We were lucky to catch up with Reuben Wu recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Reuben, thanks for joining us today. Are you able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen?
The short answer is yes, but it took time, persistence, and reinvention. When Ladytron took a break in 2011 after five albums and hundreds of shows worldwide, I faced a significant transition.
I’d been making a living from music for about a decade, but photography was still just a passion. Starting over in a new field in my mid-thirties was daunting.
The first few years were challenging. I went from performing to sold-out crowds to struggling to make ends meet. I worked on developing my photographic voice while taking on whatever commercial work I could find. Those early years involved a lot of financial uncertainty and soul-searching. I was essentially starting from scratch in a new industry where I had no reputation or connections beyond those I’d made through music.
A crucial milestone was developing my distinctive approach to landscape photography with drone lighting in 2014-2015. The Lux Noctis and Aeroglyphs series gave me something unique to offer – work that stood out in an oversaturated market. This distinctive aesthetic started attracting attention from commercial clients who wanted something different.
Another breakthrough came when brands began reaching out for commercial projects. Rather than adapting my style to fit commercial needs, clients like Apple, Google, and Mercedes-Benz approached me specifically for my vision. This allowed me to maintain artistic integrity while creating commissioned work.
The National Geographic Stonehenge cover in 2022 was another significant milestone – bridging my artistic approach with documentary photography for a prestigious publication. Having my work enter permanent collections at institutions like the Guggenheim, MoMA, and The Met has also helped establish long-term legitimacy beyond commercial trends.
Looking back, I’m not sure I could have sped up the process significantly. Developing a distinctive voice and building a reputation takes time. If anything, I might have been more strategic about building an audience online earlier and more consistently sharing my process and philosophy alongside the final images.
What I believe worked in my favour was my multidisciplinary background. My experience in industrial design gave me technical understanding, while music taught me about composition, mood, and connecting with an audience. These seemingly unrelated skills converged in unexpected ways to create something uniquely mine.
The path wasn’t linear, and there were plenty of moments of doubt, but that’s inherent to forging your own way. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that creative careers are rarely overnight successes , they’re built through persistent exploration, occasional pivots, and staying true to your core vision even when the path forward isn’t clear.
Reuben, 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?
For folks who may not have read about me before, I’m Reuben Wu – an artist whose work spans photography, music, and visual art.
Born in Liverpool to parents from Hong Kong, my path has been anything but linear.
I studied industrial design before co-founding the electronic band Ladytron in 1999. Our first single, recorded for just 50 pounds on our own indie label, immediately earned Single of the Week in the NME, leading to a decade-long music career.
While touring globally, I began photographing our travels. When the band took a break in 2011, I committed to pursuing photography professionally. My breakthrough came in 2015 when I began illuminating landscapes using drone-mounted lights, developing projects like Lux Noctis and Aeroglyphs. These techniques create images that hover between reality and science fiction, revealing Earth’s landscapes in ways that make them appear otherworldly.
What sets my work apart is this intersection of technology and art. My images often feature geometric light patterns created by capturing drone flight paths through long exposures – temporary light drawings that exist only in photography while leaving no physical trace on the environment.
This approach has led to collaborations with Apple, Google, and Mercedes-Benz, a National Geographic Stonehenge cover story, and my work entering collections at the Guggenheim, The Met, and MoMA.
I’m most proud of maintaining artistic integrity throughout these transitions. Each phase has informed the others, creating a creative approach that draws from multiple disciplines rather than being confined by traditional boundaries.
If there’s one thing I want people to understand, it’s that these seemingly alien landscapes are actually our home planet, just seen from a new perspective.
Have you ever had to pivot?
A pivotal moment in my career came when Ladytron decided to take a break in 2011. After a decade of touring, recording five albums, and playing hundreds of shows worldwide, music had become my identity and livelihood. Suddenly, I found myself at a crossroads, facing the need for complete reinvention.
This transition was further complicated by my decision to relocate from London to the USA. I wasn’t just changing careers, I was starting completely fresh in a new country where I had limited connections and was navigating an unfamiliar cultural and professional landscape.
While some of my bandmates pursued solo music projects, I felt drawn in a different direction. Photography, which had started as a tour diary, had evolved into a genuine passion. But transforming it from a hobby into a career seemed especially daunting given my circumstances, essentially starting over in my mid-thirties, in a new country, in a field where I had no professional track record.
The transition was challenging both creatively and financially. I went from performing to sold-out venues to struggling to make ends meet in an unfamiliar environment. There were many moments of doubt and uncertainty, wondering if I’d made the right choice by leaving my home country, if I could develop a distinctive voice in an already crowded field, and if I could eventually support myself through this new pursuit.
What helped me through this pivot was approaching photography with the same experimental mindset I’d applied to music. Rather than following established paths, I drew on my background in industrial design and my experiences on the road to develop a unique perspective. This wasn’t my first reinvention, I had already transformed from industrial designer to musician, and that prior experience gave me some confidence that I could do it again. This eventually led to my work with drone lighting and the distinctive aesthetic that has come to define my art.
This transition taught me that career pivots, while scary, can allow you to bring your diverse experiences together in unexpected ways. What initially seemed like starting over, in both career and geography, ultimately became an opportunity to create something truly my own, work that wouldn’t have been possible without the combination of all my previous paths.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
My view on NFTs evolved along with my experience in the space. I was initially skeptical but became interested when I saw fellow artists like GMUNK and Victor Mosquera exploring the medium. I realized that some of my work, particularly my animated pieces that blend photography, light, and sound, found a natural home in this format.
The NFT space provided a platform for work that previously existed in a gray area – short looping vignettes that blur the line between photography and motion work. These pieces, which I’d been creating purely out of passion, suddenly had a dedicated audience and marketplace.
What I appreciate about NFTs is how they’ve created new possibilities for artists working in digital media. For me personally, they sparked fresh inspiration and motivated me to explore new creative directions. My collection “EX STASIS” was specifically created for this medium, allowing me to push my work in ways I hadn’t considered before.
I’ve been cautious and deliberate in my approach, taking time to understand the space while releasing work that maintains my artistic integrity. The technology itself is less important to me than the creative doors it opens and the communities it connects. Above all, I value how NFTs have allowed me to continue pushing boundaries between different media while finding an audience that appreciates this experimental approach.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://reubenwu.com
- Instagram: reuben
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reubenwu/
- Twitter: https://x.com/Reuben_Wu
Image Credits
Portrait by Austin Mann