June 2020 Q+A / Update
Added 2020-06-11 15:34:09 +0000 UTCHey Everyone,
Hope everyone is staying safe with everything that's going on all over the world at the moment. As I'm typing this, I've never heard so many planes flying over my home in recent weeks. Parts of the world are slowly coming back to normal. Which brings me a sigh of relief but a feeling of remaining cautious.
Just wanted to qive a quick little update about this Patreon.
1. 10 stories per month will end this month. Starting July, we're going back to 7 stories a month.
2. $10/month (Founder's Membership) is grandfather'd in. If you leave, $10 will never be available. If you stay, it'll always be $10. $15 is only available to 40 individuals. After that, $25 is unlimited. They all provide the same content. It's more to reward the ones who have supported for longer, paying less, than those who come in recently.
3. I haven't shot in some time. But things are picking back up. Here's what's in store, which I will be including more uncensored BTS clips and photos here.
4. Here's the list of friends/models I'm talking to shoot from now until the end of the year that I'll include work into those months after I edit them.
June - July (NYC)
https://www.instagram.com/emilyburnssss/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/juliaaluciaa/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/cyndalcyndal/
https://www.instagram.com/ghostface_willah/
https://www.instagram.com/pinkingsheers/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/jackiekuczinski/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/oliwiaorwhatever/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/nippyminaj/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/savelises/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/artwerk9999/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/kristingnall/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/hannah.hanrahan/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/asupercoolguy/
August - October (EUROPE)
https://www.instagram.com/mariakn__/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/_toria_m_/
https://www.instagram.com/skurwodandyl2.0/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/sara_.n6/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/julia.almendra/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/kester_ka/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/kasiakmiotek/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/sostysiacawysp/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/len.rainbow/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/notnerr/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/lilaanie/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/reibuchanan/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/angela.olszewska/
https://www.instagram.com/eadyvanacker/
https://www.instagram.com/evabiechy/
November - December (LA + AZ)
https://www.instagram.com/leahgotti____/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/madispringer/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/imawful69/
https://www.instagram.com/sophia_gabriella/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/realchloeamour/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/exploringsoul/
https://www.instagram.com/wyliehays/
https://www.instagram.com/paigepalmari/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/_evelyn_rose/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/devinleethomas/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/chloshow/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/o.anniee/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/winterbellx/
https://www.instagram.com/polina.g_/
https://www.instagram.com/kaseycon/
https://www.instagram.com/natasha.eklove/
https://www.instagram.com/jessicalarusso/
5. Please leave any Q&A here and I"ll answer them throughout this week.
Thanks again for everyone's support. It's helped a lot during this whole pandemic and I'm looking forward to sharing more stories with you all for the rest of the year!
Best,
Sam
Comments
Wow man! Thanks so much for this deep answer! So nice to read and that's great advice. It's always hard to not compare yourself to other but at the end of the day someone might like what you do because you did it your way. Thank you! Have a nice one!
Emile-Victor Portenart
2020-06-25 21:38:17 +0000 UTCGreat question. I suppose one of the great challenges I felt I needed to overcome in the beginning was being able to separate from copying and intimating. There's only so much one can do with it before they eventually need to start finding their own voice. I'm all for, you have to understand the rules before you break them. I've seen other photographers who do their own thing from the get-go and the results are sometimes, a new perspective people haven't seen before. But also there's those who's work are, well, not great. I learned from assisting two world photographers at a young age in NYC, learning how they interacted with models, how sets worked, time management, etc. I also consumed large amount of history of fashion and photography when I worked at a modeling agency. Part of my job was archiving 30 years of fashion photography. I had gone through spreads of models that are so impossible to find today and they only exist physically at this point. So that was the largest learnings, but I knew my work imitated the photographers and the poses came straight up a pose already gone 20 years ago. For myself, I feel guilt. As an artist who grew up in film school, you're taught to never copy. No one wants to be labeled as a copycat. In photography, really no one really cares, so it's kind of free reign. But I personally believe if one can push the limits, you become a better artist and storyteller, and the world has to meet you there. In return, you'll get inspired more that way from what others make. I used to have a licensing director, basically someone who sold my images to magazines and companies who wanted an image already created that can slap their story or product behind. He told me something which I'll paraphrase that I'll always remember and I'll share onto with you all. "I've seen assistants who copy, who work for their photographers for the rest of their careers. I'm sure you've seen those assistants who have hopes to fill in their shoes, but it'll never happen. They'll hire the photographer for that style, not the assistant. Do you want to fight for those scraps? And what if the style changes after and your style that you copied for years isn't in anymore? Go out and shoot what you love, not what people want or expect of you. And don't be okay with the place you're in." So I quit and I left. I traveled across America, meeting people and perspectives from all over. I spent years on the road, shooting on mountains, always dying, but being reborn. I learned more about myself and what I wanted to say than in 5 years assisting being surrounded by some of the best technicians, photographers, celebrities, and models. That helped shape my perspective. I write that what I dream and what I see in real life. Because that perspective is mine and unique to me. No one else has that. Like Bob Dylan, he never went to music school, he just hopped around trains across America, meeting people, learning, and made music that touched us all in a very unique way.
Sam Livm
2020-06-15 18:47:17 +0000 UTCThanks for the update. Really been appreciate your pictures and style! Helped me a lot to pose model for my first photoshoot I had a month ago. I was wondering if you could share one of your challenges in the beginning of your photography career and what helped you go through it? Cheers!
Emile-Victor Portenart
2020-06-13 18:00:05 +0000 UTC
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