We recently connected with Camille Roberts and have shared our conversation below.
Camille, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Are you happy as a creative professional? Do you sometimes wonder what it would be like to work for someone else?
There are definitely moments where I question what my life would look like if I had a typical 9-to-5 corporate career. Having a steady schedule and income is something that I have not yet experienced, as I jumped into freelance lighting design right after graduating college.
As a creative, though, one of the most stimulating aspects of my current path is the ability to work on such a large variety of projects. I love the ability to jump into a new production, immerse myself in the world that is being created, and then leap into an entirely new project the week later. I find a lot of joy in being able to explore and design for so many different mediums of entertainment, and it definitely challenges me to stretch my creative muscles.
Camille, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I first discovered my love for technical theatre in high school, when I auditioned for the musical freshman year and wasn’t the right fit for the cast. I decided to still stay involved and joined the tech crew—ever since then, I’ve never looked back. I double majored in Theatre Technology and Economics at Chapman University, and have been a freelance lighting designer and technician working in the industry for over two years now. I’ve worked on music festivals, dance concerts, plays, musicals, and so much more.
One of my favorite productions that I designed for is iLuminate Las Vegas, currently in residency at the STRAT Casino and Hotel. This production showcases LED light suits that highlight each choreographed move. I joined this company right after I graduated, and since then have worked on a multitude of projects with them. The residency show—which still remains open—is going on tour this fall, and it’s very exciting to see pieces that I designed still in motion over two years later.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
While I’ve known that lighting design is my passion for many years now, it wasn’t until quite recently that I discovered the core spark of why it speaks to me so much. In January of 2020, while I was a junior in college, I had the opportunity to go abroad to London for an interterm theatre course. We saw over a dozen productions and analyzed various aspects of them in classes during the daytime. It was an amazing experience, and I saw so many inspirational productions, but there is one moment in particular that has stuck with me to this day.
The production was “The Ocean at the End of the Lane” by Neil Gaiman. It was staged in tall, compact theatre, over three stories high, with a large thrust in the middle of the space. Toward the middle of the show, there was a sharp shift from the established reality—beige and brown tones, very typical theatrical lighting—into a vivid underwater scene. So many shades of blue and purple filled the space, illuminating large silks wafting through the air, and amidst it all were two tiny, glowing yellow puppets, representing the characters swimming in the sea. When this shift occurred, I felt chills run down my body, an involuntary gasp of air escape me, and my eyes alight with wonder. I thought to myself: /this/ is what I want people to feel when they watch my designs.
Ever since then, I have been aiming to immerse audience members in the world of the production as much as possible, to allow them to experience the same intensity of feeling that I experienced on that night.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
The immediate thought that comes to mind is funding school arts programs. I was lucky enough to be enrolled in a school that had ample funding for all of its artistic programs, and if it weren’t for this opportunity, I likely never would have discovered just how much I love lighting design.
It’s easy to forget how important art is when there are bills to pay and deadlines to meet. But we have to remember how deeply art can speak to us: it can allow us to feel our deepest emotions, to express what we think we cannot in our day to day. It can provide an escape from reality, a breath of fresh air, of laughter and of joy when we might be drowning in stress and anxiety. When we support artists, we support everyone around us.
Contact Info:
- Website: camillerobertsdesign.com
- Instagram: @camillerobertslighting
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camroberts/