Max’s Interview: Brantley Gutierrez
There are no accidents.
At least, that’s what Brantley Gutierrez must be thinking as he boards the plane at LAX headed for London to shoot Sir Paul McCartney in his home studio, again.
From the age of 12, when he got his first Canon AE-1, he started shooting his friends skateboarding. Then, at 20, when he thought he was “getting pretty decent at it,” he moved out to California where he knew some pro skaters and thought he could make some money.
Once there, he picked up some production assistant work on a Foo Fighters music video shoot. It was his first video shoot and he was stoked. Not only was he a huge fan of the band, but he also grew up in the same area of Virginia as Dave Grohl.
Read the remainder of this interview after the jump!
But the shoot was horrendous. “I was really disappointed when I got there. Nobody was friendly and the crew and director were all yelling and screaming. It was a really bad experience.” So bad that he bailed out on his last day.
Three weeks later, Brantley ran into Dave at a sandwich shop in Beverly Hills. He told him he was on his shoot a few weeks prior. Dave asked what he thought of it and Brantley boldly replied, “It fucking sucked.”
Dave found this hilarious and invited him to shoot the band the following week at their Las Vegas show.
Although nervous that Dave would have forgotten all about him, he set out for the desert after convincing a friend to join him. The two arrived to discover all-access passes waiting for them.
Door open.
The transition from shooting skateboarders to musicians was easy for him, having already shot some local bands and being a musician himself.
“In skateboarding, it’s all about that split second moment, where the trick or the movement is at its definitive point, and in music its kind of the same way. Trying to find the point that might encapsulate what that show is about, or the emotion of that song.
And that has always inspired me to find it.
It kept me waiting, kind of like hunting for it and then finding that moment and snapping it.”
Brantley finds his inspiration in the music, hearing songs as different shades of color. With his love of collaborating, he calls the artist to run by his ideas of the tones he sees, shows them the tons of references he’s pulled, then asks for their own take on it.
He is always thinking, “What can I do to help with your vision?”
It’s about capturing the candid moments that really makes Brantley passionate about what he does. His shots of musicians at their most natural and relaxed are what really separate him from other artists doing similar work, although he won’t admit he knows what the difference is.
His “fly on the wall” approach to backstage photography is what probably keeps the musicians continually asking for him personally. They trust him to do what he does and get something ‘good’ out of it.
His photographs make you feel like you’re present and backstage with the musician. It may be because this is where Brantley is most comfortable; when the pressure and focus are off of him and he has the freedom to shoot only when he sees the frame he wants.
Although he may not be the focus of the group, it doesn’t mean he walks away with just a few rolls of film. Not only does he have the lifestyle that most of us would kill for, but Brantley feels the greatest perk about his job is being able to listen to some of the musicians’ stories.
He likes to hear how some awkward and weird 13 year-old turned his life around and began to create works of art that have inspired so many people, how they have come to be where they are now and how they have handled their circumstances.
This inspires him to continue pursuing his passion. “If they can do it, why can’t I?”
And Brantley stays passionate, authentic and true to his craft. He hasn’t made the switch to digital and claims that he probably won’t as long as there is still film around. He grew up with film and feels that the process changes with digital.
The allure of photography for him is trying to capture real moments, but not really knowing whether he got the exposure right – or even if he got a good shot.
But when he hands in that roll of film to be processed, the thrill and suspense of waiting for those pictures to see what he actually was able to capture is what keeps him coming back.
He admires film and the fact that the images are tangible, existing in the physical form, and not just a bunch of celluloid 1’s and 0’s on some hard drive. With digital you can shoot a thousand pictures, clicking away forever. But he takes his time. “I could sit for a minute before shooting a single frame.
And you just need ‘the one’ so whether you take 1000 and I take 50 and I know I at least have one.”
While he considers himself an old-timer for sticking to film, Brantley’s future is full of endless possibilities. In addition to photography he has also delved into directing music videos and documentaries.
He also has been hired to act as Canadian band Metric’s visual creative director: building their website, designing posters and stage lighting, among other responsibilities. It’s an exciting creative endeavor for him and he has high hopes of doing the same for other bands.
But as for the immediate future, hopefully he’ll tell Sir Paul we said hi.
Posted on March 15, 2010 at 1:48 pm
I agree, I am living in Canada, and I looove your show and would love to see what you could do for us !!!I think it would be FABULOUS!