We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Brewington Baarns recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Sarah thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
My 20 years of learning has been a wild mix of self-teaching, formal education, on-the-job experience, and a lot of “faking it till I make it!” Photography is one of those incredibly magical things that we all already feel (and honestly, are) good at. All the technology is in place (and is continuously growing and changing) to help us TAKE wonderful photos, you know? With our phones and certain types of cameras, we can grab images out of thin air and TAKE them within fractions of a second. But, most don’t know how to MAKE a photograph.
Learning how to MAKE a photograph was the pivotal point in my experience, which I would mostly credit to my corporate/advertising career. Making a photograph requires a solid technical understanding, certainly, but it also asks us to prepare and present our own creative control. A form of control that’s intermeshed with a concept we’ve created partnered with the technical understanding of our instrument: what’s the feeling, what’s the story, what’s the purpose of this image? What do I want my viewers to see, know, and believe after viewing this photograph? How do I want to visually guide them to that point? Photography, so beautifully, accomplishes many purposes: information, archival, familial…but also, often missed, creative expression in a highly controlled environment.
Many of us have learned the craft of photography up to a point…and while the technical aspects of the medium are hugely important, the ability to MAKE a photograph is too, just as much, if not more. That ability will change your craft, entirely.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
Coming from a classically trained musical background, I was fascinated the first time I picked up a small Kodak Easyshare camera; at the time, it was the very first creative output that didn’t come with assigned rules. I could create, completely without judgment, and that felt utterly magical. From then on, I’ve done my best to retain that freedom in my career, in my teaching, and within my artwork. While creativity indeed thrives within healthy boundaries, hard and fast “rules” per se don’t typically cultivate growth within one’s creative mentality.
I went on from that point to complete my schooling (BFA & MFA) in creative areas, work in various corporate creative environments, and most importantly, teach creativity in the form of photography…doing my best to never lose that mentality. As a corporate photographer, my boss later shared that he hired me because of that: “I could teach you the technicals, but I couldn’t teach creativity…and you already had that.” As a media team manager, I taught my team how to function as healthy creatives and protected that space so they could flourish. As an Adjunct Professor, I work with students of various majors…so I must teach creativity as open for everyone…not just those deemed as “creatives.”
Now, outside of teaching, I freelance and enjoy getting to function as both Art Director and Photographer. My previous corporate experiences helped immensely with succinct creative project management and my schooling taught me how to stay conceptually fresh. I currently work primarily in photographic production for various musicians, while also working to complete my latest personal series, CANKER, a visual meditation on the tenacity of the Floridian spirit.
Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?
Creativity often functions as an undercurrent and requires time to subconsciously develop. It requires downtime, it needs patience, and it doesn’t always appear exactly when you need it (pardon me while I reflect on the process of coming up with an idea for my master’s thesis…whew). It can come across as “wasting time,” especially when a deadline is ticking away…so learning to build in “conceptual downtime” for your creative counterpart is something they will greatly thank you for. Creativity is NOT your coworker’s ability to “pull something out of their you-know-where” at a moment’s notice, that isn’t healthy or continually successful. Rather, it’s in knowing that you have to give the time to develop an idea to its fullest potential and be ok with it looking like not a lot is going on at every given moment. Remember, it’s often an undercurrent.
Are there any books, videos or other content that you feel have meaningfully impacted your thinking?
The author, Todd Henry, has been pivotal in my creative journey – beginning with his first book, “Accidental Creative.” At the time, the term “creative” was becoming a bit of a buzzword, and like any artist, I initially bucked at it. It felt like a “label” and it felt “popular” and honestly, I just wasn’t having it! (laughs) But reading that specific book took me on the journey I didn’t know I needed: how to truly be creative at a moment’s notice, as well as, how to not burn yourself out!! Then, after becoming a manager, I felt completely out of my comfort zone for close to the first full year – while I was learning the business side of the position well, being a manager for CREATIVES is simply a whole different ball game! His book “Herding Tigers” changed everything for me…it helped me translate from “maker” to “manager” and taught me how to become a good leader for my team. I needed them to develop the skills to become “prolific, brilliant, and healthy” creative individuals…and his writing helped us succeed at that.
Also, 99u’s “Manage Your Day-To-Day,” “Make Your Mark,” and “Maximize Your Potential” are excellent resources for individual creatives who may be struggling to create their daily rituals, direct reports who do require creative boundaries, and students who are just at the very start of their journeys.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.sarahbrewington.com
- Instagram: sarah_baarns