We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Casey James. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Casey below.
Casey, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
As of now, I haven’t been able to pay the bills solely off of my creative work. I was ~this~ close to making that happen this year, but with the strikes, I had to up the hours at my random day jobs to make ends meet (just like everyone else). I know the time will come where I’ve completely found my groove and can survive solely off of acting or photography, hopefully a combination of the two. But for now I’m just trying to have a good time figuring it all out.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Well I’m an actor, so that’s what initially brought me out this way. But it became apparent I would need something that would fulfill me creatively and financially in the meantime. Photography had always been a hobby of mine, so I started to look at it as a new day job. I didn’t know many photographers, or how to get started in the industry, so I kind of just stumbled my way along and landed on taking headshots. After a few years of inconsistency I’d finally reached a point where I was living solely off of my studio work, up until the strikes. Auditions obviously came to a halt, but as most of my clients were actors, my business took a pretty big hit too. So it’s been a lot of pivoting for me this year. I’ve been taking fitness portraits for trainers, maternity shoots and baby photos. I photograph interior design galleries, marijuana dispensaries, nude male models… I’m a bit all over the place. And I think I’m really starting to benefit from that. I needed to try out new styles and take more risks in order to grow up a bit. It’s given me friends and connections in more than just the film industry, and word of mouth is the number one advertisement out here.
As for what sets me apart, Being an actor definitely helps me be a better photographer OF actors, specifically because I know all of the ins and outs of the bullshit we have to go through. That translates to getting not only the shots that will get us auditions, but getting the shots that showcase who we are as humans outside of our acting careers.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Honestly, my goal is just to see and do as much as I can with my limited time on this planet. That’s what drives me. I don’t mean to sound cliche, but I just don’t want to be stationary. I want to meet new people, travel everywhere, and experience the full scope of the wonderful and weird aspects of life. Even though these two careers I’ve chosen are incredibly unstable, I think they’ll take me to new and interesting places. Figuratively and literally. I can dive deep into personalities different than my own. I can see new places and discover more about myself and the world. For me that’s the ultimate measurement of success..
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
People. People are the resources. Talk to them and hear how they are doing it. Don’t copy or hyper focus on how one person is making it work, because that might not work for you. But this is a city of millions of people who are all trying to achieve relatively the same thing. I was stubborn for a long time and was stuck in my way of doing things. I didn’t know any photographers so I didn’t know how to advance. I compared myself to other actors without bothering to ask how they worked. But you can learn the most from your friends and your peers. That’s not revolutionary advice, but it’s a lesson I definitely needed to learn.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.studiocaseyjames.com
- Instagram: @caseyjamestagram
Image Credits
All photographs by Casey James (me)