Meet Angel Ceballos | Photographer & Indie Label Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Angel Ceballos and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Angel, what role has risk played in your life or career?
My concept of a ‘risk’ has evolved over time, but due to the ever present need for me to take them, in general, they seem small to me. (The yardstick changes of course if the scenario is survival related, impacts others – etc)

“Learn from your mistakes” is a colloquialism for a reason. People can strive too hard for perfection if they are fearful of encountering mistakes because they may feel that mistakes or failures reflect poorly on their talents. This can result in avoiding risks in order to take the smoothest possible path.

Risks can open up a whole new path! Mistakes can be gifts. They make you smart. Of course, some mistakes can cause damage. Be disciplined about burning them off after you’ve learned from them so they don’t add weight on your spine.

Sometimes the benefit of risks is purely the experience. Sometimes you benefit with profit, and sometimes you benefit with an amazing life experience that fills you with adventure, joy and fulfillment. Looking back, I personally prefer the latter!

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I’m a photographer and I specialize in portraits of musicians. I’ve taken portraits of over 200 musicians, most of this during the years of 2006- 2018. I have worked with legends like The Slits, Daniel Johnston, Jello Biafra, Wire and I’ve worked with artists before they broke out such as Foxygen, Zola Jesus, Perfume Genius. I have toured with bands, done documentary work and music videos. I also own an independent record label, Yellow Year Records (Foie Gras, Tele Novella, Ben Browning, Kim Anh are a few of the artists on the label). But that’s a story for another time.

——-How did I get started?—–

I’ve been addicted to music since childhood. The memory of putting on my first record is vivid to this day. I was 3 years old, and it was a Dionne Warwick 45. I was fortunate to grow up when Rolling Stone magazine was in its heyday, MTV & Night Flight were TV staples, amazing music was everywhere and building stories with visuals. My mom had hundreds of records and they weren’t tucked into shelves; they lined our living room wall top to bottom (album art on display) with the surplus of records in rows on the floor. With a single mom, I was usually home alone and playing records for hours and hours and diving into all the fantasy in visuals of the album artwork was my raison d’etre!
There came a point in time during my creative exploration as a photographer where it was becoming dull. I decided to shift my creative focus toward one of my dominant passions which was /is music.

In the early 2000s, there was a pattern of apathy and boredom that seemed to loom in band press photos and album covers. Every photo was on a rooftop, against a brick wall, in a stairwell. Everyone lined up with serious looks on their faces. The photos didn’t tell me anything about the artist or their music. And since they all looked the same, there was nothing unique that intrigued me to listen to their music – especially from a band I’d never heard of. The album covers were worse, usually containing zero photos. Go and take a look at the Ice Cream Castle album cover by The Time. Do you know what the band sounds like by looking at this? Maybe not, but do you want to know what they sound like? HELL YES!

I wanted to create images that would tell you who the artist is, or how they want you to perceive them, or that intrigued you enough to make you curious. Whether this was done through candids, classic portraiture, or theatre, I was compelled beyond reason.

When I started working with musicians, it was at a time when the world was transitioning from major labels as the norm to independent labels as the norm. Independent artists were popping up like mushrooms. Social media as we know it today was non-existent, however indie labels were multiplying and hunting down unknown artists through the few online outlets we had (e.g. ‘MySpace’).

I had already done a few shoots with bands and been in several print outlets. The pickle was, these bands had come to me directly, I didn’t have a consistent way to solicit shoots. I discovered this blog online called The Portable Infinite. It had candid interviews with musicians. I noticed that over the years it had a trend of interviews with artists before they ‘made it big’ which lent itself to more interesting interviews. The writing was excellent, however the interviews either didn’t have any photos or they had blurry live photos.

I reached out to the blog owner, LA based author Alexander Laurence, and proposed a partnership whereby I would take portraits of the artists he interviewed or reviewed. I would shoot them if they were stopping in Seattle on tour. He was open to the idea, so I hired a friend (she funnily enough is a musician) to give the blog a UX facelift, so it looked more professional and was easier to navigate.

At this time in our culture, print was still very much alive but waning. Magazines were getting thinner. Some people didn’t quite know what a blog was. The concept back then of a blog or having promotion online was considered undistinguished, small fry, insignificant. It was like pulling teeth to get agreement on a shoot that wasn’t planned for print.

Many times, we’d have confirmation on a shoot, then when the artist or sometimes even just one member of a band found out it was for a blog, they would back out with me standing there camera in hand. Often, I would be in the green room selling them on the shoot, convincing them or their PR agent or manager.

This might seem bizarre in today’s culture where a new or unknown band turns down a promo photoshoot. But back then, the dynamic was that we were somehow using them. In reality, we were doing this for them through a love of music and art. Giving them beautiful photos where they had none. We weren’t getting paid for this and in fact I spent money on all my shoots. My goal with these shoots was to get images that the band could feel proud of and use for their own promotion.

I would do photoshoots in the greenrooms before a performance and sometimes I’d only have ~10 minutes to shoot a band, but I wanted them to look professional and high quality. I’d bring studio lights, backdrops, scene dressings, concepts, I would even make custom props. An artist or band would come in with their walls up and they’d soon transform into relaxed and jubilant collaborators. Some of these backstage shoots have become album covers, billboards, one artist even used the shoot concept to name his tour (Kool Keith: “Strawberries and Cream Tour” ) and produced stage backdrops.)

Once I had enough shoots under my belt, I printed a paperback photobook to use as a portfolio. Alexander Laurence had the brilliant idea of taking the book to shows. He would give it to band to leaf through, they would see photos of their friends and become excited to work with me.

While these quick and dirty shoots were not high art, the quality at that time, was. Bands were using the photos everywhere. The dynamics shifted and bands started coming in and telling me that they were fans of mine! Or how much they have been wanting to work with me. And what’s more, these shoots were fun! To this day, bands still tell me that they hate photoshoots, and this not only didn’t feel like work, but was the most fun they’ve had doing a shoot. Part of this is the amount of energy I put into the artists before we’ve even met and part of this is the amount of energy I put into them while we shoot.

I became known for my nontraditional portraits. Back then, a band sitting around a birthday cake throwing confetti wasn’t being done. These photos stood out pretty starkly. We started seeing other photographers copying and duplicating my shoots. For several years I was shooting up to 5 bands a week. My photos eventually saturated the market so much that I was getting photo credits for photos I didn’t even take!
As the years have gone on and I transitioned from these backstage shoots to formally hired and scheduled shoots, my approach at studying the artist, creating a personal connection and investing my energy into them remains as much of a vital tool as my camera.

—– Challenges—–
My personal experience straddles multiple cultural transitions that are pretty major. In the beginning, I was using film only, phones were used for communication, sexism was the public default and I was navigating the aforementioned major-to-indie, print-to-online, and social media ascension.
With the evolution of technology there was a particular side effect that had a downstream impact to us professional photographers that was felt in myriad ways; The concept of a photographer changed from someone who was an artist – to someone with a camera. The introduction of cameras on phones and sublimation of the digital camera seemed to change photography from a fringe culture to a mainstream culture. Social media was another technology driven challenge. My point of view is scarce – I have no delusions there – but it’s just not my bag.
Photographers that started within the last decade likely will not have experienced some of the same challenges, but the wheel of time has brought them many different challenges!

I was diagnosed with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) late in life. Having ASD is and has been one of my greatest assets. And post diagnosis, I have the gift of hindsight – (cue George Benson!).

There are some challenges that are amplified by my being neurodivergent. A lack of structure, social dynamics, meeting new people several times a week, being around groups of strangers and enduring sensory overload are all difficult for me. There are also concepts that are intrinsic in any profession that a neurotypical brain automatically recognizes and navigates. The concepts of networking, competition, ego, hierarchy, underlying nuance, dishonesty aren’t in my default comprehension of present reality. Because of this, I’ve hit a surfeit of confusing and sometimes upsetting scenarios.

On the flipside, and in my opinion, the better side 😊 I’m uninterested in what other people think about me so I’m not weighed down with social pressures and this allows my creativity to roam. I’m blind to boundaries which results in my taking risks as commonplace. My feelings don’t get hurt if a client doesn’t like an idea. When I say I’m going to do something, I mean it. I genuinely care about the artists I work with as humans and want to create something with them and for them – and I think the client feels this.

While music is one of my greatest passions, working in this industry is riddled with difficulty. Though, I’m not sure anything in life comes easy to a 5 ft tall woman working in any male dominated field. Sometimes it’s hard to measure if some of the negative experiences are just the business in general or a result of an intersectionality of sexism and neurodivergence.

—–Lessons—–
[Some of the valuable lessons I’ve learned:]

 Say yes.
 Ask.
 Break the rules. “If you see a boundary, eat a boundary and wash it down with a cup of hot steamin’ rules!”
 You don’t have to do everything. Focus on what you are good at and recruit people who are good at the other things.
 Do things you don’t know how to do. There are so many times I’ve started a pitch with “I don’t know how to do this, but I want to make XYZ happen”. I’ve tried numerous bizarre and absurd things that actually panned out! Of course, a bunch of them didn’t, but hey whaddya gonna do?
 Trust the first red flag, let it go, and move on. There is always another opportunity, even if you wanted this one so badly. (Believe me, I get it, I’ve been there!)

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, I’m more of a find fashion, loaf, eat and watch the world around me traveler. However this question immediately made me scream THE MAGIC CASTLE!! (You do need a member to bring you.) The Magic Castle is so wonderful. I’ve only been once. I was asked to be a magician’s assistant. Then the magician proceeded to eat tons and tons of needles! Oh my gosh. But everything about that place was magical for me.

Also if possible, visit Tony Swatton’s studio. It’s overwhelming and wonderful. Although, the last time I was there was before he was on television so I ‘m not sure if it’s changed but I was like a kid in a candy store.

If my friend requested to see a lot though, I’d dive into https://www.atlasobscura.com/things-to-do/los-angeles-california and curate something for both of us to explore on the weirder and darker side.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I tend to get wild hairs in abundance. Recurrently, this is motivated not by an outcome of cold hard cash or recognition, but purely by an outcome of transforming fantasy into reality.

Muses are everywhere and in everything. Over the years, I have had models and artists that I’ve worked with repeatedly on projects. They’ve blessed me with their contributions working together to build little worlds. Putting trust, talent and hard work into a silly idea just for fun.

I have been overwhelmed with opportunities given to me by others with their collaboration. People who are weirdos like me and for some reason, want to do a thing, just to make a thing! From recreating Tura Satana’s iconic scenes in Russ Meyer’s “Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill!” to Pan the Greek god of nature complete with fully functioning goat legs, to building custom ViewMaster reels. With these adventurous souls, I was able to create for the sake of creating. This gave me freedom from rules and taught me that I personally need a connection with my subjects.

Website: http://robotangel.com