We were lucky to catch up with Zeno Gill recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Zeno, thanks for joining us today. If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your creative career sooner or later?
I had interest in photography when I was very young, but I didn’t recognize that I had an actual passion for it until I was almost 40 years old. I wish that I had recognized this earlier, as I may have pursued photography academically or professionally earlier, but I am also thankful that I eventually had the realization, as I’m sure that some people never find all of their artistic passions.
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.
I began dabbling with photography with simple digital point-and-shoots as an adult, but it wasn’t until I became a father that I acquired a decent DSLR to put more effort into the quality of my images as I captured thousands of phtoos of my daughter. After moving from NC to Brooklyn with my family, I began shooting even more, inspired by the city. Eventually, my wife and daughter grew tired of my frequent requests for them to stop and pose for me, so my wife suggested that I begin working with other collaborators. Since NYC is filled with models, actors, and other creatives, I had no trouble finding new people to shoot. Most of my work still fits into the category of non-paid passion projects, but I do also do selective shoots for pay — from fashion to engagement to product to stop-motion. I am a bad match for people who want sterile studio photography, but people who want images that place subjects into specific environments or offer some other creative twist, I’m a good fit.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
As simple and obvious as it sounds, the most rewarding aspect of being a creator is the ability elicit a positive response from an audience, even if it’s just causing one person to smile or think for a moment.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I’ve never consciously given this any thought until now, but I suppose that my mission as photographer is to bring images into the world that wouldn’t exist without me. My hope is that, ideally many times, a person will see a photographic image that I created, and that image will have an impact of the person, even if, at the moment, the person doesn’t do more than observe and minimally process the photograph.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://zenogillphotography.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zenopox/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zenogillphotography