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

Alright, Margot thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

What I really want to talk about are ways to come up with ideas if you are a creative person. There is a joke ….. how many photographers does it take to screw in a light bulb? The answer: Ten. One photographer to screw in the bulb and nine other photographers to stand around and explain how if they had done it how they would have done it so much better.

So my suggestion is to take a look at images that you are surround by (photographs, illustrations, paintings) and see which ones you are drawn to, or wish you had created, and set out to do them, only better, and in your own voice. I work in photo series, and I have used this technique many times. I end up with final images that are better fleshed out than the original source, and which happily go in a different direction.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I moved to California, from Toronto, I was a photographer’s assistant. But no one knew me as an assistant in this new place, so I started to go after commercial and editorial jobs as the lead photographer. It was a good time to be here as it was the start of the dot com boom, and there were over 15 business/tech/computer magazines based in San Francisco that I could work for. It was great training and the boost to my business (and income) needed to make it as a full time commercial photographer.

I worked for over 25 years full time, and have recently shifted my energy to producing fine art photography projects. It is really great being the client, as all creative decisions are mine.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have given myself permission to work on one or two projects at a time, and to stop them when I feel it is the right time. As a result I work in small batches, a series of photos on one subject, and when I feel that idea has exhausted itself I move onto to a totally fresh idea.

It has been something I struggled with because I see so many artists that do the same thing over and over, in their own style, and refined over time. I thought this was the only way to work. I am really happy that I didn’t confine myself to working in that restricted way.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There are many rewards, but the main one is freedom. As a full time commercial photographer I was always working for a client, on their ideas. My recent shift to fine art has given me the time to do what I want, and the freedom to work as hard or as little on something that I am passionate about.

Running a small business for 25 years taught me quite a bit. I had to learn how to work towards a deadline and how to manage my time when I was not on deadline. It also taught me about money in and money out. I am grateful for that experience, and use aspects of my commercial life everyday.

Contact Info:

• Website: mhartford.com
• Instagram: @margothartfordart