Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Lance Bradford. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Lance, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?
I learned by doing. Mostly just by absorbing the work of people I admire. Not just photographers but painters, musicians and writers.
There’s no real way to speed up the process other than by shooting photographs. It is the only way to really understand what’s going on in the camera and how that relates to the subject. You learn by making mistakes.
Its important to care about what you are doing, and enjoy it. It has to be almost a compulsion. Its the only way you will force yourself to spend the time required to get good at something.
When I started the biggest obstacles were financial. The best film cameras were, and still are, very expensive. Dark rooms were hard to find and also not cheap, although that was my favorite part of the film process. Today there are almost no obstacles. Prices for high quality cameras are insanely low and anyone can get quick answers on how to use them from the internet.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I’ve been a street photographer most of my life. But I have done several commercial projects like album covers, a lot of live band shoots and some portraits. I’m only interested in something if it is very different from what you normally see. I tend to collaborate well with people who think unconventionally and have a unique concept in mind. I am most proud of the street portraits I have made mostly around Houston’s East Side and Manchester neighborhoods. My main focus will always be that and fine art urban landscapes. Houston is a good place to find all kinds of weird scenes if you take the time to look. Urban tropical, no other place like it in the US. Not this size and not with the mix of industry and art. I am finding new things almost every time I go out.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
This is an interesting question because most of the time you don’t get any reward. It is frustrating.
For every one photo I consider a success I have a hundred pictures that I have discarded or rejected.
And its the same for every successful photographer.
You have to be ok with that hit/miss ratio and just enjoy the process.
Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?
Money. Photography is expensive.
But unlimited resources can also be a curse. A lot of people think you go out and buy a $7,000 Leica kit and then you’re automatically a great photographer. It doesn’t work like that. Good equipment can only help so much. Without talent you might as well keep using your phone.
Then again someone with a unique vision can get great stuff with a phone.
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Image Credits
Lance Bradford