What do the words "Creative Community" bring to mind for you? How do you feel is the best way to utilize members in a Creative Community?
I come to work every day for another chance to work with the people in this industry. The artists that I commission and the other photo editors and designers in the office here are all so unbelievably talented -- I mean, what a gift to work with these amazing people again and again. And when I see work in magazines or on websites that is so good it makes me jealous, it revs me up to think bigger about what I'm doing. So I'd say the community of people around me is really the heartbeat of what I do.
Name the biggest challenge you have had in your career to date. How did you solve it?
To be completely honest, I moved to New York without having visited here once. And having grown up in Seattle and gone to college in Northern California, it took a long time to not feel disadvantaged by not having the deep network of people that a lot of my peers had. Kids that went to school in NY, or had grown up on the east coast, not only had better connections but also understood better how to connect the dots to get what they wanted. For a fairly reserved, west coaster like me, it's taken a lot to get there and was something I had to work at.
What's in your backpack/handbag/tote right now?
LEGO Batman, and birthday party candy I'm smuggling out of the house to bring to work. I have a five-year-old and a three-year-old.
Top 3 Tips you would give someone starting out in your creative profession:
I'm pretty disappointed in how a lot of the publishing company internship programs have been shut down in the last couple of years because I think they were really useful in giving people a way in. When I decided I wanted to pursue photo editing, I only had the thinnest idea of what a photo editor actually did, and an internship filled in the gaps for me in a very tangible way. So I'd recommend seeking out places that still offer them, and if it means juggling a job to pay the bills and a part-time internship for a while, I think it's well worth the effort. Even a few months can be invaluable. I'd also say that a strong personal aesthetic is the mark of a great photo editor, and to develop it you have to consume a huge volume of media to come to an understanding of what your taste is. So it pays to be a voracious reader of magazines, small indie ones as well as the big ones known for award-winning art, a frequent gallery visitor, a dedicated art blog follower, etc. And then third, I'd say spellcheck spellcheck spellcheck your cover letters and pitch emails. Being able to communicate well is paramount to this job.
What are some of your favorite places/books/blogs/websites for inspiration?
Here’s where I’m browsing: http://thefashionography.com/editorials/http://trendland.com/http://www.thearchivast.com/http://www.whowhatwear.com/http://curiator.com/http://www.bjp-online.com/http://calikartel.com/http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/
What would be your last supper?
A really big coffee and a raspberry scone from the state fair in Washington.
Full Name: Krista Prestek
Profession: Photo Director, GQ and GQStyle
Industry: Publishing
Website: kristaprestek.com
Instagram: kprestek
Twitter: kprestek
LinkedIn: kprestek
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