Today we’d like to introduce you to Dana Trippe.
Hi Dana, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Even though my father was not conventionally an artist, he seemed to always be immersed in the act of creativity. It was the little things. Every morning before school, he would sketch the cartoon I was watching on my brown paper lunch bag. When my sisters and I woke up with grandiose ideas of living in treehouses and castles, he would build them out into our bedrooms without hesitation. When our neighborhood talked of wanting a Halloween festival, my father spearheaded it and filled our park with hand-built carnival games, that would pass in any Del Mar Fair.
So, though my parents both come from a medical background, I had constant creativity in my household. And as my older sisters ended going a more academic route, I struggled at the time to find a path that fit me. I enjoyed the arts in every form but didn’t even think to see that as a career option.
Slowly I realized that I couldn’t get myself to do literally anything else but craft, paint, or take photos. So, instead of a college fund, my father bought me a camera and a flash, and from there, I started my down the path of teaching myself photography through the college of YouTube. I did end up taking a Mira Costa Photoshop class that massively helped me with my keyboard shortcuts, and a darkroom class, to hone in on my film photography skills.
I worked at a pizza shop on the weekdays, and I would kidnap my friends on the weekends, and practice shooting. I’d make them sit with me in my room as I experimented with long exposures and projector overlays. I would build little sets and paint backdrops, creating my own little worlds to shoot in, inspired by 60’s sci-fi movies. I’d post our experiments on Tumblr and ended up gathering my first following on that platform. My clientele, mainly smaller fashion brands, slowly grew and then snowballed from word of mouth and sharing on their platforms.
We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Through the years, staying freelance and navigating the business side of the industry on my own, has absolutely been the main obstacle. But in general, staying creative takes constant work and motivation. No matter how many people follow or compliment your art, there will always be times of self-doubt that you have to push through.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Though I love many crafts within the creative industry, I am most well-known for my photography. My aesthetic is a bit retro with texture and mixed media elements usually incorporated. I don’t have a specific job type I abide to and will take any type of job that sounds interesting. I’ve done commercial jobs such as create campaigns for Vans shoes to a clothing line collaboration through RVCA. I’ve gotten the opportunity to shoot so many amazing musicians, from Tame Impala to Willow Smith. Though I segway back into fashion and other industries, musicians truly are so special to work with, as they tend to have such strong creative visions for themselves. As music has always been an integral part of my life, mainly everything that came out of the ’70s, I grew a strong admiration for album covers as the bridge between the worlds of photography and music. They had the look and the texture I was going for. I’ve had the opportunity to shoot a handful of album covers, and those will always be my most treasured pieces of work.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
The only major risks I take are when it comes to the actual imagery itself. I try to experiment and push my own limits in that sense, as much as I possibly can. But my career within the art world has definitely been a slow and steady progression. I am a pretty cautious person and tend to analyze risk before every move I make, which I believe may have helped me through the years of managing myself as an artist and as a business. Though I do have a positive outlook on humanity, there are always going to be people in this industry taking advantage of you in some way or another. I urge other artists to always feel comfortable denying a job where they feel their creativity is not being valued and considered. If a client offers you a free job and says it will be good exposure for you, I strongly suggest not taking that job (not because it’s unpaid, I have absolutely taken free jobs and still continue to do so from time to time) but because of the mere principal of them trying to measure your value for you.
Contact Info:
- Website: danatrippe.com
- Instagram: @trippydana
