Life & Work with Rick Craft

Today we’d like to introduce you to Rick Craft.

Hi Rick, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
My journey began in 2008 when I bought my first camera! I was touring with my band at the time and was interested in taking photos for promos, friends bands, artwork, etc. Ever since I was a kid with access to Microsoft paint (and then later photoshop), I always loved editing photos to change the coloring and add or take away small details. After buying my camera, I started taking photos of my friends just with the intention of learning how to edit them better so that I could make a portfolio. But I found a love for creating the scenes from start to finish, getting all of the details in person to make it as close to my vision as possible and then spent hours editing to get the right mood! Fast forward to today, that has pretty much remained the same! I really enjoy creating worlds for the characters to live in, little backstories and continuity that makes them feel as if it’s in a cinematic or even comic book-style universe.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I think that any artist or anyone in general has some wild stories from their journey to get to where they are and it’s absolutely something that has shaped my career in ways that I couldn’t have expected! I love to focus on the positives because even the bumps have always lead to me learning something new about myself or the business as a whole that better prepared me for the next step. I think the biggest struggle aside from learning something brand new from scratch on your own would be the persistence that is required to continue to learn. After years of shooting and feeling like I’ve started to understand certain things, I have to take a step back and realize that times and technology are always changing and it’s something that you at least have to be aware of in case parts of it can infuse into your work to keep growing as an artist! Another struggle was dropping everything and moving out to Los Angeles a little over 11 years ago (wow.. it has gone by so fast!). I didn’t know anyone out here and took the ultimate leap to pursue my dreams as an artist and even with the struggles and tough times financially in the beginning, I have met so many amazing people out here that have been influential to my style, collaborations and ultimately who I am today!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am always evolving my style and interests but the common factor is I absolutely love creating something and telling stories! I am the lead vocalist in Survive the Night (music available on all streaming platforms ☺️) and probably most known for photography. As mentioned before, I truly enjoy creating vibrant/cinematic photos that encapsulate a feeling of being thrown into that world, that timeline of whatever is happening in the photo. I was a director of photography for movies/music videos for the past 13 years so a lot of my influence in photos comes from making it look like a still image from film! I honestly would have to say I am most proud of the images where I get to work with my favorite creative teams (Lux Wright, Alysha Marcantonio to name a few that are heavily featured in my photography) and all of the models/actors that help bring the vision to life! There is something to be said for the process vs the result, both are super important to me because of the friendships and life experiences I’ve had are all part of the story. The pictures are like milestones and I even look back sometimes through my camera roll and remember that whole period in my life just from the trail of photos! I’m not sure what exactly would set me apart from others, but I am very involved in all of the aspects of my art. From the set design, building props, shooting the photos and doing all of the editing, I really have taken interest in all aspects of production and I feel like that helps me really nail down the ideas as they come to me 😁

Are there any books, apps, podcasts or blogs that help you do your best?
I honestly find my inspiration and resources from personal life experiences. Sometimes I am feeling in the mood to create something with a horror vibe and others, the more colorful the better! I love listening to friends stories as well since they inspire me and I get real-time feedback on how they see the world which is always super cool to try to see something and create it from another perspective. App-wise, there are so many amazing resources out there now that can help you to get started in something that you otherwise were completely new at. Photo editing apps, AI-generated art has been a huge new technology for artists that I have embraced and learned a lot from! I have actually incorporated AI art into my own photography and photoshop projects to create something that maybe otherwise would have taken years of experience in a different art form that I now have access to. We live in exciting times that our learning can happen at an accelerated pace thanks to all of the information available instantly from our phones. And I don’t personally look at any of these as “art killers” as I’ve seen some sources claim if someone gets inspired by any art form and feels something from a piece that didn’t exist before they got involved, I think it’s awesome and could inspire a new generation of artists!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.Rickcraft.com
• Instagram: @rickcraft
• Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1eJezYisE3TB86De878X6Z?si=Hb8iAUvDR0WK-uskGEdoCg

Image Credits
Holly Madison, Stella Morello, Alina Lee, Christiana Cinn, Kelly Eden, Page Ruth, Lux Wright (stylist),