Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Julia Larberg. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Julia, appreciate you joining us today. Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

Overall, I am happier as an artist. While I still maintain a day job in the service industry to make financial ends meet (which holds shame at times), I choose to prioritize my creative work in my off time. I opt for a schedule that allows me to have the afternoons and evenings available for my creative work. I think about what it would be like to have only one job or role, what it would be like to be able to walk out of my day job and not go back to work. Granted, my service work and creative work are two different industries but there is a certain point where work is work. It requires effort, attention, and labor and requires capacity and time management skills outside of each role. In all honesty, it can be lot to manage.

With that said, I love it. I love the creative work I do and the clients I contract with. I work with other artists and publications that inform how I approach my photographs. My day job informs the way I interact with my clients. They’re mutually beneficial in that way.

The key component is that my creative work and art work feed my soul. It reminds me to keep thinking and growing and connecting. I thought about this a bit last week and reflected on how empty things would feel without my creative work. It helps me keep connected to my humanity and feelings and it continuously reminds me that what I know is incredibly small. The world is vast and exciting and ever-growing. The moment I stop pursuing creative work, I lose that connection in many ways.

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’m Julia Larberg, an American photographer raised in suburban Kansas. My photographic artwork attempts to make sense of intimate relationships between oneself and the space around them. My current work attempts to draw connections between women, pregnancy, and the ocean and the unknowns within it all.

I graduated with an Associate of Arts from Johnson County Community College in 2015, followed by a Bachelor of Arts from Bard College in 2023. Along the way, I earned a 200 RYT yoga certification, which has enriched my understanding of mindfulness and presence, aspects that permeate my art work. I’ve been fortunate to study with photographers such as An-My Lê and Raymond Meeks, and to work with talented artists like Arantxa Araujo, Adrianna Ault, and Philip Heying.

Through these experiences, I learned so much about photographic craft, digital file management, analog photography, print, and processing, archival practices for prints, negatives, and files, as well as the development of my own artistic vision. Now, as an artist and an archival contractor for a literature and art publication, I utilize all these skills to support my clients in organizing and maintaining their holdings to easily locate information. I utilize these skills to further my own craft and understanding of photography and archival practices.

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

Absolutely! The first two that come to mind are ‘The Dance of Anger’ by Dr. Harriet Lerner and ‘All About Love: New Visions’ by bell hooks. ‘The Dance of Anger’ is applicable across the board in life. Dr. Lerner speaks to the role of anger and how when denied or suppressed, can lead to resentment and the inability to navigate through difficult situations in a way that feels true to one’s self. While the book is applicable to all genders, she writes specifically for women and how female anger has been stigmatized and repressed in order to meet a performance of care, calm, and support for everyone else but themselves. By learning to take cues from my anger, I have grown in my own boundaries and being in tune with what feels congruent to myself and my business needs.

In ‘All About Love’, hooks aims to define and demystify love. She writes about how love has been presented in ways that are not defined or solid. Love has been presented as ‘You’ll know it when you feel it,’ rather than a set of actions and a solid definition of what that looks like. hooks writes “Echoing the work of Erich Fromm, he defines love as “the will to extend one’s self for the purpose of nurturing one’s own or another’s spiritual growth.” Explaining further, he continues, “Love is as love does. Love is an act of will-namely, both an intention and an action.'” This approach has deeply influenced how I approach photographing people and how I consider my photographs, how I approach taking care of others, and how I structure my work.

Up next on my reading list is ‘Radical Candor’ by Kim Scott to continue to develop balanced leadership and interpersonal skills.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The idea of putting something out into the world that others can relate to or find comfort in. It is incredibly rewarding to consider something so deeply and so intensely and have that reception be translated to viewers. There are many spaces that feel so dark. I am thinking in particular about grief, trauma, family discord, even navigating one’s sense of self while connected and caring for those around you. It is incredibly rewarding when someone finds comfort, calm, or feeling grounded through photographs that I make.

Alternatively, I find it incredibly rewarding to be working in the archive field to preserve the works other artists have made and continue to make. By preserving and cataloging those works, they are easier for people to find and, hopefully, relate to.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.julialarberg.com
• Instagram: luliajarberg
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/julialarberg/

Image Credits

Photo of Julia is by Sydney Merritt-Brown. All additional photographs are by me, Julia Larberg. All images (c) 2024 Julia Larberg. All Rights Reserved.