Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Laura-Lynn Petrick. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Laura-Lynn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Earning a full time living from one’s creative career can be incredibly difficult. Have you been able to do so and if so, can you share some of the key parts of your journey and any important advice or lessons that might help creatives who haven’t been able to yet?
I’ve been super lucky to make a living doing what I love!
I’m a freelancer, so it has it’s ups and downs. The ups are sometimes life-changing and super exciting. The downs I try to use as periods for inspiration and growth in my trade. I find it takes quite a bit of bravery, persistence and commitment – you have to leave your comfort zone at times to get where you want to go.
I took a leap of faith at one point when I was getting really busy with creative work – and decided to do it full time. I’m relatively immersed in a wonderful creative community – which generates a lot of visual work for me. This creative community has helped foster my career and encouraged me to continue doing what I love.
Major steps was learning “the dance” of getting paid properly for what your work is worth – that takes some time to learn. The milestones are being published in internationally renowned magazines, working with some of my favourite record labels, and travelling the world for my art. I’d love to talk to my 20 year old self and say “just go for it!” – something I learned a bit later.
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 a multi-disciplinary artist – I direct, cinematography, photography and do the post-production to my videos. I started as a photographer, capturing the 2010’s subcultures of Toronto, then started documenting the music scenes I was immersed in. That naturally led to videography, where I started making music videos for musicians and record labels. I wanted to explore moving images more, so I began to make short films. I just finished shooting and directing my first horror short film, Lempo.
I help bring to life clients’ visions from start to finish – listening to their ideas and bringing in my own in a collaborative effort to make meaningful and honest work – whether it be an album cover, a music video or a press campaign. Sometimes the ideas are challenging to make happen but that’s part of the magic!
I’m the most proud of my ability to capture my subjects in an organic and intimate way – that eludes to some of my main influences (Eric Rohmer, Agnes Varda and Emmanuel Lubeski).
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Stay true to yourself, be consistent, continue to be inspired and work hard.
Can you open up about how you funded your business?
I started out bartending and serving at a hotel restaurant – working long hours and putting in the grind. The tips from the service industry helped start my initial capital – paying for my camera equipment, film and travels to my work.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.lauralynnpetrick.com
- Instagram: @lauralynnpetrick
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lauralynnpetrickphotography/
- Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/ laura-lynn-petrick-596964176
- Twitter: @lauralynnjoy
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/lauralynnpetrick/videos
- Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/lauralynnpetrick
Image Credits
Photograph by Laura-Lynn Petrick (applies to all included images)