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 named my studio HIVE.STUDIO because often creating a photograph is like a busy hive, everyone working together. The "V" in the logo is broken into parts because we believe that as a collective mind we are greater. Everyone we work with brings their own beauty and uniqueness which we add to our own to create something new.
How did you discover your creativity?
I look at my own work a lot and try to break down what I like and why. I also look to non-photo/video things with the same question.
What are you working on these days?
I'm working on balancing my very purposeful sets and posing while also allowing some chaos in to create something that I might not have seen otherwise.
What was your first “Big Break” in your profession?
I can trace most of my success back to an email to a friend in 2008. We knew each other through a casual Ultimate Frisbee league, and he gave me my first job as a retoucher for a big retailer. A lot of my professional network was built there.
What's in your backpack/handbag/tote right now?
No bags, travel as light as possible, cause otherwise I'll lose something.
Top 3 Tips you would give someone starting out in your creative profession:
Photograph everyday, look at those photos and think about them, show them to other people (in person) and ask them what they think. Rinse and repeat.
Who are you following right now on Instagram for inspiration and why?
I find if I look at Instagram too much I develop some real FOMO. Someone told me if you're looking left and right you don't see whats in front of you. I'm not always great at that but I try. Usually I find inspiration from my early influences like Paul Strand, Dorothea Lange, Irving Penn, and more recently Peter Lindbergh. I think they found that balance between a very purposeful photo but not feeling staged, forced, or disingenuous.
What is your MOTTO in life?
No work before coffee.
What is your guiltiest pleasure?
Red Bull, so much Red Bull.
If you were on an island and could only bring three things, what would you bring?
Pocket knife, gaffers tape, and friends.
What do your parents think you do?
They bounce back and forth between thinking I'm a really big deal and questioning how I'm able to stay in business.
What would be your Networking Do's & Dont’s.?
This is what I try to remind myself before networking events: talk about yourself but don't ramble. Meet people, ask questions, and listen. Always bring a business card, it's better to be late than to arrive without a card. Meet at least 3 people that you've never met.
Full Name: Austin Huck
Profession: Photographer / Director
Industry: Fashion and Lifestyle Photography
Website: www.hive.studio
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hivestudioboston/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hive.studio/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Hive_Twits
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/austinhuckphotography/