Meet Kieran Armstrong | Cinematographer

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

Hi Kieran, what habits do you feel helped you succeed?
I truly believe preparation is my best habit. Any creative field prompts the risk of flying by on passion, but I’m a firm believer in taking the time on the front end to make things tick properly. I love prepping films. It’s a combination of collaboration between departments, translating text to visual language, and playing build-a-blocks with equipment and location, and it’s a process I’ve fallen in love with.

I also think that asking questions has gotten me farther in my time as a cinematographer than any shot or lighting setup ever could. My parents are go-getters, and they taught me at a young age to never fear asking questions of people I look up to. That’s honestly how I’ve made many of my friends and learned more lessons than I could count.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I am unthinkably lucky to be a full time cinematographer. I began as a screenwriting student at my university (Loyola Marymount University), but when I discovered my passion for camera and lighting, it truly swept me away. I’m still very much in the early chapters of my career, learning lots every day, but I think being a diligent worker and a kind human goes a long way. I try to treat everyone’s film like it’s my own; for better or worse, I like to place that kind of pressure on the work. For them, it is that important.

I’ve learned, though, that balance is important. I’ve had the pleasure of traveling and seeing new cities recently, and it’s shown me the importance of taking time away from work to experience life, meet people, and build connection with community. It can be difficult; cinematography is somewhat all-consuming, spanning pre-production, shooting, and then post. That’s why it’s all the more important to find work-life dichotomy.

As far as my own brand or story in cinematography, I am most interested in telling honest stories about people finding purpose, life, community, hope, etc. I’ve been so fortunate in collaborating with extremely talented black women directors recently, one of whom (India Bey) is going to the American Black Film Festival with her film “BLOWN CHANCES”. Shooting that film in Philadelphia was an incredible community experience that really solidified how important it is to do the work I do. It showed me I can be part of someone telling a story they’re aching to tell. And that made me really, really happy.

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?
I wish I was more LA street savvy, but my go-tos would be breakfast at Pann’s Diner, authentic Mexican street tacos for lunch, and a delicious Italian meal at Uovo for dinner. A run to the beach, of course, maybe a hike over in Santa Monica. I’d show them the beautiful camera-world of Burbank and the gorgeous green suburbia of Culver City. I love a good drive, so a tour of LA’s beauty is a hang out of its own.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would love to dedicate this shoutout to the incredible 600BlackWomen program, which is doing incredible work in LA helping nurture and support young black camerawomen, assistants, DITs and operators as they find their way through the industry.

Website: https://Karmstdp.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wesnosheckk?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kieran-armstrong-a3a93a226

Image Credits
Cary Qian