Career - Alan Schaller - From Musician to Photographer
There is a lot to learn from the 31-year-old Alan Schaller, who transformed his career from a surviving musician to a renowned photographer. This is quite a feat since the market for photographers is one of the most competitive. Are we not all photographers to a certain extent nowadays?
TRANSITION
He studied music at the university and wrote music for television and film after graduating. After a while, he thought he needed a break from music. This form of career fatigue came quite early at 25. He compared his market positioning as a musician to "the bicycle everybody rides to go wherever they want ". Obviously, he felt neither appreciation nor purpose in what he was doing. He needed a hobby to linking up with his inner flow. A young woman interested in photography showed him the ropes. He first picked up a camera in 2015 and connected with street photography. And then he literally went underground. He started to take black and white pictures of the London Underground and put them on Instagram. They were noted, and this led to his first assignment as a photographer. This was within a year since he first picked up a camera. He was still working as a musician then. One assignment led to another and so he transitioned to a professional photographer.
Alan Schaller - Streets in Mind - 5 minutes
INGREDIENTS OF SUCCESS
Alan is talented in whatever it takes to shoot excellent photos, but what is his secret sauce? He does not keep the ingredients a secret. You can find quite some videos on YouTube. You see some links below. The most biographical I found is "Streets in Mind" produced by SmugMug Films.
So what is he doing? He shoots in black and white only, focuses on people in context with an abstract and esthetic style.
For those of you who are deeper into photography, he uses Leica M Cameras with various lenses but preferably a 24 mm. I have seen shots of him taken with a 16mm up to 90mm, all in all, classic rangefinder.
So his a clear focus, keeping the technical side simple, shooting monochrome and people in the context in an abstract way.
When he works a specific project, he typically limits himself to one particular location or a single focal length. This helps him to cut down on the chaos of a big city.
One last thing. He is telling stories with his pictures that do not need a verbal explanation. Music and photography are storytelling. His background in music taught him the importance of narrative in photography.
"You have to go where the pictures are! "- Alan Schaller
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
So what did he accomplish besides becoming well known as a photographer with a distinct signature. That Leica chose him as Leica Ambassador is a logical step with his deep connection to using the only dedicated monochrome camera on the market. In addition, he is the Founder of Candela Podcast and Co-Founder of the largest street photography channel on Instagram. Street Photo International currently has over 1.3 million subscribers.
Summarizing, Alan found his Ikigai (Reason for being) as a professional photographer. What he loves is good at, the world needs from him and what he gets paid to meet and reinforce each other.
Career Inspirations - Summary
Go with your flow and establish your Ikigai
Have a clear focus and practice simplicity
Clarify your professional signature
Look for a market niche and stay with it
Focus on the moment - Be present
Credits - Links
Alan Schaller - Biography http://alanschaller.com/biography
Alan Schaller - Homepage http://alanschaller.com/homepagealanschaller
Alan Schaller - Instagramm https://www.instagram.com/alan_schaller/
Alan Schaller - Streets in Mind - SmugMug Films. YouTube https://youtu.be/v4H6eWEdGLM
Candela Podcast Instagram https://www.instagram.com/CandelaPodcast/
Leica Conversations: Modern Monochrome with Alan Schaller. YouTube https://youtu.be/vrYfCr1Cmo8
Mogi, Ken (2017). The little book of Ikigai. Great Britain: Quercus Editions Ltd.
Street Photo International https://www.instagram.com/StreetPhotographyInternational/
The Liberation of Limitation - with Alan Schaller. YouTube https://youtu.be/ky7seh-WN8w
The many Shades of Alan Schaller - The Leica Camera Blog https://www.leica-camera.blog/2017/09/11/many-shades-life/
