New Gallery: Richard Hackman, 2015

Richard Hackman and I have known each other for about 13 years, having met in high school.  We were nerds.  We did Speech and Debate (or Forensics, for those of you in the know), we wore suits for tournaments more often than any high schooler should have to on weekends, and we remained friends despite multiple moves and thousands of miles between us.  That's the amazing thing about technology and social media, it truly can keep us connected, even if it's just seeing an occasional status update or uploaded photo of a recent life event.

That's why I was thrilled when we both eventually settled down around NYC!  Not only is Richard good people, he is a supremely talented artist.  On top of that, he is a generous artist.  I'm not sure if I can explain how important that last part is to me personally and to people who are just starting out in their medium.  He's someone I can always go to when I need feedback on an idea or when I just want to create something but don't feel like doing it on my own at the moment (let's be honest, creating can be very intimidating at times, especially when that crippling fear of failure sneaks up on you).

We Speech and Debate folk gesticulate.  Frequently.  Whether you like it or not. (Click on the photo to go directly to the gallery)

So I did my best to make one of my oldest, dearest friends look good in these pictures.  And Richard, if you're reading this, I hope I've embarrassed you immensely with this post, as fewer things give me more pleasure in life.

To another decade of friendship!

Click here to see the complete gallery of photos from my shoot with Richard Hackman!

INTERVIEW: Meet Clare Herbert

Being a writer doesn't mean you have to go through life struggling, suffering, and broke (or that your work will only be appreciated posthumously). Just ask Clare Herbert.  She's an Irish writer and entrepreneur currently living in Brooklyn.  Clare has a passion not only for cultivating her own skills as a wordsmith but also for helping other writers discover how their passion can translate into full-time, sustainable self-employment.

I recently took photos of Clare (click here to view the gallery) at a local neighborhood restaurant, Olivier Bistro.  She was gracious enough to chat with me over lunch before the shoot and share some of her thoughts on the challenges (both internal and external) that presently face creatives, how thinking like an entrepreneur is important to getting your work in front of an audience, and how writers can take that next step toward making a living doing what they love.

When did you first realize that you loved writing?

I think I've always loved it, even when I was very small.  I remember getting a stamp set when I was about four years old and making my own newspaper with these teeny-tiny stamps.  I adored it, and I played with it for ages.  I think [writing] was the first thing I wanted to do.

When I was in my late teens, I took a trip to Zambia.  That really ignited an interest in the non-profit world.  I kind of wandered off my path.  I was always writing, but I really focused my career on non-profit work.  I worked internationally: India, Africa, the United States.  It's only really within the last two years that I've accepted that writing is what I love to do, and it's my natural inclination.  A lot of my non-profit work was good, and I enjoyed it; but it was kind of driven from the idea that you have to "earn your place on earth".  I've come to realize that what I create--and I'm still growing into this--is valuable and important too.  To just do that is also valid.  I love it.

Why do you think so many creatives struggle with that conflict?  Many people I've met have said the same thing: that deep down inside, they had wanted to be an artist, writer, etc. but they took a different career path.  Why do you think they struggle with that so much?

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"I've come to realize that what I create--and I'm still growing into this--is valuable and important, too."

I think that there's probably an internal struggle.  For me, writing comes so easily (not to say I enjoy it every single day), you're almost waiting for the other shoe to drop.  You think, "It can't possibly be this easy.  I was three when I decided I wanted to do this!"

There's an external tension as well.  If you go to a party and say, "I'm a writer!" and people say, "Oh..." it's very different from when you say, "Well, I work for a non-profit," and they say, "That's amazing!"  You can get hooked on that high.  Also, you have bills to pay and the industry is very changeable.  You really have to be an entrepreneur if you want to make it work as a creative these days.

But when you know, you know.  At the right time, I think people listen to that knowledge and take their true path.

What is the most common question or comment you get from other writers and entrepreneurs that seek your advice?

"How do I make money writing?" and "How do I make money writing about the things I want to write about?"

People want to find work that feeds their soul and also pays the rent.  Maybe it won't pay 100% of your rent today, but to be on that path working toward that is the overall goal. 

It can be really difficult, but I advise writers to also develop their entrepreneurial skills and test their ideas, to make offerings to people, to try and find ways to build an entrepreneurial slant into their work.

What have you found is the most difficult entrepreneurial skill for people to effectively execute?

Probably going back to what we were talking about with the acceptance of being a writer and [acknowledging] that it's a valid career.  Marketing is a challenge because you need to claim some space and say, "My ideas are important.  What I think is important.  You, as a reader who has 50 million options, should give me five minutes of your time to read my version or idea."  I think that really feeds into how money amplifies your art, that if you inject money into the equation, it raises the bar.  So that tension between marketing something and making money from it but also being creatively honest and fulfilled--that's a really tricky sandwich.

What has been the biggest obstacle in your own personal journey as a writer, and what do you think you next biggest challenge will be?

My biggest obstacle so far has been what I've mentioned--that idea of claiming space and saying, "This is my idea.  This is important and worth reading."  

I'm at an interesting point.  I make some money writing, some money doing strategy sessions with other writers on improving their skills, but I'm not making a full-time income.  So for me, I'm balancing my own creative expression with helping other people to develop their entrepreneurial interpretation of their work.  It's that money versus art tension.

I'm interested in fiction, journalism, memoir style, I'd love to write a script...that's just four projects I've named!  I have unlimited creative bandwidth.  There's a lot of ideas, but there also needs to be a bit of acceptance that this is where I am right now.  This is what I'm making today, this is what I made today, and that's going to be enough for me to keep going.  And who knows where that's going to take me?

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What does your ideal work situation look like?

What I would love in the next couple of years is to be full time writing, strategizing, workshop speaking--to make that my full-time thing.  That's as much an entrepreneurial struggle as it is a writing one.  That's the next step before I can see where I can go beyond that.

Some days I think I want to go to Hollywood and write movies.  Some days I think I want to open a writer's retreat and work with them there.  Sometimes I think I want to be the editor of a big newspaper or start my own magazine.  But the next big goal is to be a full-time, 100% self employed entrepreneur/writer/speaker/workshop leader.

That's interesting because some people frame their goal as "I want the apartment on Park Ave" and that's when they know they've made it.  And other people, like yourself, speak more about the opportunities.  

I had read that the greatest dream of all is the ability to dream.  I really believe that.  The opportunity to be able to dream and do what I want--that's gold.  I have that today, and I hope to have that more in the next couple of years.

What's the best piece of advice you've ever been given? Conversely, what's the worst piece of advice you've ever been given?

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"This is what I'm making today, this is what I made today, and that's going to be enough for me to keep going.  And who knows where that's going to take me?"

Let's start with the worst: the idea that if you just work hard enough, it will get you there.  I don't think that's accurate anymore.  I think that you need to be smart and strategic.  Your network is important.  Your own sense of self, how you talk about yourself, and your work is important. I'm a hard worker, and I had really clung to that idea.  Hard work is a big component to success, but it's not everything.

The best advice I ever heard--there's an Irish woman who invented a substance called sugru (which is like the 21st century version of Blu-tac), and her motto as she was creating this was, "Start small and make it good."  So even if you can't do everything today, start small and make it high quality.  Word spreads, you get a bit of traction, and you have a sense of pride in your work. I have that tacked up on my wall.  

What's been the most surprising thing about being an entrepreneur?

When I started as an entrepreneur, I knew that it would be challenging to juggle my money, get clients, and perform for clients.  But I underestimated how difficult it would be emotionally to have that kind of permanent uncertainty about my life: income, which projects were important, which clients I should take, etc.  That type of emotional uncertainty exhausted me.  That's why in the last year I've taken a full-time job that enables me to save up my creative bandwidth for my other projects.

Sometimes there's this mentality that if you have a day job, you're somehow failing in your other work.  I don't think that's true at all.  It can enable you to do quality work and to have a life!  It's very difficult to be creative if you're stressed.  

What's you're favorite thing about New York City?

There's something for everyone in New York City.  Anyone can come here and find a place to fit and belong.  Even if it's on your own, you can say, "This is my little corner, I fit here."  I love that.

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Many thanks to the gracious management and staff of Olivier Bistro for accommodating us during our shoot, and I encourage anyone that happens to be in the Park Slope area to try their delicious fare!  Olivier Bistro, 469 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215

Inspiration: Annie Leibovitz

Legendary photographer Annie Leibovitz took photos of some of the most iconic people and moments of our time.  From rockstars to movie stars to the brightest thinkers of the 20th Century to Heads of State, she has been behind the lens and instructing some of the most powerful people in the world to tilt their chin and look into the camera.  Can you imagine telling the Queen of England you need her to step to the right, stop smirking, or relax her shoulders?  I don't even like correcting the Starbucks baristas when they get my name wrong on the cup.

I read her autobiography, "At Work", a few years ago while searching for more inspiration.  It was impossible not to know who she was if you had ever used your eyes to look at a cover of Vanity Fair, Vogue, Rolling Stone, and other major publications; but I didn't know much about her as a person or how she got started.  Pulling back the curtain on your heroes is a coin toss: you can be disappointed to find that she is nothing like what you thought or hoped, or you can be delighted to discover that her story is far more accessible and familiar than you realized.  Luckily, I had the latter experience.

Queen Elizabeth II by Annie Leibovitz (2007)

At Work does a great job of reviewing key moments in her portfolio and highlighting pieces chronologically so that the reader can see how her work and style evolved over time.  Leibovitz supplements the images with anecdotes and explanations of not only how she decided to compose an image but where she was personally as a photographer.  When someone is considered a Master in the present, it is easy to forget that at one time they, too, were a Rookie.  She talks about the lessons she learned on the job, the ability to accept constructive criticism while rejecting empty criticism, and how she learned to balance her technical skills with her creative impulses.  She discusses all of the insecurities and shortcomings she had early on, but she follows up each failure with what she took away and continues to keep as a part of her education as a professional.  

I think my favorite anecdote was about a photo she took of Marvin Gaye that was set to run in a newspaper in Japan.  She was so excited to be able to work with him, and she had an idea to frame the shot with a beautiful orange/purple sunset behind him.  She was pleased with how her initial shots turned out and sent them off to be published.  She was horrified to find that the type of ink and printing style the newspaper used was different than the process in the United States, and it created a terrible effect on the photo, blurring out details in Marvin Gaye's face and strange color bleeding around him.  She finishes the story by offering advice about being conscious that there is more that goes into a finished product than just you, your camera, and the subject.  There is an amount of planning and homework that is required to have the greatest chance of success.  It was one of those lessons that was so incredibly obvious but still made me go, "Wow, I never thought of it that way."  There can be so much glorification of skill and natural ability in the art world that we forget the role preparation and professionalism plays.  

Logically, we all know that the best and brightest in their field were not born that way (with a few exceptions, of course.  Damn you, Mozart!).  Perhaps they had a talent or ability more in-tune than the average population. but it struck me that for Leibovitz, she was aware that she had plenty to learn and continues to learn on the job.  The Masters acknowledge that their talent alone does not get them where they are or want to be, and that at some point, they too were fumbling around with proper exposures and utilization of natural light.

It seems so trite and simplistic that I'm so enthusiastic about the "they're just like us" argument when it comes to Leibovitz, but I can't deny that she gives me hope that I can learn and grow despite/because of the many failures I will assuredly experience on the road to achieving success as a photographer.