We were lucky to catch up with Larry Brownstein recently and have shared our conversation below.
Larry, appreciate you making time for us and sharing your wisdom with the community. So many of us go through similar pain points throughout our journeys and so hearing about how others overcame obstacles can be helpful. One of those struggles is keeping creativity alive despite all the stresses, challenges and problems we might be dealing with. How do you keep your creativity alive?
It’s an interesting question: “How do you keep your creativity alive?” Really, I think, it is creativity that keeps me alive.
Even when I did engineering work it was the creativity that I found interesting. I wasn’t especially fascinated with the devices, hardware, or software, themselves. I was more interested in using my creativity to solve problems.
With my artistic endeavors the creativity is more at the heart of it all than in engineering. But many people in the arts are not so interested in creativity as much as in success which, I believe, can backfire because success in the arts is never guaranteed. So, it’s possible that you don’t achieve the success you seek and, at the same time you may have wasted the chance to grow creatively.
Of course it is also possible to grow creatively and not be a big financial success. This is the artistic dilemma, as I see it.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
While my street photography – that is what people call it, though, I think of it more as photography of the social landscape – continues to be of great interest to me, I have moved in new directions. I spend a lot of time doing composite images. The composites also tend to highlight and occasionally critique aspects of our culture.
The street photography continues to get me out in the world but the digital imaging provides me with a greater array of options to express myself creatively.
Fortunately, I continue to find interest in my old work, while the new work finds its way onto the walls of galleries, too.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
If you want to be a photographer you do need some grounding in the technology. Don’t rely on point and shoot technology. Instead, learn the basics of exposure – aperture, shutter speed and ISO. Don’t be satisfied with a built-in flash and call that “lighting.” Go to museums, look at art books, visit galleries, etc., so the makings of a good image starts to be understood clearly and consciously, as well as unconsciously. And once you get the basics of the technology and the subtleties of light you still have one important hill to climb: composition. Again, look at excellent images and begin to understand why (and how) the artist placed things where they are.
Once the technology, lighting and composition are mastered, you have to add the last, most important touch – your creative and unique personal vision. What is it that interests you? What do you want to show an audience? And what can you show them that few others can?
What is the number one obstacle or challenge you are currently facing and what are you doing to try to resolve or overcome this challenge?
Motivation is sometimes an issue. Writers, for example, are famous for writer’s block. I assume that is just a sexy way of saying that writers sometimes get discouraged. But writers are not alone in feelings of discouragement, I’m pretty sure. I get discouraged, too. So what? I remind myself that what I am doing is more fun than digging ditches and get back to it.
Also, I keep in mind that, as with any craft, you need to put in your time to master it. So, I put in my time. I’m pretty sure I have passed the 10,000 hour mark that Malcolm Gladwell made a famous meme.
Contact Info:
- Website: BrownsteinPhoto.com
- Instagram: larry.brownstein
Image Credits
All image ©Larry Brownstein
