Meet Travis Barron | Photographer | Videographer | Graphic Designer | Music Producer

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

Hi Travis, what role has risk played in your life or career?
When you look at artistry as a career, there is no direct path to success. How you measure success is a dynamic question of its own. If financial success is your end game goal, then going to a prestigious school, learning the trade secrets and educating yourself in the precise ways of design and its value to marketing structures, can be an approach that truly can fast track you to financial success.

I yearn for a different kind of success. I want to be rich in life experience, I want to be full of love, and I want to be overwhelmed with inspiration that will fuel my artistic creations. With that being said, risking every ounce of security in life can come with that kind of decision of being an independent creator. My life post hospitality industry collapse was found in a state of either fight or flight as an artist. I decided to jump from the nest of a comfortable wage to take on the risk of being a full time independent freelance artist.

I decided to drop every ounce of savings I had to acquire the tools I need to express myself, a bad*ss camera and a battle station computer setup. That risk alone is the flame underneath me to keep fighting to stay afloat. Though I am still navigating myself through this journey, I feel that I have achieved my goal of living a modest life, filled while rich in artistic inspiration, at the cost of that financial security.

Each month is a risk of keeping my business afloat at the expense of maintaining the moral and ethical grounds of my productions. I want to continue to support artists in need, which means I am risking my health, wealth and security at the expense of giving nutrients to a much needed community.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I always knew I wanted to do something creative in this life as a career. It started with me utilizing music as a coping mechanism to power through a troubling childhood. My life has sense evolved into a story of utilizing frequencies either auditory or visual to create experiences for people, help brand small businesses, and a provide the tools artists need to be successful with their careers.

It has never been easy to carve a path for myself, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Currently I am known as a photographer in the music industry, shooting live events and doing studio work for record labels and independent producer/djs. With the aid of adobe creative cloud, I have learned how to utilize the full suite to create logos, graphics, flyers, websites, videos, motion graphics, and now with the power of Ableton I am learning the path of creating stories with audio!

Each year brings new challenges, but I heavily rely on my ability to navigate between mediums based on the energy within my creative wells. Each day brings a new yearning. If I find myself having a hard time taking or editing images, I pick up a guitar, if that doesn’t work out for me, I try drawing, if that isn’t going so hot, I know its time to go outside and start gathering inspiration from the designs of the natural and man made world. Living as a creative isn’t like having some sort of infinite well of inspiration, you have to learn to manufacture it, curate it, nurture it. The goal is to learn how to navigate an abstract concept and produce concrete results for clients.

I’m so excited to continue to push the limits of my creativity, as I experiment with more lights, cameras and new lenses, synthesizers, microphones and plugins for my software I discover more about myself. Each new piece of equipment gives me one more ability to express that abstract world inside of my head.

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.
Depending on the weekend, you can find us on a boat, rooftop, basement, warehouse, or backdoor speakeasy! Chicago is rich with food and entertainment, but to list a few;

For Dancing you’ll find us at:

Radius
Spybar
Smartbar
Cerise Rooftop
Hush Chicago
Electric Hotel
Primary Nightclub
The Anita Dee or Summer of George (Boat Parties)
or a private warehouse with large sound systems down some dark alley

For food, I love eating an a tons of amazing spots:

Ramen Wasabi
Kumas Corner
Tabu Rooftop
Eataly
Time Out Market
And ANY local taco joint! 😀

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I owe my love and support to my wonderful friends. My creative career was birthed from the support of many collectives of artists, families, and companies that have believed in my potential to create art!

Though, I do have a few Honorable mentions!

I would first off like to thank Alex Kislov, for he has continued to be a light in the dark for me here in the city. He is always spoken kindly of me in recommendations and has been a direct support my business for 5 years now! He is a talented music producer and dj that really knows how to keep the crowd in good spirits whether its on beaches, boats, roof tops or in the night clubs he is a must see act of Chicago.

Mauro Salvatore also comes to mind. He is a member of many teams including Auris Presents and Rituals. Both of these companies are such huge contributors to the house and techno music industry, creating unforgettable experiences for the people of Chicago! Mauro works around the clock to aid them in building and forming these memories, and I’m forever grateful for him bringing me onto the team and all his hard work.

Digital motion graphic artist and live production VJ/DJ Adamosity is a massive honorable mention for me as well. This man deserves all the shout outs in the world! With his hyper focused attention to detail, he creates visually stunning adventures through the form of computers running directly into LED walls the size of a house, to entertain the likes of thousands each year! He lives in the front of house booth, and is an unspoken hero of the lights and color of this cities venues.

Lastly I would like to Shout out to Cynthia Captures, a partner in my photography journey here in Chicago, we have worked as a team to document beautiful and epic memories for artists, couples, and businesses. I would not be the person I am today without her.

Website: www.crystallotusstudios.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/crystallotusstudios

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/travisbarrondesign/

Twitter: twitter.com/travisinmotion

Facebook: www.facebook.com/crystallotusstudios

Image Credits
@cynthiacaptures @crystallotusstudios