Photographer: Jessica Lark

When did you know the photography/video industry was for you?

I still don’t know that the photography and video industry is for me… it’s a dialect, maybe even a language, but it isn’t the message itself.  I find that certain parts of what I have to say are translated better visually, others verbally through writing, or speaking,  photography and video really satisfy my tribe and communal needs, of creating collaborative art with other artists towards a common vision.  Its a dance between myself, hair and makeup, the models, the viewer, and I love the intimacy of that… but something I can say better through painting, through sculpture, through my books.  A lot of the time I need to sit with the work, and keep my hands in it a long time before even I know what I’m trying to say.  

How did you get your current position?

I think we are all born at the beginning of our paths, some of need several lifetimes to reach our destiny and destination.  The need to say things has always been deep seeded in my psyche.  I believe everyone has a voice essential to the symphony that is humanity’s collective consciousness.  For a long time ego got very caught up in the “position” and the “stature”.  I was hard pressed to earn the accolades of award winning, of entrepreneur and CEO, of key note speaker, and best selling author.  To rub shoulders with those I considered the top of the game and be counted among them as equals… Now I simply want to create because there are worlds and creatures and emotions within me, that I love so dearly, and can not share with the world unless I manifest it outside myself.  My current position is not one of accomplishment in the industry, wealth, success, or stature… Im very happy to work quietly and privately one on one and in collective smaller groups helping people chase their dreams and accomplishments.  Hopefully along the way it gives them the insight into themselves to start creating for and from themselves, and that is where the artistry really lives.  Its an act of creation for creation sake.  For me that is a sort of divinity.  I want to touch as many people to that center as I can, but I think we need to accomplish what we think we’re supposed to before we stand at a place that we understand its more than that.  

How did your training or schooling prepare you for your job?

I am absolutely a trial by fire kind of girl, I’m willing to put in the learning hours and mistakes, and practice, and I have a voracious appetite for learning, and will devour videos, classes, books, whatever I can get my hands on that moves me from where I am to where I want to be.  I have had some amazing mentors, some idols and inspiration, and I have worked when I was sick, tired, sore, heartbroken, poor, to move through to what my purpose is.  While I do make good money from my craft, it has never been a job, and anytime it has started to feel like one I have left where I was and realigned into purpose. 

What was the greatest obstacle you had to overcome in pursuing your career?

Everyones biggest obstacle is Ego, that of others around them, and their own.  I still struggle with mine, though the recognition that any negativity, pushback, or closed doors from others is simply them residing in fear and ego themselves, has kept me from becoming bitter, upset, or frustrated.  

Who would you name as the most influential person in shaping your career?Why?

Myself.  I have had amazing mentors, teachers, associates, support systems, and all of them have mattered, immensely.  At the end of the day though, and the beginning it’s myself, it’s yourself.  We wake up and fall asleep with our own minds, we are the ones that have to do the work.  We’re taught that its ego or shameful to celebrate ourselves, but it’s not, it’s love.  It’s necessary.  I create because I have something to say… Somedays I’m not even sure what it is, but I know its in there, waiting for me.  I’m inspired by artists, by dancers and dress makers, by musicians, and playwrights, and architects, and children with big imaginations, and nature, and movies, and old museums, and libraries, and people in their everyday lives… but at the end of the inspiration it’s up to me how I see, convey, and share that with the world.  

If you could be compensated for your work with something other than money, what would it be?

I have always found time to be our most valuable currency, if I could earn time I would, and since time is both finite, and unknown how much we have left, in many ways I am trading my art for more time.  I will not exist forever, but my work can touch people for me long after I cease to exist. If it entertains, or inspires people after my death then it was a good way to spend my time.

Find more of Jessica’s work at:

www.instagram.com/TheReliquarian
www.facebook.com/TheReliquarian
www.theReliquarian.com
www.JessicaLark.com
www.facebook.com/JessicaLark
www.instagram.com/JessicaLarkPhotography