Today we’d like to introduce you to Rob Bondurant.
Rob, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was living in Nashville pursuing a music career at the time I picked up a camera in 2017. I just couldn’t afford to keep hiring people to shoot my photos and ultimately, I wanted to start creating a constant flow of content for my social media. I hadn’t intended on leaving my pursuit of a music career but as I began to learn and understand the craft of photography, I also learned that my creative headspace preferred to live behind a camera instead of a mic.
I’m an avid Podcast listener and one day I heard some advice on The Tim Ferriss show that I thought I’d try. That advice was to reach out to a person whose work you admire and who was much further along in their career than you and see if you can have a coffee and conversation with them. I found this photographers work through a friend who recently had some portraits done by him and I really loved his style so I decided to send him a DM on Instagram. Ever since then, he has become not only a person I look up to creatively and professionally but a really good friend of mine who inspires me to push boundaries personally and creatively.
Since we met, I’ve gotten to be on set for celebrity photo shoots, music videos, short films and be a part of projects that I never, in a million years, would’ve guessed that I would be doing. We’ve also begun to collaborate on several of our own projects in the realm of film which is something both of us are very passionate about. We have a short horror film in post-production set to release in October as well as a few other short films currently in pre-production. He’ll be moving back to LA by the beginning of the new year so I suspect we will be steamrolling these projects!
I’ve been back in San Diego now for about three months and couldn’t be more excited for what the future holds. Along with the aforementioned projects, I have some local San Diego artists that I will be doing some video for that I am very excited about. On days that I don’t have work or other obligations, I’ve been taking advantage of how beautiful the people and places are here in southern California and shooting portrait sessions up and down the coast as often as I can.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’m not quite sure which came first but at the time I was going through my creative transition from music to photography/video, I was also going through a point in life filled with depression and anxiety. For a brief moment, I was very conflicted about giving my whole self to this newly discovered path because I had spent so many years identifying as a musical artist and, at one point, I even had a six figure investment behind me. Of course, that created a lot of pressure to push forward with blinders on and not let people down when, in fact, my intuition was pulling me in a completely different direction.
In retrospect, I was feeling like I had peaked musically and craved more from life than what my current path was leading me to. I feel like perhaps my musical pursuit was largely driven by ego rather than passion which ultimately came to ahead.
What I can say, is that I feel like photography, video, and screenwriting have changed my life in ways that have been more scary, exciting, and ultimately made me happier than I’ve experienced in a long time. As for my future in music, I’ve decided not to think about anything other than what creative project sounds exciting to do right now and it’s largely photography and filmmaking. That said, I may very well come out with some music at some point but I can’t put any pressure on it.
No art is ever easy. Its a constant cycle of hustle and defeat with the occasional victory along the way. I think my years in music combined with switching mediums has taught me how to balance that cycle; with life and in life.
Tell us more about your work.
Because I love shooting photography and video, I make a deliberate effort not to dwell on the logistics. For me, when I am shooting a music video, short film, an interview, or photographing a band, artist, or individual, I try to curate the experience to capture the best moment I can with the brief time that I am given. I feel like that approach allows me to be more versatile because as long as I have the technical knowledge of my gear, lighting, etc. I just need to let the moment happen and be ready when it does.
I’m not really sure what sets me apart from other photographers and I don’t really think much about that but I can say that whenever I go into a shoot I try to create an image with depth and an emphasis on lighting. Lighting was one of the first investments I made in photography and it has honestly changed the game for me.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
So far, my proudest moment has been deciding to fully commit to becoming a photographer and videographer. Ever since then I’ve been opened up to an entirely new world that gets more exciting with every project. I still have a lot to learn and continue to grow with every shoot.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.robbondphoto.com
- Email: contact@robbondphoto.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/robbond
Image Credit:
1.) @emilyelisabethwade
2.) @cece_barnes & @toribarnes3
3.) @chateauashley
5.) @leahblevinsmusic
6.) @laceycortez
7.) @emilyelisabethwade
8.) @englishdee
9.) @courtneygeree
10.) @abloveseveryone
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