The best advice we have ever received was to study carefully and to listen to the advice of people who have been successful in the field we’re trying to make it in, and that’s exactly what we did when creating the Bushwick Lens video series. We hand-picked six super-successful individuals in the field of photography and cinematography and asked them about their careers, breaking points and, most importantly, for advice! What should we do in order to become as successful as they are? Should we work for free? Should we rely on mentors? And what about their gear?

In the first episode, we interviewed cinematographer Ivan Abel who routinely shoots music videos for artists such as Depeche Mode, Bjork, Vampire Weekend, Regina Spektor, as well as big commercials. Ivan is originally from Slovakia, and his journey has been truly remarkable and inspirational. We met up with him in Central Park and asked him a lot of questions about how he became who he is– and a lot of other stuff. Ivan was super-modest, but he dropped some words of wisdom that will hopefully inspire you!

(Photo by Katarina Hybenova for Bushwick Daily)

Bushwick Lens is an original Bushwick Daily interview video series of six episodes. In each episode we interview a photographer or cinematographer about their careers, life and advice to those new to the industry with the goal to inspire. You can look forward to a segment next week on Casey Kelbaugh, a photographer for The New York Times and the founder of Slideluck.

Bushwick Lens was made possible thanks to CSI Rentals, a professional photo and video equipment rental with locations in Manhattan–and as of recently, also in Bushwick!

Enjoy, subscribe to our YouTube channel and let us know how much you like it in the comment section!

Video credits:

Produced by: Bushwick Daily & CSI Rentals

Directed by: Katarina Hybenova & Logan Seaman

Camera by: Ashley Maas & Katarina Hybenova

Edited by: Logan Seaman