Thriving Photography: An Interview with Bronson Farr
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California raised, New York living, Bronson Farr is a phenomenal photographer whose love and passion for people is evidently displayed through his work. His very presence lights up a room with his radiating optimism & positivity, which is a pretty useful skill to possess being in a profession dependent on light. We had the privilege to hear about his journey and career as a photographer.
Christophe: When did you first become interested in photography?
Bronson: Growing up, I though photos were really only to commemorate the happy stuff in life. When I was a child, I went to a wake for my Gramps. My uncle was taking photos of Gramps in his coffin and I super confused by it. I asked my Uncle why he was photographing this particular moment. He replied with something along the lines of "all aspects of life are important to document, even death". For me, this was a total and complete revelation. Photos aren't only for the happy moments, but photos are for ALL moments. Moments that we will all look back on and pensively reminisce over and moments that our posterity will look upon and know that we all existed and lived good lives. There is something magical and romantic about that, this is when the idea of photography became something meaningful to me.
C: Were you self-taught or did you learn in school/from a mentor?
B: Self, Friends, Youtube tutorials.
C: How did you develop your style?
B: Practice and Collaboration.
B: Natural light is my absolute jam! I like to work with interesting locations in the city where there is a good mix of direct sunlight and shadowed back drops. Most times, my subjects choose me. For my art series, @bronson.skin a lot of subjects reach out via instgram, but if I think you look interesting I have no problem being that creep asking to take your photo. When it comes to clients, I always have a consultation to make sure the vibe is right. Nothing is worst than working for a client you can't stand or truly collab with.
C: How do you find and choose you subjects or locations?
C: What inspires your work?
B: My absolute favorite part of my work is working with people. People inspire me and my work.
C: How do you compose an image?
B: One thing that is always on my mind is the rule of 3rds.
C: Do you go into the shoot with a specific shot in mind, or does the inspiration strike when you place your model in the setting?
B: A bit of both. You need to know what you want to accomplish in any given shoot. Location, tone of voice, lighting etc should be worked out before your shoot, but if you aren't open to inspiration in the midst of creating- then what's the point? If you are looking at the model and your set and get a great idea that you are enthused about- the best advice I can ever give is to try it! You'll hate yourself if you don't.
C: What do you hope your art says to people?
B: I really just hope it makes people happy and make them want to work with me or try to execute what they've seen me do.
C: Why did you choose photography as your craft?
B: It's the best mix of working with my hands, working directly with people, and actively trying to be creative and thoughtful. It just works for me.
C: How hard was it to become profitable at it?
B: Thankfully I didn't struggle too much to get in the green. One of the first projects I worked on was a fundraiser for my friend's dad who had throat cancer. I shot loads of family sessions and gave all of the proceeds to my friends family. A few days after the project was done one of my roommates handed me an envelope with all of the money I had made and donated. He said someone dropped it off for me and said to not mention who it was from. To this day, that person is the reason why my equipment is paid for.
C: Any suggestions to newcomers to the field?
B: Just show up. Take every opportunity to shoot and learn.
Be with other creatives. Train your eye and your hands.
Cloud based storage will be your friend.
Shoot RAW and in manual mode.
Practice with prime lenses.
Stop if you don't love it. Thrive if you do.
C: If you couldn’t be doing your craft, what would you do instead?
B: You know how Uber partners with hella companies to do cool stuff? I wanna be the guy to set up those partnerships...
Puppies would be in every car.
C: Any favorite moments of your career so far?
B: Shooting an huge Indian wedding in San Francisco. The groom's family blocked off part of Union Square and the family danced and sang while the groom rode in on a white horse. It was the most magical display of tradition I'd ever seen.
C: What would you do differently if you could start from scratch?
B: I was transfering data from one hard drive to another. I got a bit too stoned and ended up deleting every.single.photo. If I could start from scratch, I would get that cloud based storage off the bat, for sure.
C: Is there a defining moment in your career so far?
B: I was shooting a fashion show for Marc Bouwer and got to meet some of the cast of Orange is the New Black and some of those Housewives from BRAVO, that was pretty cool.
Ben: Is flannel really always appropriate?
Bronson: Obviously.
C: Biggest pet peeve about the industry?
B:I don't think I've been around long enough to have too big of complaints.
To capture all the moments of life as Bronson does really causes him to stand out. That to me is authenticity at its finest. He captures the good times, the hard times, and everything else in between. To follow his journey or even be a part of his shoots, check out his Instagram and Website below!
Instagram @Bronson.photo
