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

Kirby, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the best or worst investment you’ve made (either in terms of time or money)? (Note, these responses are only intended as entertainment and shouldn’t be construed as investment advice)

The best investment I’ve ever made for my business has been any and every dollar I’ve spent on passion projects. I don’t want to test new techniques or try new equipment when I’m working for a paying client or hired for a gig. It’s just too big a gamble. So, passion projects are paramount for playing, learning, and developing new styles and methods. Without investing in my passion projects, I wouldn’t have landed 90% of the jobs I’ve done because the types of photography I am most often hired to shoot were all byproducts of that crucial time were I was free to try something new.

Kirby, 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?

My love of photography began in high school when I was the photographer for our yearbook and newspaper. I started shooting self portraits on the side, which lead me to take a 35mm darkroom class over the summer. I stopped shooting almost entirely while getting my bachelor’s degree. Having majored in Medical Sciences and minored in Film and Video Studies, I knew I wanted to be creative again before applying to PA schools. The plan was to take a few years, work in film and television, and then reassess. But slowly I started getting hit up more and more for photography. I got a couple lucky opportunities to shoot concerts and festivals and I was hooked. The rush of shooting live music far outweighed the rush I felt shadowing surgeons. I spent a couple years building my portfolio and finding my footing in my hometown of Houston before taking the leap and moving to LA. Once here, I just let photography consume me entirely. I experimented with different styles and formats and shot like crazy to hone my style. Now, the techniques I developed to set my work apart from other music photographers (3D gifs, Polaroids, super 8 video, and lots of punchy film) give me the opportunity to work in so many other realms – celebrity portraiture, ad campaigns, brand events, and beyond.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

So many! The Gap, a quote from an interview with Ira Glass (there’s a beautiful 2ish minute video featuring it by Daniel Sax on Vimeo), was one of the first things I saw that gave me creative faith. I first heard it just as I was graduating from college and really deciding to pursue a creative path. I was absolutely terrified to be bad. But, as The Gap explains, being bad is inevitable and necessary. I’m also a big fan of CreativeMornings. It’s a free, monthly lecture series that takes place in cities all over the globe. While geared towards creatives, I’ve attended talks from people with totally “normal” jobs and walked away inspired just the same. I love CreativeMornings and urge everyone to check out their local chapter (or search for the talk I gave a few years ago on Youtube if you want to get a feel for it first).

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

Experimenting with different types of analog photography definitely set me apart from my peers. Back in 2017, I ordered a crappy stereoscopic 35mm film camera off eBay and just started playing. I was shooting everything with it and taking the scans and animating them into these weird 3D gifs that sort of wiggle back and forth. The cameras were first designed to for making lenticular prints (such as those holographic/3D bookmarks you can tilt side to side to make the image move, that also make a fun sound when you scratch your fingernails on them), so I took that concept and printed what I’d shot to make lenticular marketing materials. Those prints definitely helped me stand out, land in person meetings, and ultimately book more jobs. Now I’ve shot 3D gifs at concerts/festivals, events, and for brands such as Apple, Absolut Vodka, Taco Bell, Merrell, Hennessey, and more.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kirbygladstein.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kirbygladstein/