“ I find pushing the envelope both challenging and rewarding. I fully support creatives just going for it. ”
It all started when…
SOULDEGA: When did you first pick up the camera and was it love at first shot?
SYDNEY CLAIRE: I first picked up a camera around nine years old. My parents purchased a little Barbie Point-And-Shoot and gifted it to me- I couldn’t stop using it. On my eleventh birthday they got me a small digital. I still shoot with that digital sometimes.
SOULDEGA: In a time where people get caught up with how many followers and likes a creative has, what are your thoughts on this and how has this affected or not affected you?
SYDNEY CLAIRE: I feel that Instagram should only be used as a tool to get your work out. I try to limit my personal posts and keep it to just photo on my page. When you eradicate the social pressure and just make it about art it’s actually extremely helpful. I don’t get caught up in likes or follows at all. I don’t even pay attention. My Instagram has been a very slow climb with follower numbers, but it is real people who really support my work following me
SOULDEGA: Would it be fair to say that you are also a Creative Director? If so, what does your creative process leading up to the shoot look like?
SYDNEY CLAIRE: I feel the term creative director gets thrown around a little loosely, but I definitely heavily creative direct and art direct during my shoots. I feel a lot of people claim that they are “creative directors” when in my own personal experience, you have to really earn that title. I don’t think I’m quite there yet.
SOULDEGA: During these trying times, what words of advice can you give to creatives?
SYDNEY CLAIRE: Keep pushing. I feel for all of you. Especially those that are full-time freelance. Take deep breaths, know that this will pass, and take this time to reflect on yourself and your work, your goals, and your plans of execution for your projects.
SOULDEGA: What do you find the most challenging and rewarding in your work?
SYDNEY CLAIRE: I find pushing the envelope both challenging and rewarding. I fully support creatives just going for it. Take that project you think you aren’t qualified for. Try that technique you’ve been dying to try. Break the rules photographically. Change up your style, your lighting, your composition. The more you can challenge yourself photographically to make something fresh, new, and different, the more you’ll see progress in your own work and personal style.
SOULDEGA: We loved your moving piece and shoot on Cynthia. It truly shows the human connection in your work. What has been some other eye opening experiences when it comes to connecting with you're subjects?
SYDNEY CLAIRE: Cynthia was a really special case. I shot that editorial this past birthday, my 24th. It will forever go down as my favorite birthday. I feel that God will gift me those experiences when I most need it. They come to me when I’m struggling the most, when I feel the most aggravated and stuck. Those experiences remind me why I do what I do and what makes it all worth it. Like Cynthia’s story, there have been many shoots and experiences through my work that don’t even have a price point of how much they mean to me. That’s the beauty of being an artist and interacting with other people through your art. It tends to impact both the person you are making art about and yourself because there is that human connection.
