Today we’d like to introduce you to Paul Rutherford.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
My interest in photography started with video at an early age and slowly transformed into time lapses and still photography. It was always a hobby I did on the side while I worked other jobs. When I was a high school physics teacher my hobby started getting more serious. In the summers I would take cross country road trips and photograph landscapes and during the school year I went to all the sports games to take action shots. I even had my students build a giant camera obscura they could sit inside of. When I moved to Boston I decided to give full time photography a shot and have been a professional photographer for the last three years.
Please tell us about your art.
I typically photograph action sports at all levels but continue to enjoy taking long exposure landscapes as well. Sports have always been central to me as a person and I can spend all day photographing them. My goal is to capture images that get the viewer in on the action. Action, angles, and emotion they couldn’t see on TV or from the stands. When photographing landscapes, the idea is simply to inspire people to want to travel to the locations. I enjoy long exposures because it reveals a different character of the landscape and you get photos you generally can’t see with you own eyes. My exposures vary from 30 seconds to 16 mins per photo. My favorite part of the long exposures is enjoying the landscape while the photo is being taken.
Choosing a creative or artistic path comes with many financial challenges. Any advice for those struggling to focus on their artwork due to financial concerns?
It is always a battle between doing what you want and being able to support yourself financially. I believe it’s a matter of how you prioritize your time and actually running your art like a business. Making a daily schedule can help, although I’m not great at this, but what I really mean is making your art a priority over other aspects of your life. A lot of my gigs tend to be on weekends and weekday evenings. Sacrificing those social times frees up a lot of time you can dedicate to your craft which in turn helps you improve much quicker. Being flexible with my time allows me to take jobs others won’t. When you’re first starting out a big resource you have is time. The better you use your time, the faster you will improve your art and business.
Running your art like a business is essential if you want it to be your main source of income. You need to figure out a realistic projection of what you can make, what your business and living expenses are, and how much tax you’ll have to pay. I find that once I made these projections I can focus on what I’m creating and I’m not worried about if I’ll be able to pay my bills because I know how many gigs I need to book and what to charge. If I couldn’t make enough to live off of then I know I’ll have to get a side job to support myself while I’m creating. I take certain event jobs because it pays more and that helps support the art I want to create.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
My website is www.paulrutherfordphotography.com or follow me on Instagram. People can order landscape/cityscape prints from https://paulrutherford.pixieset.com/landscapes/ and https://paulrutherford.pixieset.com/bostoncityscapes/.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.paulrutherfordphotography.com
- Email: paul@paulrutherfordphotography.com
- Instagram: @paulrutherfordphotography
Image Credit:
Paul Rutherford
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