Success Lies Within Yourself: Interview with Frank Diamond, the Spanish Artistic Photographer
Frank Diamond is a talented Spanish artistic photographer who specializes in photomontage. He has had several international exhibitions and was featured in publications such as Musée Magazine, Mystery Tribune, HUF Magazine, and Kluid Magazine.
Frank’s impressive portfolio has an artistic touch and absolutely masters the photomontage technique. He enjoys every part of his work, from developing concepts to post-processing. Frank’s constant experiments, deep mindset, and artistic philosophy are so inspiring that we asked him to share some professional insights and personal thoughts.
On personal story and background
Since I was a child, I have had an interest in creativity and saw life differently than the rest of the people who surrounded me. I could listen to music with my headphones and my eyes closed, imagining a magical world where I could create stories through drawing. Later on, photography helped me to discover and awaken the creative side of my personality.
With my very first savings, I bought a reflex camera to be able to photograph with my friend. She was so passionate about photography and photoshop editing that it sparked my interest in the field. Back then, I mostly posed as a model for her. Years later, I decided to experiment with my camera and began to take references from all those photographers I had worked with as a model. Their influence, along with my passion for drawing, helped me to create a personal style that I couldn’t imagine I would be able to develop.
Firstly, I created self-portraits to improve my personal style of photography. Yet, I wanted to get complete control of the staging, so I finally decided to photograph other people. In 2017, I published a book called Instinct with photomontages of mythological creatures and poetry.
With this book, I wanted to record a stage of my childhood in which I started drawing magical worlds with mermaids and centaurs.
On recent projects
I am currently working on a project called Circus. It represents a life-size traveling circus. The idea of the project is to show the fear children feel toward clowns and everything that surrounds them. Within this project, I have a team of people that work with me on costumes and decorations, helping me to grow as an artist. I hope to present Circus in an art gallery in Barcelona as an exhibition of photographs and project decorations. The dates will be announced shortly on my social media pages, so if you happen to be in Barcelona, you should come see it.
My recent projects gave me an incredible opportunity for personal growth. I never thought I could build a project from the initial idea to the last detail. I feel fortunate to have a great team — they are my friends and my family. Without them, I could not build my career, so I will always be grateful to them.
On creative process
Usually, I would describe my creative process as giving shape to ideas in my head. I look for words that can define an idea, and associations with objects that represent the words. In this way, I’m able to create a story. Then, I create a sketch to illustrate the concept, costumes, decorations, and the ideal location. Only after this I feel ready to start a photo shoot.
On personal style
My photography has a peculiar style since I feel a strong connection with nature. I’m not just trying to convey any messages in the photographs. Through my works, you can appreciate the passage of time, melancholy, romanticism, and drama. My personal aesthetic is based on textures that help me create worn-looking photographs and merge photography with painting. For example, in the Pandemonium project, I painted several canvases with oil and then photographed the paintings, combining both paintings and photographs.
On inspiration
I use photography to express myself, and I will continue creating images as long as I have something to tell. My background determined me as a photographer, and this personal history inspires me to photograph. Apart from it, there are a lot of places where I look for inspiration, but music and cinema are what I like most.
On following trends
I am very disconnected from current trends and don’t limit myself to them. Trends are relative, as well as success — one day, you are on everyone’s lips, and tomorrow no one is interested in you. True success lies within oneself. That is why I create photographs for myself, although I recognize that a part of me feels indebted to the world. I can’t help but feel that I must show my art to the public to contribute something that can inspire other people or help them see other photography concepts.
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