Article Written by Austin Leonard & Cover Photo by Ashli Linkous.
Artists, no matter the medium, all follow a creative process; whether it is very organized or more fluid. During the COVID-19 pandemic, artists have had to face new setbacks and overcome roadblocks to continue their work. Creative processes can be unique to mediums, the artists themselves, or their industry. We have interviewed a current student studying film as well as a DMAD graduate working within the fashion industry to get an idea of how the pandemic has reshaped their creative processes.
Collin Parsons is a current senior whose personal focus is on film and cinematography. “I mainly work in film, on the production side, and I work in all aspects of film, commercial, narrative, and documentary.” His biggest inspirations are from films he watched in his childhood, mainly older black and white films, “such as Casablanca or Citizen Kane, and seeing how they used cinematography, lighting, and colors to really show a mood or tell a story. . . It really inspires me, as an artist, to not only give a visually pleasing image, but to really tell a story.” When it comes to starting a new project, “I always start by looking at reference work, pictures and still images, that help me show what I’m trying to go for. I’ll gather together images for lighting, or composition, movements and angles and anything that will help me to tell my story in a better way.” Since the beginning of COVID-19, the new regulations play a large part now in how one goes about approaching a project. “One of the biggest things I’ve had to cope with is working a lot on my own, which is tough a lot of times with certain video projects. I will have to ask close friends of mine who I know are safe to help me who I know aren’t being careless, and often that means working with people who don’t know a lot about video or lighting, which can make it tough.” Having to be so selective of who he asks for help from has made it more likely for him to work alone than with others. “Once Covid is a thing of the past, I foresee myself reaching out for help and utilizing as many people as possible, because it’s something I’ve realized I didn’t appreciate enough, that collaboration with other people.”
(You can contact Collin and view his portfolio site here.)
Samantha Taylor graduated from King in 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media Art and Design and in 2018 with a Master of Business Administration with a specialization in Marketing. She primarily focuses on photography and graphic design within the fashion industry, which she currently works in as Creative Photography Assistant at END. Clothing. She gets her inspiration from looking at “. . .fashion brands, social media content, and keeping up with the latest trends and traffic, as well as looking at fashion magazines, seasonal collections, and fashion walks.” When starting a new project, she likes to “take my time researching the brand and product I’m shooting; you have to be able to get a feel of the brands own aesthetic and the brand awareness. [I am] constantly thinking about what will reach the target audience that we are trying to sell this fashion product to and to keep the strong audience presence.” It is important to keep the audience in mind when trying to create an appealing image that will not be forgotten.
Like many others, Samantha’s career was affected over the last year. “COVID-19 2020 was a crazy year. I got furloughed for 6 months of it, but then got to come back into the office. There were lots of COVID precautions to keep high-level safety standards.” She is thankful to be back and work and making beautiful images in the fast-paced fashion industry again.
(You can view Samantha’s portfolio site here, reach her via Linkedin, or catch up with her on Instagram.)
