In this series, 10 Offset artists answer 10 questions about their approaches to visual storytelling. Each artist has a different style and subject matter, ranging from lively portraiture to stark architectural photography. Discover how their inspiration, techniques, and stories unfold.
Get the entire Offset Artists Series here.
Question 3: Do you incorporate new trends into your work and/or how do you adapt to new trends?
1. Devon Hall: I try to evolve with the trends but use them more to inspire and challenge myself within my work. Keeping the balance and allowing the trends to exist in your work but not take over to the point where you lose track of your art and style is incredibly important. Trends are trends and they will rise and fall – your work must stay consistent but introduce never-ending growth.
2. Ester Keate: Not really – I prefer to stick to what I like to do, not try and follow trends.
3. Jen Huang: I try not to look towards new trends for inspiration, rather my work is inspired by the old masters of painting and drawing.
4. Jennifer Bogle: I don’t really follow trends, but I’m always learning. I enjoy learning techniques outside of my usual shooting style and then figuring out how to incorporate the aspects that work for me. Like learning a little landscape photography to use in environmental portraits, or learning lighting techniques to add a little interest to lifestyle images. I’ve loved this recent documentary surge because it fits nicely with what I already do, and it feels so much like real life – chaos bubbling around us and these tiny moments of clarity that are easy to miss if you aren’t paying attention. However, I tend to avoid editing trends and stick to a simple, clean edit.
5. Kyle La Mere: Maybe I do and don’t know it. I think when you are part of society and pop culture, you just naturally incorporate what’s going on without knowing it. I personally do not follow new trends which is probably why I have a small following, ha!
6. Lisa Tichané: As I said above, I’m trying really hard to not be influenced by trends, however I know that it’s hard to avoid them. I’m not living under a rock so I can’t help but follow the trends unconsciously. I just don’t want to let them define who I am as a photographer.
7. Matt Armendariz: When commercial clients ask, absolutely I do. For my personal work I do my best to forge ahead and challenge myself so I’m not repeating.
8. William & Susan Brinson: We are mindful of trends but we tend to go with our intuition and raw emotion in the hopes that will become the new trend.
9. Shana Novak: Making my (still life) subject look great comes first. I focus on what the product needs and then make decisions around that to bring the image into relevancy.
10. Benoit Florençon: As an architecture/interior shooter, I play with symmetry sometimes. Also I do use some popular presets as a starting point for coloring my photos.
Go to the next question: How many photos do you take and NOT use?
Offset artists are visual storytellers with a deep passion for their craft. Images in the Offset collection are gathered from world-class and award-winning assignment photographers, illustrators, and agencies, with a focus on unique content with narrative, authentic, and sophisticated qualities.
