We recently connected with Carol Schiraldi and have shared our conversation below.

Carol, 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?

People often ask if you are born a photographer or if it is something you can learn. I feel it’s a little bit of both. Photographers are observers, storytellers, poets, and masters of light. These are often things you cannot learn in a book. Most of my knowledge comes from watching, working with experts at the craft, and asking a lot of questions, plus observing things, and, of course, a lot of trial and error. There is no classroom here, it often distills down to what feels right. The most essential thing you can do to speed up the process is accept that it’s imperfect and be open to what comes your way. Nobody learns to play the violin overnight, yet I see many folks struggling, wanting to instantly work a camera, work with lights, and trying to craft an expert vision without practice. Even instant mashed potatoes take 60 seconds in the microwave! The biggest obstacle here is don’t get in your own way, trust the process, and practice the craft, over time it will come. Your vision will not be born overnight, but it’s there and it will come if you practice and apply yourself.

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?

I came into photography from the back door of sorts. Growing up in Scarsdale, a small town on the outskirts of New York City, my childhood was filled with writing, music, and pottery, my earliest visual medium. My early artistic influences were very wide-ranging. I like to say my childhood was like something out of a Steely Dan song-infused by everything from the street art of Keith Haring to the sullen blue notes of jazz great John Coltrane, with hints of classical impressionist painters, a little Andy Warhol, and a host of delta blues washed down with some Hemingway whiskey for good measure. After university, I moved to Austin and I like to say the camera found me. Itching to explore my new surroundings, I started photographing the small towns around Austin. What started as an excuse to get out and explore quickly turned into gallery shows, starting locally at Austin’s Amy’s Ice Cream, where I had my first show, and continuing to recent times, where I will soon have work on exhibition in Barcelona, Spain as part of the Barcelona Photo Biennial.

The artistic process has deep roots for me and in many ways remains the same. I explore the world and visually express color, mood, and honor the spirit of the places I visit. With a passion for experimentation, I craft work that can range from quirky to painterly, but always strive to capture the flow of life, work in unbound and unexpected ways, and experiment with technique and materials at every turn. Using photography as my guiding start and primary medium, I often work with mixed media and am not afraid to explore the possibilities that arise from layering, compositing, collage, alternative printing, and material studies.

After my work had been included in hundreds of gallery and museum shows, many print publications, and even included on popular websites, I decided to launch my own gallery website. My original website, now 20 years old, was called Carol’s Little World, so I launched a gallery to highlight the work. Featuring prints, merchandise, and gifts showcasing my work, Carol’s Little World is an online destination, now featuring the my online journal (original blog) as well as my gallery shop, which blends all kinds of technology allowing you to print on demand and ship fine art prints and gifts straight to your door.

I continue to grow and expand, now moving into the web3 space, as well as teaching and speaking about creativity, art, and photography.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

When I started Carol’s Little World, experimentation and play were a big part of what I was doing. I was an early blogger, having started even before we had photo blogs. When I did my first gallery shows, I was often told, “Oh, color work! Our gallery only shows black and white work, as color photography is not considered art!” Nowadays, I laugh at these memories, but it took some backbone to keep going in the face of that criticism back in the day.

Fast forward to the NFT space. I have heard some feedback that rings similar. Everything from, “Why would anybody buy a JPEG?” to, “it’s just a passing fad,” or maybe even, “it’s a bit like trading cards.” The naysayers can run through their fields of doubt while I actually opt to experiment and try it out myself.

What I found is striking. There is a big community in the NFT space and there is a lot of art, wonderful art, and wonderful energy. I have been able to connect with artists from around the globe. The energy is so alive, so vibrant, it’s hard to believe. I started putting some of my art on the blockchain and really enjoy the community there. I recently did a summertime themed project (“Tezos Tuna”) and has so much fun both creating my work and collecting the work of other artists.

There are a few things one should know, of course. The community, being new, is not without scams. Also, it’s very new and speculative so prone to wild swings between the ups and downs. It pays to learn and research before jumping in but it’s a worthy investment. I absolutely love the fact that visual artists can now be granted royalties (much like music) in the NFT space and I adore the community of artists I have found there.

How did you build your audience on social media?

For me, in my early days, I started a blog just to keep a journal, for personal reasons. I found I enjoyed the blogging platform and found myself 20 years later with a popular photoblog. For those starting out, I recommend you find a platform that you are comfortable with and try to be consistent. Over the course of my 20 years, there were times I did not write very often and my traffic would, of course, fall off considerably. Also, and this is key, start and maintain a mailing list or some other way outside your social media bubble to maintain a list of clients. Hearts and likes on social media are not the same as paying customers. Many people assume that you can just translate the two, that is, once you go viral on a platform, you will automatically get a lot of customers. It’s simply not the case. A social media platform can opt to shut you down at any time, while a mailing list is forever.

Apart from that, I suggest finding a platform you love and using it, but use it regularly. If you don’t like one platform, don’t use it or try to schedule updates so your time spent on it is minimized. Social media can be a big time drain. The key is to use it but not get sucked into it. Post and share regularly, be authentic, but don’t spend all day on any of the platforms. Don’t forget to live so you have something to post about tomorrow!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.carolslittleworld.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolschiraldi/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CarolsLittleWorld
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cjschiraldi/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cschiraldi
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSeY5MnKAHJDFH55Kf6Gu3Q
• Other: Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/carolschiraldi/

Image Credits
All images by Carol Schiraldi