Please enjoy this episode of my interview with Scott Strazzante, a former POY/NPPA National Newspaper Photographer of the Year, an 11-time Illinois Photographer of the Year and was part of a Chicago Tribune team that won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for investigative journalism.. Transcripts may contain a few typos—with hourlong episodes, it’s difficult to catch some minor errors. Enjoy!
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SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Great to be here. Thanks for inviting me.
BEN BREWER:
All right. Well, people may have seen some of your work just recently covering a lot of the Golden State Warriors basketball. So have you recovered slightly from the craziness that has been that,
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah, it's, it's weird. It's like I got to San Francisco in 2014 and I've gotten to the NBA finals with the Warriors every single year since I've been here. And so it's kind of like the sports photographers here, like, Oh, you're a good luck charm. Thanks for coming. You know, so it's, it's been really interesting. I covered the Chicago Bulls in the Michael Jordan days. So, so this is my 10th NBA final that I covered. And, and so it's been a lot of fun for sure. It never gets old.
BEN BREWER:
Awesome. Well, yeah, I think we're going to, we'll get into kind of your moving out to San Francisco you know, about four years ago, but I kind of want to, I want to go back, we'll kind of do things a little, a little out of order. So I was first introduced to your work way back when I was interning with Jerome Pollos out in Northern Idaho and sure. And I got started, you know, that was my first internship. And really early on, he said, you know, go check out Scott Strazzante Common Ground. And that was pretty much all he said, he's just go Google it. You'll watch it. See what you think. And that really, you know, got me started as sort of like, Oh, this is, this is what kind of real, you know, photojournalism is. So kind of alluding to it. Why don't you give us a little bit of background on Common Ground and what it is?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Sure. So I got into the newspaper business in the late eighties. I had no formal training. I went to a liberal arts college and my first job out of college, which was, I kind of got up. It was kind of a fluke that I got an actual job in newspapers, but it was just a very small community paper on the one of the South suburbs of Chicago. And it wasn't a great visual newspaper. I shot a lot of sports. I probably did five, six assignments a day. So they were just like cranking them out. And, and I, I had no experience at all doing photo stories. And so in 1994, so I've been at the paper for five, six years. At this point, I got one of the typical assignments that they would give at this newspaper. It's like, okay, we're doing a story on people who raise the animals in this one township near the circulation area.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And so we're going to spend you send you out to spend two hours with a guy who raises wolves, and then we're going to send you out for two hours to photograph someone who raises llamas and then there's a horse farm. And then the final stop was I was supposed to spend two hours on this cattle farm run by Harlow and Gene [inaudible]. And when I first got on the farm, I was struck by just like how rundown the place was. The barns were falling apart. You know, there was like three feet of manure everywhere. Harlow was 71 at the time his wife was in her early sixties and, and they were really sweet to me, but you could tell that it was a struggle. And, and so the assignment was just to kind of get a feel for what they were doing. So I photographed them tending to their cattle and, you know, just that was about it.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And as I was leaving, being a city boy, I really enjoyed my time visit with them on the farm. I just kind of bought Hanley. He said, Hey, can I come back and visit some time? And they were like, sure, that's fine. Probably assuming that I never would come back, but then a couple weeks later I stopped by and, and then like a month later I stopped by and, and, and it ended up, I really wasn't doing much photography. It just be, kind of can be a social thing. I'd come and Harlow and Jean would stop working and we'd go in their kitchen and Jean would make some dessert for us and we'd sit there and chat. And then my kids were born right around that time. So I started bringing them to the farm to show them the cattle and, and they had a lot of cats on the farm.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And so it kind of from 94 to about 98, it, I really didn't photograph much on the farm. I would hang out a lot and in occasionally make photos, but you know, it, at that point, it wasn't anything. It was just more like someplace that I would go and hang out. And then in 1998, I switched to another newspaper and Joliet, Illinois, the Herald news, and that paper was incredibly visual. And not only did they assign long-term stories, you know, it was expected that the photographers were self-generate most of them. And so I had no experience at all self-generating stories. So I just kind of said, Hey, I know these cattle farmers, maybe I can, I do a story on them and lecture. That sounds great. And so I had to go back and literally tell Jean and Harlow, Hey, you know, I love hanging out with you guys, but I want to actually do a photo story on you now and take photos.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And the interesting thing was John Lowenstein, who is an amazing photographer. He was working at the time at a weekly in that area, and he'd actually photographed Jean and Harlan for a little story for their newspaper. So Jean and Harlan were used to being photographed and, and so I started photographing them and it was, it was a real great place for me to learn long-term storytelling because every day was the same thing. They were, you know, get up at the same time and check on the cattle and, you know, just kind of, it was just a very, you know, routine way of life. So I would photograph it like branding cattle one day and I just wouldn't, it wouldn't be very good. So the next day I would come out and shoot it differently, or I'd do something at a different time of the day or a different lens.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And I just kind of started perfecting images. And I really had no idea yet what the idea of the story was. I thought it was just going to be a day in the life of two cattle farmers, but then harmless health started to rating it, carpal tunnel syndrome. He had asthma, he had arthritis. And then a lot of the farms around the Cagwin farms started being sold to subdivision developers. And so it was kind of something where Harlow and gene didn't want to leave the farm, but Harlow had three siblings who had grown up on the farm and they kind of were in their late sixties, early seventies and, and they were hoping to sell the farm and get some money so they could enjoy their, their senior years. And so it took maybe about two, three years and a subdivision developer approach, Gina Harlow.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And they finally ended up selling their farm. And at that point I just was them photographing you know, their kind of daily life as they got ready to ready to leave the farm. The, they actually lived on the farm for about a year while they started building the subdivision around them. And so I figured at the end, when they left, that would be the end of the story and the newspaper, the Herald news did a couple of stories on it, but then before the Cagwins left at their farm, I got a job at the Chicago Tribune. And so I brought the, the story along with me to the Chicago Tribune. And then finally on July, I think it was July 2nd, 2002. The Cagwins left the farm for the final time. And basically they, they moved out and they started tearing the house down like five minutes after they moved.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And so it was just a really emotional day. And I got this really nice photo of Harlan that nice. It's, it's funny how photographers, we kind of like really sad, dramatic photos, like, Oh, it was a nice photo, you know, but anyways, so it was like, yeah, like it was a moment that kind of capsulized, you know, the years of struggle of his Harlow with his head down on this log, in his front yard while I was homeless, it was being knocked down behind him. And so at that point, I'd photograph the story for eight years. It had been published in three different newspapers. It was part of my portfolio that went national newspaper photographer of the year in 2000. And so at that point, I thought, well, you know, this is it. The story is over in Harlow. And Jean bought another house on a farm, which they, they weren't, they, they leased the land and they were just retiring.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
So I didn't really feel like I wanted to photograph them anymore. And so I just kind of went back to my normal newspaper life. And the, for some reason I just kind of felt like there was something more to the story. So I would go back to the subdivision that was being built and I've photographed the construction and I photographed some of the model homes going up. And at that time I said, I think I would like to try to find a family in the subdivision and maybe they would have like cow salt and pepper shakers. You know, that would be like the one thing that could tie together, like showing that this used to be a cattle farm. And so I, I met a couple people and, and I had one family, the, it was a young couple and the woman was pregnant and they'd seen the story in the Chicago Tribune.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And I asked if I could document them as they lived their life and they agreed, but I just, it just never kind of worked out for me, I guess. I, I never went back to visit them. It just, things were too busy. I don't know exactly what happened. It just kind of seemed like nothing would happen. And so then in 2003 became 2004, began in 2005 in 2006, and I really hadn't photographed much at all. And then one day I was showing my work to a photo class at this place called college. You do page, which is a community college outside Chicago. And it was, you know, half adults, half college aged students. And as part of my presentation, I showed about 50 photos from the farm. And I talked about what it was now and a woman raised her hand in the class and said, I live in that subdivision.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And I was like, really? And it ended up being Amanda Gravenhoffer. And she invited me to visit her home and her family on a Saturday when they were having an Easter egg hunt. It was right before Easter and was married. She had four kids, three of them were triplets. She had a dog that looked like a cow. It was just like this perfect suburban life. And, and because like the whole cul-de-sac, they lived on was there for the Easter egg hunt. I was able to like get verbal permission from every parent. You know, I told them what, what I did, what I was doing. And so I would just kind of then hang out and I would just like photograph much more in the subdivision than I ever did on the farm. And there was so much more going on. You know, I, when I was having the farm, it was weird.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
I would only go on Mondays and I would just photograph, you know, on Mondays. Cause that was my day off. This turned into a personal project, even though I was doing it for newspapers I wanted to retain ownership of it. So I started just shooting it with my own cameras and my own personal time. And I, I kind of let you know, the newspapers publish it because they would sometimes let me work, you know, during company hours or the Chicago Tribune, actually I was using film their film, my boss, let me use film there. So they, they, they supported the project, but I still wanted to retain ownership. And so then, you know, I started photographing on the subdivision and I really didn't know how it was going to make it work. But one day pretty early on, I photographed his photo of Ben, their oldest son and his cousin, CJ wrestling on the ground with his jump rope.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And it reminded me of a photo I'd made on the farm of Harlow wrestling with the day old calf, but big rope. And, and so that night I put those photos together as diptychs or pairings. And at that point I was like, yeah, this is how I can tell this story. I can, you know, have the farm on the, left, the subdivision on the right. And at that point I was, you know, I would, I would never like look for anything, but things would always kind of just pop up. Like, you know, one of the little girls would be mowing the lawn with a toy lawn mower, and then I'd be like, Oh, I know I have a photo of Harlow mowing his hay. And, and then, you know, one day the Amanda's parents were there with their dogs and they were feeding them.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And I knew I must have some cow photo and that was where they're being fed. So I just kind of kept piecing these things together. And it actually, you know, the project at that point kind of the pairings really came together quickly and naturally, and, and so it was crazy. So my first day in the subdivision was March of 2007 and in February, 2008, I had four pages of national geographic. So it went from like me not knowing what I wanted to do with it, to like all of a sudden, it just kind of being this full formed idea. And then all these other things happened. I went to the mountain workshops as a coach and I, I showed the diptychs for the first time. And one of the coaches, there was a guy named Chad Stevens who was this amazing multimedia producer. And he was working at media storm at the time.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And he asked me if I'd shown it to Brian Storm yet, and his boss. And I knew Brian, but I hadn't shown him the work yet. When he saw it, he was like, Holy. This is he's like, this is what I want you to do. I want you to gather all the video you've shot, you know, get to give me your interviews, you know, and I'm like video interviews, what are you talking about? I just like, I've just been doing stills. And he's like, Oh, you know, you photographers, you know? And so at that point I had to start thinking outside of, you know, just still photography. Although, although I didn't, I didn't do anything more than still photography. I actually just hired a guy. I was working at the West Pope and he did video and we did a bunch of interviews. And, and then Mediastorm ended up putting together a little seven minute piece that, that, that debuted at look three in 2009, I believe.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
No, actually it was 2008. It was think it was June of 2008. And then I, you know, said, well, maybe I'll do a book. And so then I did a Kickstarter and raised about $50,000. And so it was kind of crazy. Like this thing started, it's just a two hour assignment and then it became just a place I visited. And then it just kind of started rolling downhill and gathering momentum. And I never had a plan for it to be anything more than just kind of a photo Oasis for me. And it just ended up turning to all these things and it kind of has become, you know, what my career is best known for. And, and so like, I always recommend a photographer, photographers, just find a personal project and, and work on that. And you know, it doesn't even matter what it is.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
It could be your family, it could be a park, it could be, you know, it could be anything. It could be, you know, this guy, Pete Maravich, I know, you know, he started a personal project on cities, coal, I mean steel towns and outside of Pittsburgh where he grew up that have, you know, started deteriorating. And so that's like his personal project. And so it's like, you know, it's like for me, I love newspapers, but after a while, it just gets to be so redundant and you're shooting the same parade year after year. You're, you know, you're doing the same things that I always want to have something that I'm working on as a side project. And sometimes it's more than just a side project. I can now I stay sane by doing iPhone street photography. And that's kind of where I get my kind of creative release when I have a week or two weeks where I have nothing but boring non-visual assignments, you know, I'll, I'll do more street photography. And then the weeks where I actually have really good assignments, I'll do less. And, and so for me, it's like photography kind of is my hobby and my career. So I, I definitely want to stay evolving. I want to stay fresh and relevant. So I just don't ever want to get to a point where I burn out and projects like common ground and, and my book, my new book shooting from the hip, you know, those are things that, that I do to just stay fresh. So my day job doesn't become boring.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. Yeah. That's so true. And I want to, I'll talk more about shooting from the hip. I definitely want to touch on that a lot and going back to Common Ground. So how, how did you kind of maintain that sort of momentum over years? Cause it's, it's a long project and I think, you know, a lot of younger photographers they'll get started on something, maybe shoot a little bit and he's six months go by and it just, you know, that momentum fades. How did, how did you kind of keep keep going on that over, over that many years?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. Well, I think for me, it's like, I did have big gaps where I didn't photograph there, but also I think it was key to kind of have the newspaper, you know, be part of it and then wanting to do stories on it because that kind of gave me deadline pressure because I think if the newspaper first the Herald News, I mean the first, the Daily Douthbound and the Herald News and Chicago Tribune, if they had an assigned writers to do stories on it, I might've let it slip even more. And so it was really you know, that was a good kind of a momentum for me to, to keep going on it. But also after about, you know, the last two years, there were so many things going on where, you know, the, the barns were being torn down or they had to go to a meeting to have the, you know, the sale approved or, you know, whatever.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Like at that point there was things that, that I could actually shoot that were just one of a kind things instead of just their, their normal daily life. And so you know, it definitely was sporadic where sometimes I would go, you know, four or five Mondays in a row and then sometimes I would go two months and so it definitely, you know, without shooting there. So it, it, it definitely was something that it was always there, so I could go on my time. And so those always tend to be the type of stories I do where, you know, if I have a free hour or I have an entire day, you know, or I don't have any time in two weeks, you know, it's always going to be there. And so I tend to like to do stories that, you know, where I can just pop in and pop out and it doesn't even matter if I go six months without shooting there.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. Yeah. It is pretty important to just be able to do it whenever possible, really, and just kind of stay connected with it. So, so you mentioned some of the newspapers you worked at, you know, it was all kind of Chicago areas and you, and you grew up in the Chicago area. Tell me about tell me about your first kind of paid, paid photo thing, or kind of go take me back a little bit to like, when that kind of clicked for you that, you know, I want to do photography.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. So when I was a kid I was a huge sports fan and a fan of the Chicago White Sox and the Chicago Bears and the Blackhawks and, and my family. We went to a lot of games and, and so my dad was the photographer of the family. When we'd go on vacation, he had his Canon A1 and he would like, we would always laugh because every time we'd go through a national park, he would always end up getting a photo of the bot of an animal. Like he could never get the front side. It was like, we had this whole collection of like, here's an Alex, here's a bears, but tears, you know, and it was hilarious. It was like, he wasn't a talented photographer, but he liked, he liked to photograph things. And so when I started, you know, to get interested in sports illustrated magazine and looking at sports photography, probably when I was around 12 or 13 I started borrowing his camera and shooting photographs from the stands.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, you know, at that time I was shooting with, you know, probably a 50 millimeter lens. And so I would, I would photograph, you know, three or four rolls of film. I'll get them processed and have prints made the little four by six prints. But the actual action would be like a half inch by a half inch, you know, so I would cut them out and I would put them in my little photo gallery and I like a photo book and photo album. And so I have to find them somewhere. I would have like 10 photos on each page, these tiny, tiny little actions. And, and I never ever thought of it as a career. But at one point I entered one of my baseball photos in the photos at the first national bank of evergreen park photo contest. And I got an honorable mention and it was like, Oh my God, it was like the highlight of my young life.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, you know, and I, I was, I was the third child and I didn't get a lot of attention paid to me. So having like a little bit of attention to, for my photography or whatever dismal it was at the time was like, just so awesome. So I didn't really, you know, still think of it as a career, but I started photographing them more. And when I went to college, my dad was a tire dealer and I was supposed to take over the family business. And so I went to college to be a business major, but I started taking a lot of photographs just around campus in Wisconsin where I was, and then I would take photos at frat parties. And I worked for the school newspaper for about a semester, but, you know, I kinda got bored with that. And so really I had no plans at all.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And then my junior year I just stumbled upon a gallery show and my college was ripping college. And this photographer, Paul Jerome, who was at the Chicago Tribune, had a gallery show of his work. And I can still remember, like some of the photos, there was a photo from this high school St. Francis Assisi that was right near where I grew up. There was a photo story he'd done on an old monk, you know? And so he had all these black and white photographs and I, I was just basically like, yeah, this is what I want to do. I want to be a photo journalist. And so Paul was there and I worked up the courage just to talk to him and like a lot of young photographers do with me now, I did the same thing to him. I said, Paul, I wouldn't do what you do.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Tell me how to do it basically. And, you know, give me the secret recipe. You give me the shortcuts to how I become a photo journalist. And he was honest. He was like, well, you know, I there's, I can't give you any advice, really. You just have to you know, photograph a lot. And, you know, I want, you know, the one bit he gave me, it was like, Oh, I went on this urban studies program and I had an internship at, at some book publishing company. And so then of course I like signed up for the urban studies program right away. And, and I ended up interning at the city of Chicago theater department with the team of photographers that covered Harold Washington. Chicago's first African-American mayor. And so I think they let me photograph two days and, and, but most of the time I just cut their negatives and I filed them, I'd make prints.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, and so it was a really kind of a good introduction to, you know, what professional photographers do. And so then when I went back to college, the next semester I became an art major and I definitely started actively thinking, well, how do I become a photo journalist? And I got out of college and I sent out, I need to send out portfolios. I sent out a cover letter and a resume to all the newspapers in the Midwest. You know, it was like a laughable. And luckily this guy Irv Gebhart's at the Milwaukee journal said, come on up, show me your work. And so I went up there and he was really sweet. And he was like, Oh, it looks like you have a good eye, but you need more experience, you know, either get a job at a small paper or go back to school.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And he said, there's this guy, John H. White in Chicago, he's an amazing Pulitzer prize, winning photographer. He teaches at Columbia college. You know, why don't you give him a call? Here's his number? And so I called John and he said, Oh, well, you know, you don't have any experience. So you're gonna have to take photo one and dark room one before you can take my photo journalism class. And so I took those classes and actually before the class ended I got a call from a tiny newspaper looking for a part-time photographer and they offered me $4 and 25 cents an hour. And I'd be working about 12 to 16 hours a week. And I said, yeah, this is it. And I, I quit school. I, you know, I, I never took John's class. I learned on the job by making mistakes. And then a year later that newspaper got bought by the Daily Southtown, a little bit bigger newspaper.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And I just kind of, kind of worked my way up. So a lot of total flukes, but also a lot of people who, you know, gave me a step up who shared some information who gave me a little direction. And so ever since then my entire career, I never say no to any speaking engagement. I always want, you know, any student who, you know, wants me to do an interview or wants me to look at their work, you know, I, I do it because you just never know which of them I'm going to inspire, you know, to, to become, you know, a photojournalist. And so I always been trying to pay it forward and, and, you know you know, I wouldn't be where I was at without the people who helped me along the way. So I always try to, you know, to kind of pay it back that way.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. That is powerful. I mean, it is. So, you know, it is such a small community that we are kind of a part of that. It, it, it is so important to stay connected when it comes to like a younger photographers, I guess, since you've, you've interacted with audio younger photographers now, like what, what do you see as like a mistake that you see all the time that you just, they, you want to, you want to train out of them, of younger photographers?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
I, I think, you know, definitely a lot of photographers. They, you know, they have this thing where they don't fill the frame, you know, they kind of see a moment and then they'll photograph it and then they get it back and they'll just, you know, they'll have to, you know, crop it or, you know, they don't get close enough. They don't get low. You know, they just kind of, you know, and I was really timid when I was, when I was starting out. So I totally understand it, but a lot of them are, are too timid, but it's interesting. It's I think the young photographers now are so much better than young photographers when I was starting out. I don't know if it's just because it's a more visual world because, you know, camera phones because of the internet. You know, for me, when I was first starting out, I, you know, I had to wait for the pictures of the yearbook or the WordPress book to come out every year to see great photography.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know, now I could spend all day on the internet just looking at you know, amazing photographers I've never heard of. And there's so many of them out there. So I think, you know, studying other people's work and studying your own work, it are things that I think are really important. You know, I, I, I used to just stare at my photographs and just kind of like, well, why does this work? Why doesn't it work? Where does my eye go? Is it going where I want it to go? And so it's, it's definitely a craft where you have to just do it over and over and over again. Although some people, you know, I, I worked with Rob Finch who was photographer of the year, twice before he was 25, you know? And so some people are kind of born with it, you know, and other people, it has to kind of be awoke within them and then other people never get it, you know?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
So I think it's just teaching, you know, being taught something and hard work will get you just so far, but you know, the people have the natural ability and then somehow they realize it and then they also work really hard. I think those are the ones that are successful. And, you know, I would rather, I'd rather hire a young working, I mean, a hardworking photographer. Who's not that talented than a lazy photographer who is skilled, you know? And so, you know, and I've worked with people like that who are just unbelievably talented, but they just could never seem to like, you know, get motivated or maybe it came too easy to them. I'm not sure, but it definitely you know, I guess back to the question of, you know, what, what do young photographers do that, you know, that I, that I would try to change, you know, I, I think it's just work hard, be nice to people, listen to people, you know, stop talking and listen, you know, like most of the time people just want their story heard.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, and if you just look at them in there, I listen to them, you know, mirror back to them, you know, that what they're saying is important, and there's so many doors that are open to you and, and don't feel entitled. Don't feel like, you know, you deserve anything. It's like, you know, all my, whatever accolades I've ever gotten in my life was because some photo subject agreed to let me spend time with them. And, and it's, it's definitely a skill that you can hone over time. And it's something that, that definitely, I think one of my favorite quotes was by Dave LaBelle and he said, a great photo. Journalist is one third artist, one third detective, and one third social worker, you know, and I thought that that was like really spot on. And, you know, it's, you know, photojournalism is very, has very little to do with photography.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know, obviously you have to, you know, have a camera and know how to work it, but, but you know, a photo, the journalist part of photo journalism has nothing to do with the technical aspects of it. It's about how you interact with people, how you see the world, you know, what you have passion for, you know, cause it's, you know, there's a trillion choices, you know, every time you pick up the camera, whether where you want to stand, what lens you want to use, you know, what angle, what moment, you know? And so you have to kind of be able to know what a good photograph is before you can make a good photograph.
BEN BREWER:
That is so important. I think, and that kind of to some degree, I think that speaks to where one finds their sort of creative inspiration from, I think that, do you have any, where do you kind of find your creative inspiration from?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
It's weird. It's kind of, for me, like I, there was a long period of time where I just was on Instagram and I was looking, looking, looking, looking at Instagram all the time and, and you know, Facebook, I do, but now it's weird. It's like I spend most of my time on Twitter and it's only because Donald Trump infuriates me so much that I spent all my time on Twitter now looking for things, people criticizing Donald Trump and it's like really bizarre and weird. And, and it's like, it does, it's just, it's so unproductive, but it's just kind of such a weird time that we're in this world right now. And you know, like if you like go on my Instagram, I like barely post on Instagram anymore. I'm just like, so, you know, kind of in this really weird space. And so it it's really, you know, I, I don't, I know a lot of other people are like that too.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, you know, as a, as a photo journalist, you know, I can't post anything on social media. That's politically, you know, oriented, which is fine. I don't really want to be out there, you know, doing that, but it's just a really weird, weird time. But when I first started out, I didn't want anyone else to make a good photograph. I wanted to take all the good photographs and it would, I would be really jealous or I would, I would get angry if I saw other people make really good photographs. And now I think I'm finally to a space where I can appreciate other people's photography and just the older abundance of accessibility to it, you know, is mind numbing at times, but it's also amazing. And, you know, I could, you know, tick off a thousand photographers that I enjoy their work. And you know, it just kind of depends on what mood I'm in, but I guess if I, if I had to choose one place to go, I would probably do, you know, Instagram is, is, it's an interesting place.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know, it has, you know, it's a little of everything. It's kind of a mishmash of things, but there is a lot of great photo journalism on there now, too. But, but yeah, I, I definitely consume a lot of photography and, you know, I, I love long form documentaries. I'm not really into, you know, the shorter newspaper videos, although there's a lot of great being done, a lot of great talent on the San Francisco Chronicle staff that does a lot of great work, but yeah, it's, it's, photography's everywhere. So it's, you know, I rarely pick up a newspaper anymore, but I do get it delivered to my phone. So it's the first thing in the morning. I do, I look at the, you know, the digital version of the newspaper. Cause I love, I just kind of loved the, you know, I'm old, so yeah. I mean grained in the newspaper world. So I love looking at photos in newspaper form almost better than in, just kind of on a website or, you know, just on Facebook or something.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. It's interesting. You mentioned that, like that the idea of not wanting other people to take good photos at first. Cause that's something that I, I know I struggled with early on, like when I started doing more freelancing and the honest truth is, you know, I get frustrated when other people got assignments that I didn't, or I see someone doing other work and at first it was, it was frustrating, but I think there's something to getting over that and, you know, appreciating the work that gets done, it's kind of that rising tide raises all boats sort of mentality that once you get away from that scarcity mindset of, you know, it's okay that other people take good photos.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. I think, you know, too, it's like I spent decades being a contest score, you know, where I like just entered so many contests and then it all the clip contest I entered the year end contest, you know, I just wanted a win, win, win, win, win, you know, and, and it, it definitely was a time where you had to win photo contest to get your name out there, you know, because you really had no other choice. But now it's like, I kind of, you know, I think this year was the first year. I didn't enter a portfolio and POI since, you know, for like, geez, probably in the last 25 years, you know? And it just, all of a sudden, I just kind of am over it, you know, and it's weird. It's like, I, you know, I, I definitely, you know, entered contest forever, but now I just kind of feel like it's like, eh, it's like, I guess, cause I have so many more venues to kind of self-publish my work now that I don't really need to, you know, put it in contest form anymore to, to have it.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And plus it was much easier to win photo contest back back when I was first starting out, because there was so little representation from the world, you know, it was more like POI was mostly all American and now, you know, it's all the contests are worldwide and there's so many amazing, amazingly talented photographers and just like photographing so many things that's, you know, and so maybe cause I just stopped winning a lot, you know, I maybe that's one of the reasons I just, I don't enter as much anymore, you know? So it's kind of, you know, it's definitely something that I find photo contest fascinating. And I think if I was ever going to get like a masters or something, I would love to do a thesis on just photo contest and just kind of, you know, the judging of them and, and the entering thing and just the whole psychological dynamics behind a contest, because it is pretty fascinating and I've judged a lot of contests and I've entered more and it, I know it's super subjective and just because you win doesn't mean you're best. And just because you lose doesn't mean you're the worst, but it's really hard to get past that, you know, that kind of needing, you know, that the empty hole and you to be filled with with awards, you know, and I definitely went through a phase where I felt I was only a good photographer if I won an award. And if I didn't, then I had a bad year, it was just really kind of, it, it just definitely, it's not a healthy thing I think for photographers, but at some point it's a necessary evil.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. I mean, yeah. Contests are really their own....You could spend, you could spend hours just talking about contest itself in terms of how one photo wins and then all of a sudden, it seems like over the next year, you see a lot more photos that try to copy that exact style.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah, no. When I was early on, I would do that if like the first play sports action photo was of a rodeo, I was like, I got to go shoot rodeos. Or if they had the free, you know, if it was Peewee football's like, I need to do a Peewee football story. You know, it's like, you kind of get this mindset of, you know, and I think that's another, going back to one of your earlier questions is for young photographers is don't chase. What other people are doing. You know, it's like try to find your own path, you know, try to photograph something that you find interesting and kind of be a visual leader instead of a follower. And, and, you know, I really never thought of it in that way. It wasn't a reason behind it, but I, I do have pride the fact that, you know, that I was one of the first photographers to be awarded for diptychs and then POY you know, does not allow diptychs anymore.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know? And, and then I started doing, I came late to the game on iPhone photography, but now I've kind of made it my own a little bit. And, and, you know, sometimes when, you know, people like, Oh, who's, you know, who's a good iPhone photographer, you know, like my name pops up and I've gotten jobs just because, you know, people say, Oh yeah, Scott's a good iPhone photographer. And so it definitely is something that, you know, I, I like following a new technological trends. And then when I do it, I don't want to repeat what someone else is doing. I just kind of want to do my own thing. And I think that's, you know, it's so important to just kind of trust your vision, although sometimes it's hard.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. Well, that's a perfect segue into to talking about shooting from the hip and, and sort of getting into the world of iPhone and mobile phone photography, which kind of used to be a dirty word around the, the photojournalism world. So tell me a little bit about how you got started with shooting in the mobile format and then going, moving into shooting from the hip.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. I remember back, I don't know what year it was. It was Damon Winter, you know, shot what a Hipstamatic thing and Afghanistan or Iraq, and at one like a third place in POI and everyone's had to explode it, you know, it's was like, Oh my God, those are filtered images. That's not real photojournalism. And, you know, it was just like crazy. And that was, that was when I was at the Chicago Tribune and I had a company should Blackberry, you know, so I wasn't really doing any, any photography with my phone, but I was kind of part of that, Oh, that's, you know, the snobby like, Oh, the iPhone is bad. And, you know, and, and, but then I think it was sometime late 2011. I went to Washington DC with my daughter and she had an iPhone. I grabbed it from her and downloaded hip's magic app.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And I started shooting pictures in Washington, DC. It, and there was something about it. I loved it. It was just the iPhone with the Hipstamatic app, just photographs the world in a different way than, than my professional cameras did. I think it was more compressed. It had more depth of field. Cause I'm, I've always been a F 2.8 person where everything is wide open, where all of a sudden now I'm shooting with an iPhone that's F 11 and then there's just some, there was a feel about it. Why aren't you always being manipulated? So there was, there was a little vignette and, you know, very contrasty and, and like, I would accidentally take a photo of my foot and I'd be like, Oh my God, that's amazing. You know, it's like, I knew that I was being manipulated, but still there was something about it that I just loved.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And so at that point in 2012, I just like went Gaga and I got my own iPhone. I download, download the Hipstamatic app and it's really kind of embarrassing now because I get these Facebook memories and I'll like post 12 photos in a row on Facebook. You know, from some random day in 2012 and 11 of them have suck. And I'm like, Oh my God, I'm surprised anyone followed me at that point. Cause I was just like vomiting iPhone photos on people and, you know, and it, it, it just was like, it was something I had to go through I guess, but it definitely was everything I shot. I thought it was a great photo. And so over time, I've kind of gotten to a point where I'm a much better editor. But it was, there's still something about it. I love. And I just think it's, you know, one, one thing I do like too is you can be really stealth and I can walk down the street wherever and that, and photograph people without them knowing it. And you know, just kind of be in a moment at a bus stop or just walking down the street where it looks like I, you know, I establish all this access with these people, but it's just because I'm walking through their moment. And so it definitely
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Is, you know,
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
It was something that really excited me again about photography and it was really easy to share the work. And, you know, I started doing all these essays for the newspaper, with the iPhone and then Ben Lowy, he helped develop the Lowy lens and that was less filtered and less vignetty. And so it kind of was a more journalistic Hipstamatic lens. So I started using that one and I really enjoyed that, but it's, it's just
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
For me, I
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Think I'm rebelling against myself because I've spent so many years being a newspaper photographer and I show up at an event and people see me with my two cameras. They know him from the newspaper, and I know that they're acting differently because I know they're being photographed and, you know, I have to get people's names and I, you know, and, and it just, I just feel like at certain point where, you know, outside of like sports or something that I'm not really photographing true moments, it wasn't really pure life. It was more kind of this hyper reality where I'm photographing highs and lows and, you know, it, it had to be someone crying or laughing or had to be a funeral or a parade. It couldn't be just daily life. And so the thing about my street photography is it's just people going through life and, and, you know, they don't know they're being photographed, which people might find creepy or stealth, but at, for, you know, or weird.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
But I just think it's, it's just the only way to do it. And, and I, I'm the point now where I just love just how people look and I just want to photograph the in-between moments. Like I walked around for about an hour before the golden state warriors victory parade, the other day, photographing people waiting for the parade to start and, you know, they were just bored or they were just blankly looking. And I actually liked those photos personally, more than, you know, the ones I took in during the parade, because for me that was real life. Because as newspaper photographer, we do this all the time. We might show up at a protest and it might be a two hour protest and it's people standing around for an hour and 58 minutes. And then there's two minutes where no, there's a little fight or people get really excited or agitated.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And we photograph that two minutes out of two hours. And then that one photo of that two-minute runs in the newspaper as the representation of what happened at two hour event. And that's total. That's not what happened at that event. Yeah. That was a moment. It was the most exciting moment, the most dramatic moment, but it wasn't really representative of what actually happened. And so that's what, as a newspaper photographer times kind of, when I think about it, you know, it's not the truth because we are cherry picking moments that the most exciting and beautiful, or you know, emotional look at. And then we're using that as a representation of what happened. And, and so I think my street photography is more, what reality really is. It's people standing on the corner, smoking a cigarette, or it's just someone waiting for a bus or it's, you know, just someone's face.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, and I love that. And then, you know, that's what, you know, excites me, but I can't really do that for the newspaper. I can't go to a protest and turn in a photo of someone standing under a tree, just being bored, you know, cause they'd be like, what the hell is this? You know? And so it's definitely you know, this internal struggle I have at times with journalism and, and just newspapers and media in general and how we use photographs. And you know, there was a big kerfuffle about the photograph from Quebec of, of Angela Merkel kind of, you know, standing over Donald Trump, you know, and, you know, always this real photojournalism was shot by an aide. You know, one of Merkel's aides or whatever, and it's a, you know, propaganda, but it's also a real moment. And so it's like, you know, when it gets down to it, nothing is, is the truth.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know, everything is a shade of, of the truth, but it's also not true, you know? So it's, it's something, once again, we go for round and round and round and round and round, round round hours. But I feel that my street photography is the truth. Yeah. I am also publishing the most, you know, kind of sexy versions of the truth, where the light's nice and the people are interesting, but, but it's what people really look like. And that's what I love about it. And, and now I'm doing a, my next book is going to be on the Oakland Coliseum, which is just funky rundown stadium with a funky fan base. And they're all just really cool. Oakland is an amazing place. And there was this book that was photographed in 1977 called park life by this photographer and Peter Elliott. And he went to Comiskey park in Chicago, where I spent so many days in my youth and he just photographed with a medium format camera, just fans.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And this was before like fans would wear jerseys. It was just kind of your slice of life. You know, sometimes they'd come from church and stuff. And so it was just this amazing book. So I'm trying to like do a book as an homage to that book of the fans at the Oakland Coliseum, because sooner or later they're going to leave that state game, it's gonna be torn down. It's, you know, it's really a dump. And so for me, it's like the perfect medium for, you know, the iPhone square hips. Hipstamatic black and white is the perfect medium for this story. Now it's, it's not, you know, I think I overdid it for a while where I want to do everything with the iPhone. And now I think I'm to the place where I'm kind of cherry picking, what I think is best for the medium and what tool is best for it.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And, and sometimes it's not the best tool and it's definitely something that right now, you know, it's, my enthusiasm is waning a little bit for street photography. Like I went out the other day for a couple hours. I didn't make one photo that I wanted to share. You know, it was just, you know, it just kind of, for me, it just was like, eh, you know, but if I go to a new city then I get a little more excited. Like, you know, whenever I go down LA, I love doing an LA. If I go back to Chicago, it's fun. So I think maybe I'm just getting a little bored with San Francisco, even though it's a really visual place, you know, I'm a creature of habit. I always do the same walk from the same streets and stuff. So maybe I need to mix it up a little bit, but, you know, it's, it's, it's definitely ebbs and flows. My excitement for it. It definitely is, is, is part of my whole process of staying fresh. And, and I, I definitely need it. And, you know, maybe someday I'll find something different. Maybe I'll start doing video or drones or whatever, but at this point, you know, I I'll just stick with the iPhone for now.
BEN BREWER:
It does kind of break down the barrier between, between you and the people that I think that has some, has some power to it.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah, definitely. And, and that's and I've always been lucky enough to work at newspapers that had offices situated in the middle of a vibrant urban area, you know, so I know it's easy for me to, to do street photography in Chicago or San Francisco, but you know, someone who works, you know, Topeka, you know, maybe it's not that easy or, you know, it's like, I've been in some cities where I was like, Oh my God, do you know how in the world am I going to find something to photograph? You know, when there's one person, every block. So, so I know I've been, you know, kind of spoiled the cities I've worked in cause they they've been incredibly visual places.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. So speaking of speaking of cities, you know, obviously the thing we've kind of alluded to throughout this, as, you know, you worked in Chicago area for, you know, 20 plus years. And then, you know, four years ago you, you moved out to San Francisco kind of tell me about the story of, you know, moving out there, your thought process about kind of changing locations, you know, after you've been in one place for so long, because I think that's, that's something a lot of people kind of struggle with and finding photography jobs. It's like, do, do I stay connected in my place or do I seek out, you know, opportunities at different, different newspapers, different cities. So I guess speak to that a little bit.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. Like, like everything else in my life, it's a fluke it's it was a fluke to get the job in San Francisco. It just was something that the universe presented to me, you know, I was invited to go to the national geographic seminar, which is every January, it's like an invite only thing move through through all the top photographers, get to go, you know, and, and listen to you know, some of the top presentations in the country. And I love it. You know, it's like all my friends are there. And so after the day long presentations, they always have this like happy hour. And so I was flittering around being a social butterfly and, you know, getting a little drunk. And at one point I had to head to the little boys room and as I I'm heading to the bathroom Todd Heisler who works at the New York times now, but I used to work with him back in Chicago.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
He, he was heading out the door. He was like, Oh, Hey Scott, I'm going out to dinner with a bunch of people I worked at in Denver at the Rocky mountain news. Do you want to come with? And I'm like, yeah, absolutely. So I went out to dinner and it was him and Sonia [inaudible] and I think Matt McClain was there. And then Judy Walgren, who was one of the editors at the paper was then the director of tagged at San Francisco Chronicle. And Judy is this amazing force of nature, just a super talented and, and just like a super dynamic balls to the wall, aggressive woman. And, you know, I just, like, I just loved talking to her. And at some point, you know, after like a couple bottles of wine, she was like, Hey Strazzante, you know, how do you like Chicago?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
They're like, Hey, it's okay, I'm getting a little bit bored. And she's like, well, you should come work for me in San Francisco. And I'm like, sure, sounds great. You know, and, and I thought maybe it was just kind of talk over, you know, over wine and stuff, but, you know, she followed up and, and, you know, it just seemed right. My daughter at the time was a freshman at UCLA and just kind of, there were some internal strife and struggles I was having at the Tribune, nothing major, but it was just something that was bugging me a little bit. So it just, everything seemed to turn on. And, and I had relatives in Southern California as a kid, and I spent a lot of time in California. I loved California. And I always thought I would live in LA someday, never thought about the Bay area, but it just seemed like seemed right.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And so, you know, that was January of 2014. And I ended up starting in San Francisco in July of 2014. And, you know, it was a big shock. People in Chicago were like, wow, you know, we never thought you'd leave Chicago. The Chicago Tribune used to be a paper that you would go to and you'd retire at. And, you know, and I, I really thought maybe I would someday I would never leave Chicago because I, I, I love Chicago and like Chicago, I still love Chicago, but people in Chicago love Chicago. I was like, it's one of those cities where people who live there just adore their own city, you know? And, and so even though I've traveled the world a ton, you know, I always thought Chicago was one of the best cities in the world. And I still think it is. But when I got to San Francisco, I was just like, Oh, okay.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
This is world-class, you know, you know, and it has it's, you know, San Francisco is also is a mess at the same time, the homelessness and the mental illness and the drug abuse and where my office is at fifth and mission is, you know, just right on the edge of the Tenderloin, which people are just littered on the sidewalks and it's pretty depressing. And, and the kind of the, the separation of wealth and poverty is growing every day. And, and so it's a really fascinating place to work. It's kind of depressing. But also, you know, I have the luxury now I live up in Marin County, which is super nice and beautiful. And so, you know, even though I work in San Francisco, I kind of escaped to this line vacation land every day. And when I go home. And so I'm not like living in San Francisco, you know, it definitely gave me a kickstart to, you know, it's like, once again, it's like, how many times can you shoot the bud Billiken parade?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know, like 17 years in a row or something, you know, it's like, you know, it's like, you just want to look at something different after awhile. And, you know, I think I could've stayed in Chicago and been happy, but, but I definitely needed a career change. And like right now I have no plans of leaving the Chronicle, but who knows, you know, it's like, you know, I, I kind of feel like eventually I'm going to get kicked out of newspapers just because newspapers, you know, are kind of, you know, getting to the point where, you know, it's just not a viable place to live. And I mean, a Bible place to work. And especially when you live in the Bay area, it's like, it's so expensive out here. You definitely, I definitely have to supplement my income with kind of just doing whatever I can, you know, like photo walks or, you know, a little freelance jobs here and there or whatever. I, I doubt I will be at the Chronicle for 13 years. Like I was at the Chicago Tribune, but who knows? I, I still love newspapers.
BEN BREWER:
Yeah. It's kind of, it's kind of being open to opportunity is kind of what it sounds like if I'm here.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. And you know, I'm married, I'm gonna marry a woman. My fiancée is, is like this really someone who is like totally into like, well startups and we should, you know, we should monetize your photography more. And I totally agree with her and, you know, just kind of try to figure out a way, you know, to kind of take advantage of my, for lack of better word, my brand awareness, you know? So it's, it's definitely something I'm trying to do more of. And, and when you're, when you're in the Bay area, you just kind of, you kind of, especially here in Moran, it's like all these people are just like, with these big thoughts, you know, I've always been kind of focused on just my little world, my little photography and never thought about, you know, kind of a wider use for it. And so I think while I'm at the Chronicle, now, I'm still trying to figure out my next step and how to make more money off of my photography. And, you know, it's, it's, it's a struggle, you know, it's just like, you know, people don't want to pay money for photography. So it's, it's, it's the, I know I'm not telling you anything you don't know. And so it's definitely something that I'm hoping to kind of figure
BEN BREWER:
Well, yeah, absolutely. And I think that's a part of the show is, you know, is talking about the real things of like, yeah, it's, it's tough, it's tough to do it. You know, the economics of photography are never really been more challenging than, than this. You know, we've been talking about a lot of your work. This is a good a time as ever to say, you know, on photo forward.media, we will have links to shooting from the hip to common ground. So people can take a look at some of these. And they're both let's see, Common Ground is, is for sale. The book and Shooting From The Hip is coming out shortly, correct?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
No, actually Shooting, Shooting From The Hip's out now. And so, you know, so that one I have a publisher in Chicago, Warren, winter, it's PSG publishing. And so he's been really great to work with. And, you know, my first book I did with the Kickstarter, my second one, we just kind of pre-sold it on his website. And so, yeah. You know, it's CommonGroundthebook.com and shootingfromthehipbook.com and, you know, definitely, you know, if you just Google my name, you know, you would be able to find both of them. And, and so, yeah, we, you know, we'd love to spend a couple more years in San Francisco. So any money that you guys can throw my way would be fantastic.
BEN BREWER:
Oh yeah. Absolutely. People should definitely check those out. And so the last place I want to go is I saw so recently some of your work on on something called 72 hours in, in Bermuda. And that seems, that seems fascinating. I'd love to, I'd love to hear a little bit more about that. Yeah,
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. So, so once again, you know, I was getting ready to shoot a 49ers game and, and all of a sudden I got a call from this guy, Chuck Fazio. And he said, Oh yeah, I'm, I'm thinking I'm trying to do this travel tourism photo reality show. And I was asking some of my photo friends, I know I need an iPhone photographer and who's the best iPhone photographer in the world. And so Gary Hershorn and John MacDonald who are New York and Washington DC, respectively photographers, really amazing guys. And, you know, they recommended both of them recommended me to Chuck. And so Chuck gave me a call and, and so it's been this kind of long and winding road and then kind of some fits and starts and stuff. But we ended up going down to Bermuda to shoot a pilot for it a couple months ago.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And it's, it's a really interesting concept. So basically it's would be, would be me and Chuck would come into a city and it would basically be servicing the tourism bureaus of a city, say, say the tourism Bureau of a Denver, you know, would have us come in. Like the first two or three days we were in town, you know, we could do workshops or, you know, give talks at schools or something and just kind of do community activities. And then for 72 hours, we would then start a photo contest between me and Chuck and, and, you know, Chuck's a guy who does a lot of drone photography and, you know, he does underwater photography and he's, he's kind of this tourism guy and where I'm more of his down and dirty photo journalist with my black, my street photography. And so we kind of go off for three days and kind of do our own thing at the end of the three days.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
There'll be a gallery show and the community could come and, and people can kind of vote on what they felt the best photos were. And then, so it would be kind of a, you know, an experiential thing for the tourism bureaus in the moment, but then also it will be photographed as kind of a competition, you know, where you kind of all our little struggles and heading off and things that happen and funny things and weird things that happen. And then that would end up being on a kind of, almost like the YouTube channel of a couple of companies right now. I'm not sure which one that are interested in it. So, so it's definitely like, I think one of those things that could be a future path for me of right now, it's just kind of fun. I don't know how I'm going to juggle it with the newspaper job.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
You know, it's like if I have to take off, you know, six months to do this TV shows, like, I don't know how that's going to fly, but, but it's definitely something where, you know, like we've talked about before, like newspapers has a very hard ceiling of how much money I can make and I need to find other income streams. And this definitely would be one, and it would be much more lucrative than my newspaper jobs. So who knows, it might force me into some decisions that I didn't think I was going to make at this point, but, but still it's, it's, it's a fun concept and it's fun that people who do things like this, you know, recommend me and think I'd be good for it. And I do enjoy talking about photography and I love kind of personalizing about it and preaching about it.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
And so I would love to have that kind of venue to be able to, to talk about photography and get people excited about photography, you know, both one-on-one and also kind of in a broader audience. So it definitely has as possibilities. I think it's like a 50, 50 chance of actually happening. But, but it's definitely something that, that, something like that, I think in the future, I would like to do, you know, it would be wonderful to just kind of travel the world and get paid to do it and shoot photographs and would, it would get a lot of fun.
BEN BREWER:
Well, that's, that's such a great concept. And I think it's something about almost kind of community journalism, basically, you know, you have that show at the, at the end, the gallery show and people come in from and see a part of their city that they probably maybe didn't see it, especially through the U and Chuck's eyes. So I think that's that's pretty neat.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah. Yeah. It's, you know, it's kind of a, you know, it's kinda sorta like, you know, what mom workshops, or, you know, Missouri photo workshops do, but a very kind of smaller, more, you know, hopefully personality based thing. Cause chucks Chuck. So he's a wildcard man. He's, he's funny. He's a, he's a, he's a full of life, so that'd be fun to work with him if we, if I can.
BEN BREWER:
It's awesome. Well then fingers crossed for you guys for that. I think that I, I definitely watch it. All right. Awesome. All right. Now we're going to finish, today's interview off with a bit of a lightning round sort of series of questions about photography, you know, personal, work-life a few quick things here and then we'll, we'll sign off and let people know where they can see more of your work. Awesome. All right. What's the one thing in your bag that you don't leave home without a 50 F 1.2 lens. What do you do outside of photography that recharges you
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Now I'm doing yoga. I do yoga. I get up every morning at 6:00 AM and do yoga with my girlfriend. And it's amazing. I've never felt better. It's it's really, you know, if you've never done yoga, you're like, Ooh, yoga, but it's really great workout. And it's really good for you in many, many, many ways.
BEN BREWER:
What drives you and pushes you to be a better visual storyteller?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Yeah, I think it's I'm an attention seeker. I like the attention. So it's like such a bad motivation, but it's still kind of, you know, goes back to my childhood of like, just kind of having older siblings who kind of sucked up all the bandwidth of my parents and, you know, I just need, I need people to look at my work. So it's, you know, I know that there's benefits to it. And I know that, you know, it's like, it's, it's a flaw that is a positive flaw, you know, like it doesn't hurt anyone and it's good for a lot of people, but still, I think it, it's hard. It's kind of a little, a little bit
BEN BREWER:
There's no shame in that. Having a little bit of an ego is a good thing, I think. And last, what advice would you give to a student graduating from university that wants to pursue a career in, in news or photography?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
I hope at this point you would take business classes and, you know, it's like, it's something, the business side of my career is something that I ignored for a long, long time. And it's something that, that I wish I wouldn't have. And so of course, you know, photograph as much as you can and, and, you know, try to have personal projects, but when it comes down to it, try to find a way to make money off of it. And, you know, and if you can't just have it be a house
BEN BREWER:
It's a real, it's the real world. So where can people see more of your work online and where can they connect with you?
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
Well, pretty much everything's my name. So Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, it's @scottstrazzante And you know, the easiest way probably is just a, you know, what, my name, the old Googler and everything will pop up right away. And, and I am totally open for people reaching out to me. My email is sstrazzante@SFchronicle.com. If you have any questions or you just want to, you know, show me some work, I just love talking to people about photography. If you want to do something more formal, you know, I offer mentoring services for a, a slight fee. And so I, I enjoy trying to help photographers with their long-term projects or just kind of getting out of a rut. So that's something too. So it's like, whatever you need, I'm kind of like a full service photo guy. So be more than happy to do stuff, whatever you need, just reach out to me. And I, I just love the interaction
BEN BREWER:
Well, that's, that's really generous. Thanks. Thanks so much, Scott.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
My pleasure, man. Thanks for having me. It's been a blast. Yeah.
BEN BREWER:
Well, thanks for coming on the show. And we covered a lot of, a lot of common ground here and forward to hopefully talking more in the future.
SCOTT STRAZZANTE:
It sounds awesome. And thanks again.