Letter from the Editor: Zen and the Art of Creative-ing

The First 10 years, no camera, just observation. Take it all in, there’s a lot.

Sitting in the West Village with some dear friends, industry icons, over a perspiring cocktail giving my life story, I lamented over my training as a classical musician now building out this visual brand/empire of sorts, waxing of how the industry has changed so much in 20 years. Jay glances up at me with a small smirk and soft chuckle, “You’re a creative.” Period. Full stop. No explanation, no breakdown of how or why, just a passing moment and a glance as if to say, “This is who you are; you’re lucky, move on.” Next. We took another sip.

Father’s day being last month, and Gia being on the cover of this edition really puts things into perspective for me and the guys and gals I create with. My Father hadn’t put a real camera into my hands until I was about 12 years old, or thereabout, and even then, it wasn’t “This is how you make photographs.” It was more along the lines of…*this is your ASA, shutter speed and F stop and light meter. Have fun.*That was it. But really, my so to speak “training” had started years before.

I can only imagine picturesque scenes of 90’s Chicago families taking their kids to various sports events, and having the seed planted. That’s is what I want to do. I wanna be Michael Jordan. My parents, they took us to museums, concerts, plays, walks, libraries and the like. The arts were a big part of my artistic osmosis. Other kids we’re doing blah blah, you’ve seen movies. Sports, stats, Britney Spears etc. Me? I received…this is Kubrick, high contrast photography, smell the bergamot, Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No. 5, chiaroscuro, saturation, Seurat, here’s the art of math organized sound into an overture, Dante, did you taste the hint of lavender, look at that light.. and so on.

The immersion is the art.

Read Zen and the Art of Archery, a required piece of literature, and you will absorb that the practice of drawing the bow back before releasing an arrow is a 10 year journey. Build the form, study the process, eyes closed, draw back, release. That was the camera for me at a young age, immersion into the life beyond the physical. My journey into being a creative has taken many paths, none of which were scripted. Gia’s painted path took her from the harsh streets of New York, to the sandy beaches of LA but by no means in any sort of traditional arch. Read about her creative and immersively artistic journey here in our latest cover story.