We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Connor Gates. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Connor below.

Connor, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

Being misunderstood about my work is something that happens every time someone requests to see it. The one interaction that comes to mind specifically was back during my first post-covid job in 2021. I would offer for my photos to be critiqued, most of the time this meant portraits I would take with whomever was willing in the town I resided in. I got done with an outdoors session and showed them to my manager whose first response was, “Wow, you really like headroom.” Keep in mind he was also a fellow photographer but only made sure when he took a portrait, the subject’s head was just barely touching the top of the frame.

Not going to lie, it made me feel generalized. Nothing but another un-inspired photographer who put their subjects directly in the middle to appeal to the cool and hip crowd called instagram. I found years later starting my own portrait shoots in what was meant to be a second bedroom, the epiphany struck me. Photographers do that so they don’t have to raise the backdrop or photoshop anything in post. This made me laugh and realize I was about to fall into what I found to be so claustrophobic to the subject, I tried it and found myself not to hate the result. In a nutshell…whether it’s a portrait session in a natural environment or the studio where anything and everything can be manipulated – I meet in the middle. The top third. Quite a journey, right?

Furthermore, I’ve found those sort-of instances to help but also reconsider the next project. Do you want this person to portray an empty-headed feeling? Maybe go for a surrealist approach and surround them in a void. Their outfit is too good not to include and describe themselves? Keep their head at the top to make sure who they are stays in the frame. If you allow the project to simply be what is what’s right vs what you want, the results can teach you.

Connor, 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?

Being as candid as possible, there’s not really much that sets me a part from other people pursuing the same things. I grew up with an empty feeling inside that only art could satisfy. So when art met me, my whole life was decided. Because I was a huge YouTube kid growing up in the 2000’s/2010’s (still applies today), the inspiration mainly drew from there based on acknowledging these creators wanted to create in the hopes of filling that empty feeling they had so similarly. Purpose grew from this and I decided to go into video especially with watching the acclaimed, Breaking Bad.

Traveling to college as a young adult who wanted to make movies, I’m now an adult who takes any freelance opportunity I get. Filming a wedding, photographing a band/artist, editing motion graphics for a small business. All of those things apply seeing as how I noticed you need to be tangible in the world of arts. Become a swiss army knife instead of a kitchen knife is what I tell people. This is not to say working different jobs that don’t display your love of the craft means you failed. When you get older and you start to love more and more things about who you are, this means you will find yourself to love more jobs you have the opportunity to prove yourself in. I say all this because I think it’s what I want any client who decides to work with me…start to pick up the pieces about themselves in case they haven’t realized it by now. As cheesy as it may sound, I find what makes working with me so memorable is the simple discovery that the client would also want to work with themselves. Because we only truly know we have a passion for something if we choose to pursue that passion rather than what’s easier.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I try not to put creatives and non-creatives in a box because I find the term “non-creatives” to only mean a creative that hasn’t found what works for them. What I would say is imposter syndrome maintains it’s residency no matter if you are creative or not. I bring this up because people often pursue the world of art to find something to fix their problems. For most creatives, their craft only births even more. If you find you’re missing out on things because you haven’t discovered a hobby that allows you to feel included with others, it most likely means you’re still so young. Art doesn’t fix depression nor anxiety nor lack of confidence, that starts with you.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Judge me all you want but reading is not in my list of skills. I have and always will come to my own understandings through the world of visuals. I introduce the world of YouTube yet again. The creators on those platforms offer so much value as an artist but only if you find the ones who work for you. I’ve found a lot of resilience and self-discovery through the individuals: Thomas Flight, Jason Kummerfeldt, Teo Crawford, Tatiana Hopper, Taylor Pendleton and the production houses, Jubilee and Watcher.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.connorgates.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gonnor_cates/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connor-gates-369956196/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5m-oNECfwu3oAROEHhq6jQ

Image Credits

My portrait was taken by Hannah Holland.

Here is her website: https://www.hannah-holland.com/