Meet Aidan Wood | Filmmaker and Photographer

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

Hi Aidan, why did you pursue a creative career?
I was very fortunate to grow up in a creative household. With my father being a painter and my mother a writer, I was always accustomed to the idea of pursuing a life as an artist. From an early age, I immersed myself in everything from painting and writing to fashion, photography, and eventually filmmaking, which felt like an amalgamation of all of those interests into one.

That being said, there were prolonged periods in which I deviated from the artistic path — a subconscious attempt to find meaning and identity within myself. At one point, I was a deeply committed soccer player, convinced I would become the next Mia Hamm. But when it came time to apply to college, I ultimately found myself drawn back to the arts, because I wanted to pursue a profession that enabled all of my interests and invited lived experiences.

Ultimately, it was filmmaking and photography that truly encouraged my curiosity and unrelenting pursuit of self-discovery. I realized that I find the most fulfillment through connecting with others, something I do best through the act of creation. To me, being a professional filmmaker and photographer means committing yourself to a lifelong outlet for self-expression and connection through your work — and I simply couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My mom used to take holiday pictures of my brother and me every year to put on postcards she’d send to family and friends. I remember standing in front of the lens as she encouraged us to “look like you love each other,” while all I wanted was to get my hands on the camera myself. When she finally let me look through the viewfinder, I was absolutely enchanted.

I still find it hard to put into words why I feel so gravitationally pulled toward photographs. I think it’s because they are my way of communicating — almost like a language in themselves. I’m fascinated by how a photograph of something seemingly mundane can say entirely different things to different people, how a single image can hold emotion, memory, and interpretation all at once. Photography became my way of understanding both myself and the people around me, a means of preserving feelings and lived experiences that words alone often can’t fully capture.

To this day, I am fixated on capturing everyday life. I was never really into fantasy books or cartoons as a kid. I always wanted the real stuff, which ultimately led me to record nearly everything on my iPod touch, often accompanied by a squeaky David Attenborough-like narration. This fixation later manifested itself in documentary filmmaking when I was tasked with making a short documentary for a high school video assignment. It was March of 2020, and COVID had just broken out. My family decided to take remote school from my grandparent’s house in Florida, and I began recording them for a video assignment, intending to observe my grandfather’s day-to-day life as a blind Navy veteran. After a few days of filming and observing my grandmother make him salami sandwiches and read him the assembly directions as he blindly repaired a rocking chair outside, a story beyond his just his struggle began to peek through. To my surprise, after piecing all of the footage together through a precarious edit, the end product was a love story.

It’s this spontaneity that keeps me inspired with all of my work. I learned to follow my curiosity, even if it led me through trial and error. My biggest takeaway has been to embrace unpredictability, and that underneath many instances of failure or success is a story that wants to be heard.
As far as what I’d want the world to know about me, doubt is a constant struggle for me, and probably always will be. But rather than seeing it as debilitating, I’ve come to view it as something powerful in my attempts to overcome it—whether professionally or through my work. Every great story involves conflict and uncertainty, and I believe strength can emerge from doubt; it’s often where the most meaningful stories reveal themselves, including your own. Whenever I face a challenge, I remind myself that spontaneity and uncertainty can become creative resources, guiding you toward moments and truths you could never fully plan for.

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?
Funnily enough, my best friend from childhood did just visit me in LA– and it being her very first time in California, originally being from New York, I had to show her a good time. While there are too many things I could recommend, I’ll list my top three. To start the day, we walked to Venice Beach from my little Bungalow on Ocean Avenue. Venice has always been my favorite place in LA because it feels so uniquely Californian, but with a twinge of the New York walking culture and eccentric personalities that I’m all too familiar with. So, of course, I moved there immediately after finishing my degree.

Every morning, I would grab coffee at Canal Market next door, hang out in the outdoor area, then get a free refill before walking to the beach. I always find myself stopping by the skatepark to watch the skateboarders, along with all the tourists.

Topanga Lookout Trail is another must-do for me. I had never experienced a view like that in my life, and it honestly never gets old. The first time I drove up to Topanga Lookout Trail and got my first aerial view of the city, it all finally clicked for me.

Last but not least, El Coyote has to be my favorite dining establishment. The green corn tamale speaks for itself.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I only just earned my degree from film school in December, and I can’t help but feel overwhelmed by the long road ahead of me. But when I look back at some of my biggest accomplishments, the ones I’m most proud of are the ones I can’t quite put on a résumé. Over the past few years, I’ve been granted incredible opportunities, like shooting NYFW at 19 and, that same year, the Met Gala — both huge highlights of my career so far.

Somehow, the hardest part wasn’t photographing celebrities I grew up admiring, but finding the confidence to say yes in the first place and believe I was capable. I remember the first time I was asked to be the cinematographer on a thesis project at school. I was a sophomore and barely knew anything beyond my DSLR. My immediate reaction was that I couldn’t do it — that it was too much responsibility, that I wasn’t ready.

My mom immediately shook some sense into me. She told me that if a guy with the exact same level of experience had been offered that opportunity, he likely wouldn’t hesitate to say yes. Women are seemingly conditioned to feel 150 percent certain before taking the same leap, while men, particularly in film, are encouraged to figure it out as they go. Her belief in me helped me start believing in myself, and ultimately gave me the confidence to pursue cinematography in a field that is still deeply male-dominated. Since then, I’ve worked as a director of photography on countless projects and have ultimately found confidence in what I love to do most, which is perhaps my greatest accomplishment of all. I truly couldn’t have done it without my mom and her constant encouragement and support.

Website: https://aidanwoodvideo.com/

Instagram: @aidangracewood

Linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/in/aidan-grace-wood-b76975205