Today we’d like to introduce you to Bo Bridges.
Hi Bo, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I wasn’t sure which career path I wanted to go during college, but I knew I wanted to be outdoors. I decided to major in Photography at Miami University. I got a minor in Marine Biology hoping to be a dive master, and explore the ocean. In my Senior year of college, I got my pilot’s license. I thought maybe I could be a bush pilot and take anglers and hunters into remote areas via small planes. While I was flying I began to open my left side window, bank the plane counterclockwise, and shoot my camera with my right hand holding the yoke with my left. That escalated quickly and right out of college I started my first company called “Above and Beyond” aerial photography. This was the mid 90’s well before drone photography and the perspective was awesome! My clients ranged from golf courses, yachts, hotels, and waterfront properties all over Florida. I enjoyed flying but really wanted to shoot more action. I moved to Vail, CO in 1996. Began shooting X Games in 1997 and never looked back. I was traveling the world with the top skiers and snowboarders, dropping first lines from helicopters and chasing the snow in both hemispheres.
The action sports world was just taking off and I was right at the forefront of the movement and really right where I wanted to be.
Those “extreme” sports carried me around the globe and eventually led me to shoot for many fortune 100 companies like Pepsi and Marvel. Next thing I know Paramount studios calls me in for a meeting and they want me to shoot Tom Cruise for their Mission Impossible movie posters and billboards. I hung out of the plane going 200 mph with a camera strapped to my hand, harness attached to my body, and two guys holding my legs inside the plane while shooting Tom Hanging from the side of an Airbus just north of London, England. You can google the movie Mission Impossible and my images will pop up.
All these exotic locations brought me closer to the action and closer to these magnificent landscapes. In 2006, I decided to open my first Fine Art Gallery. I currently have a gallery next to the pier, in Manhattan Beach, CA, and one in Vail, CO. at the Westin Hotel. Here we specialize in creating custom artwork for homes, offices, and hotels around the world.
Today I still shoot national ad campaigns, both video and stills, but my passion project to have a fine art gallery has turned into a full-time endeavor that keeps me excited to come to work every day and get out and shoot content.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Being self-employed and an entrepreneur, you are always faced with difficult decisions and it can be a roller coaster ride for sure. Opening a brick-and-mortar store was probably one of the most difficult struggles I have endured. I come from a creative background, not a retail background.
So I have had to learn the hard way what it takes to be successful in both the photo production world and the retail business. I have heard a lot of people complain that they are unemployed, but my reaction to them is that I’m unemployed every day until my next job or sale comes. And you can’t always just sit around and wait for that to happen. You have to get up and go!
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My background tells a lot about my style and stories. I lived in 24 places around the globe growing up. It wasn’t easy and every time we moved I had to start all over. But I learned to take things in stride and be optimistic. I also learned that I love adventure and the thrill of capturing dangerous and elusive images was rewarding. It’s not always easy and it doesn’t always pay well but when you love what you do, you’re usually not so concerned with the latter. Besides traveling the world for various lifestyle clients and shooting ad campaigns, I focus heavily on my galleries and what we can do to offer all those blank walls some life.
I shoot images in all four seasons and all corners of the earth. And I’m always thinking about what they might look like on a wall, down a hallway, walking up a staircase, entering a restaurant or office mezzanine. We are best known for our custom work. We can walk into an empty office building and recreate just about any theme imaginable. We can also bring depth, color, stories, and above all else life to a space in need. We also offer wall murals both indoors and outdoors. Currently, we have installed hundreds of these as far away as Europe and as large as 100′ plus on walls in different cities. There’s nothing that holds us back in terms of space and we are ready to explore new ventures when they come our way.
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up.
Wow- tough question. I’d have to say moving to Switzerland for my dad’s job when I was in 10th grade.
In the beginning, it was brutal, but once I learned more about the culture, the public transportation, snowboarding, and the fact that you could jump a train and be in another country within hours I was ignited with a new sense of direction in life.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.bobridges.com
- Instagram: @bobridges
- Facebook: bobridges
- Twitter: @bobridges
- Youtube: bobridges
- Other: bobridgesgallery.com
Image Credits
Bo Bridges (for the Mission Impossible/ Tom Cruise image please credit Bo Bridges/Paramount studios)
