We were lucky to catch up with Emily Barresi recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Emily thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I fundamentally believe in taking risks. You have to as an artist. If you’re not an artist, I still think you should jump head-first into what scares you. Of course, protect yourself where you can. Try not to put yourself in financially dubious situations or environments that are unsafe for you spiritually and creatively. But remember there will always be another day to work. Another day to tweak the art or self-correct.

I took a whole mess of risks while filming a short documentary last year. I was filming the lead-up to a middle school talent show and had only three days to work. I had a very basic understanding of the equipment I was using at the time and relied heavily on the generosity and patience of the school system. I was also responsible for representing the kids with accuracy and compassion while hundreds of parents watched me work. At any given time someone could shut the project down. Ultimately/thankfully, we created a piece I am extremely proud of. I didn’t have all the resources in the world, but I had an idea and I asked – and kept asking – if I could continue to follow it.

So sure, when taking risks you have to “trust the process,” but you also have to trust yourself. If everything falls apart, what pieces can you still pick up and learn from?

Emily, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Hi, yes! I’m Emily. I’m a photographer and filmmaker. I studied photography twice because I love it that much (BFA from RIT ‘15 and MFA from Yale ‘22) but began to transition into cinematography and the moving image during graduate school.

Now, I typically work on small, independent productions. I’ve been the Director of Photography on a few short narrative films, experimental video art pieces, and music videos. I also write and direct my own work. I’m currently a Video Artist-in-Residence at BRIC Lab in Brooklyn, NY, where I’m collaborating with my sister on a project about a fictional cryptid called Dogman. Of course, I continue to make photographs daily.

I’ve had a lifelong passion for images and stories. I spent the day making a camera out of a toilet paper roll and tissue box when I was like 7, just so I could frame out my perspective. Our parents always encouraged us to be in the world with arms and eyes wide open. I think this made me extremely curious about other people. Photographing strangers allowed me to ask them about themselves. Learning and collecting stories from their lives, as well as my own, filled me with magic and drive. It’s the small, entirely human experiences and emotions that fuel my work. I don’t have to look far for inspiration because I think people are endlessly fascinating. And kind of futile. And I want to represent that contradiction in my work.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Such an important question! Even though I feel like there are more opportunities than ever for artists, we still need to work on how we view creative labor. It’s a service just as any other trade and we need to be paying our creatives adequately for their time.

A few other things that I think could help:

– Bring back school budgets for the arts.
– Higher education should be free. Period.
– Create more physical space for viewing art in our communities. We need to remember the physicality of images and what it feels like to watch a film in a dark room with other people. I’m sick of feeling alone, online.
– Eliminate gatekeeping culture. This can be done so easily TODAY in your community. Share resources and information with as many people as you can. Meet up with other artists in your area! Have informal critiques! Just chill! Spread the wealth around by spreading knowledge around!
– Eliminate the five-day workweek. Emphasis on slowing the pace of society in general here. The creation of art is not possible without time to simply live and observe and f*ck up and feel.
– Create more affordable opportunities for artists. This means free applications, free admission to museums, free workshops.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I spent the last decade saying YES to everything. I’ve worked for free, for trades, and for money. My work has brought me to incredible and bizarre places and every opportunity has educated me in some way or another. Saying yes brought me to where I am today. That said, I now think it’s more important to learn how and when to say no.

There isn’t one specific backstory to point to here, just years of unpleasant burnout. As an independent contractor or freelancer, it can feel impossible to pass up on opportunities. But this is precisely why you need to be discerning about potential jobs, shoots, etc. – you are the only one advocating for your mental, emotional, and creative safety.

Also, your time has value. Your creativity has value. And: you’re human! I’m not sure when we decided to prioritize “the grind” over everything, but fewer, meaningful experiences greatly outweigh a ton of so-so ones.

Learn how to say yes to the projects that align closest with your ethos and goals, and no to fluff that will exhaust you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.emilybarresi.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/embarresi/

Image Credits
All images © Emily Barresi 2023