Meet Holland Clement | Commercial Lifestyle Photographer and Director

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

Hi Holland, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
I’ve admittedly never considered myself a risk taker – certainly not in the classical sense that often comes with a connotation of recklessness. Most of my risk taking from a business perspective has been calculated, considered over time, and weighed against a massive amount of introspection and purposeful self-awareness. From there, I brought on risk incrementally. I didn’t just quit my job on a whim to pursue the arts. I developed my abilities on nights and weekends, transitioned into part-time for 6 months, and then, went full-time into freelancing. Risk, when approached correctly, can be immensely gratifying.

From a more practical application, I believe in order to be good at something, you have to risk being terrible at it first. At a time where attention spans are so incredibly short and immediate gratification drives our society, being bad at something when you desperately want to be good at it can be agonizing. That risk must however be taken to progress and grow.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
In the last 10 years, I’ve explored interests in a range of art forms: music, songwriting, screenwriting, acting, improv, directing, cinematography, and photography. I enjoy learning, and when I find something that interests me, I do my utmost to become proficient in it. Over time, I hope to continue evolving into a well-rounded artist who gets to play in various different mediums. I believe that would make for a fairly entertaining career.

That being said, I am often somewhat insecure about my art, vision, abilities, and etc. I don’t mind being transparent about it. While I could let insecurity cripple my aspirations, I think it has been the driving factor of my development. I genuinely always want to improve. I continuously critique my own work, but try not to be overly critical of it. Occasionally being kind to myself has proven beneficial.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I have somehow managed to learn borderline nothing about the city in my time here. That being said, Forman’s Whiskey Tavern in Toluca Lake is spectacular. If I’m forced to go out and have a say in it, we’re heading to Forman’s.

I also frequent Malibu for shoots. The coastline is astonishing beautiful and it’s not too far outside the city.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Oh goodness, of course. I’ve got among the best support systems imaginable. Would take too long to go into everyone – but here are a few heavy hitters.

My longest and closest friend Jonathan Baskin has been along for every aspect of my creative career. We grew up together in TN, went to college together, and then moved to CA together. He’s been a constant source of encouragement and wisdom for the last 15 years, and has been there for literally all my failures and successes. He’s an incredibly talented 3D artist himself, and I value his input and advice beyond most any other. Incredibly thankful to have him in my life and corner, and not sure what I would do without him aside from panic.

More specific to my photography career, Garrett King (Shortstache) is another wonderful friend and mentor who has blessed me immensely. He’s really the first industry professional to encourage me in my pursuit of photography, and did more for my confidence than I can even express. I trust his judgement implicitly, and when I’m in need of advice he’s never once hesitated to share his expertise. His generosity and abundance mentality is unmatched.

Marc Cherry, Hollywood writer and producer, has also played a huge part of my development over the years. Prior to my photography and directing career, I worked directly under him for almost 4 years as his assistant. During my time with him he became a great friend and confidant – and withheld none of his industry knowledge and expertise from me. I had unlimited access to writers’ rooms, casting sessions, rehearsals, shoot days on set, post-production, and more. I received a top down education of the entertainment industry which is (obviously) immensely valuable. It’s not lost on my how fortunate that experience was, and will forever be grateful.

These are just three examples, but the list of people is quite extensive. I’ve been truly and abundantly blessed with support.

Website: www.hollandclement.com

Instagram: instagram.com/hollandclement

Image Credits
Holland Clement (me)