or Film? Why?
For a lot of my personal work, I still shoot B+W film. My life is important to me and film seems more archival. Digital often seems too casual. For all my professional work though, I shoot digitally. It’s what the market demands, and frankly, it’s best for their needs.
16. Do you like color, or black and white pictures?
I like B+W, personally.
17. What would be your dream project/photo shoot?
To either travel around the state photographing organic and sustainability-minded farmers and businesses, or around the world photographing comicbook artists. Those are two VERY subjective ideas.
18. Who is your favorite photographer?
#1-Irving Penn; he’s a classic. No matter what he did, he brought his own powers of observation to bear on the subject. He made EVERYTHING look lovely.
#2-Eugene Richards; he makes you think and realize the world needs you to engage.
19. Have you ever been featured in a gallery?
I’ve shown my work in numerous Milwaukee exhibitions and have had work in some other states as well. Most recently (2008), I had a photograph travel to a university in Kentucky for an exhibition called “I Love You Love Me”
20. What is your best experience and what was your worst in photography?
The best, that I can think of, is when I got to climb to the top of Milwaukee’s City Hall for a photograph. It was wrapped in scaffolding, the day was cool, cloudy, and drizzly. It was a crap day, but I made it all the way to the top. It wasn’t a great photo-making time, but it felt like a neat achievement to be up there where so few other people have been.
The worst…is harder to come up with. I like what I do. It’s really like any job–you have some good days, you have some bad days, and you really can’t let your life or career be too defined by either one. Every day is a new chance to do it well. There will always be clients that are great to work with and some who are more difficult. It’s my nature to spend more of my energy remembering the positive times.
21. What is your favorite photo that you have taken?
There is a photo I made of my youngest brother, Tyler, when he was maybe 8 or 9. He had never shown much interest in my photography, but I was making portraits of everyone in my family and asked him to stand for me. He was holding a plastic baseball bat and I thought that would be interesting. Just before I made the photo, he asked if he could hold a kitten instead.
I was surprised, because he had not really engaged with the process before, so of course I said “yes.” right away. What resulted is, I think, a really sublime photo of that moment.
Sometimes, with photography, I really don’t think of myself as being responsible for what gets captured. I feel more like a medium to the moment, and this was one of those times. I wasn’t that skilled, I wasn’t that experienced, but the photo that came from that moment is lovely. I feel blessed to have been a part of that fraction of a second.
22. What inspires you?
My wife, my family. Everything can come into your photography in one way or another. Photography, for me, is about looking outwards at the world. It just so happens that my wife and family are in front of me a lot.
23. What advice do you have for a high school student who is interested in photography?
Experiment, try new things. Be bold, be gentle. Do not be afraid of standing up for something. Photography makes you more aware of the world around. Use it to enlarge your world view. Become as confident in your technique as you can. If you don’t know your camera well, you might not see a photo because you’re futzing with your camera. Pay attention and be concerned about the world around you.