An interview with Brianna Lopez
Brianna is a photographer, filmmaker and writer, from Camden New Jersey currently operating bicoastally in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. She is a self taught visual storyteller with a focus on environmental and fine art photography. She developed a travel photography workshop called I Belong Nowhere, where she educates and inspires young adults to travel the world, learn photography and progress towards self awareness and well being.
She obtained her BA in English Writers Track from West Chester University picking up photography and film during her senior year. Although she did not go to school for either, Brianna has extensive experience in production and photography, almost never putting her camera down. She eventually started a production company called As Is. She is a dynamic spirit whose goal is to create beautiful, but more importantly, emotionally impactful imagery that is timeless. She is an educator, expedition leader, workshop instructor and mentor. Brianna has taught workshops at Canon Hollywood and Canon Burbank and in 2021 she taught an advanced photography course at Venice Arts in Los Angeles, CA.
In 2018 Brianna led her first photography workshops with National Geographic’s student expeditions in New York city, along with teaching a pre-college course in film and photography in Tokyo, Japan for Putney Student Travel. For the next few years she would lead expeditions for National Geographic Student Expeditions in New York, Japan and Yellowstone National Park. When Brianna is not solo traveling around the world, and contemplating her next adventure, she is developing I Belong Nowhere and running her photography and production company.
What got you into travel photography?? What has been your favorite place to photograph??
Traveling came first. I was granted the opportunity to travel to Paris when I was 16 and that changed the entire trajectory of my life. In my early 20’s I started to fly a lot and became extremely curious about the world although I was obsessed with the world since I could remember. I watched documentary after documentary and films remembering the feeling of exploration and new cultures and people. I wanted to see and touch everything that was different from me. I grew up in Camden, New Jersey and to this day unfortunately it looks the same. This urge to explore has always been with me. When I became a photographer during my last year of college photography began to carve out a new road for me that at first primarily included working with artists and beginning the long journey of mastering to see. It wasn’t until I moved to CA that travel photography began to find me. I dedicated myself to exploring and now a camera was involved so the two so beautifully came together and I have not looked back. Because I feel like I belong nowhere, my love for earth and nature has brought me to my greatest victories and at times my greatest defeats which are all necessary for these roads less traveled. My favorite place that I’ve photographed so far has been Cuba. I can still feel the feelings of when I first got off the plane and how I was treated immediately. I’ve never been so welcomed or felt so at home. Immediately I was given spiritual permission to see and feel what I wanted, and this can be seen in the images I made there. It’s quite indescribable but I know that I was welcomed fully. I was one with the camera in Cuba and did not hesitate to make art in collaboration with all those I came into contact with. The beauty of such a place I don’t think could be replicated so the images I made there will always be my favorite.
Many of your travel photographs are beautiful portraits, how do you approach someone to take their photo while traveling when there might be a language barrier?
This question is difficult because there is no formula just as every human is different. It’s not necessarily how I approach someone but more so the vibe that’s established before that moment even takes place. Of course, there are instances where I ask, but there are many where I am given permission in other ways like eye contact, a smile, a gesture that indicates it’s okay for me to do so. Body language and emotional intelligence go much further for me than language barrier because as humans we are granted the gift of communication beyond language. Also when anywhere, I do my best to learn the basics like hi, thank you, etc.. Also, the camera does a lot of the talking for me. Sometimes I just raise my camera to my eye and people will pause and be just in time for us to see one another. This is extremely deep for me because photography is a byproduct to what is actually taking place. I have images of humans I will never see again, stored in a memory bank not only internally but for forever. This experience I believe is very personal to each image maker as there is no right or wrong answer, you just do it.
Tell us about the 'I Belong Nowhere' Workshops and what they mean to you??
I Belong Nowhere has been in the making since I picked up the camera. Even then I knew freedom was something that unfortunately was hard to find and I found it through the work I was doing. I always knew I'd be an educator, but it wasn't until I started to lead expeditions with National Geographic in 2018 that I Belong Nowhere took root. I partnered with a photography program in Los Angeles called Las Fotos Project and there I was able to host my first workshops. My first partner free workshop will take place early fall of this year in Big Sur, CA. The true purpose of this workshop is to experience nature and how it can show us how to be free. The major components of the workshop are travel, photography and environmental psychology.
What artists inspire you?
I don't really have artists that I look to for inspiration because nature is what does it for me. However I am inspired by many things like art, nature, solo travel, spiritually, etc… I find all artists inspirational because expressing what you see and feel in an external way is inspiring and it takes a lot of deprogramming to get to that point for some. I feel like everything is art, but we’ve been taught that it is limited to painting, photography, film, fashion, etc… The most amazing art to me are the shapes and sounds I'm gifted to witness while I'm exploring. To me earth is the greatest artist.
How do you approach your video projects as compared to still photography projects?
Great question. I have a business in both photography and production, however I had a much more formal education in filmmaking than photography because I was lucky enough to have a mentor when I began as a filmmaker. I approach my video projects much more “seriously” because of all the moving parts that have to happen in comparison to my photography projects. I have to do much more pre production and usually have to hire a team. The workload in video production is also more significant because there are various departments required to make it function as a whole. I produce, direct, DP, camera operate and edit a lot of my video projects as well as have a crew on the ground when necessary. Photography and video are two very different things that I blended the lines with in the beginning up until recently. Now that I have a much better understanding of the two, I am a lot more confident in how I approach them. My passion indefinitely lives deeper in photography because when I'm traveling solo it doesn't require as much gear or preparation in comparison to video.