SEWING CAMP? EXPLAIN!
HG: Yeah, like costume! I was really into costume design. I might still. If I get a lot of shit done in this industry and I get bored, I think I'm just going to become a costume designer. I could see myself having a really serious second wind in my career where it just becomes something different. IT’S REALLY ADMIRABLE THAT YOU’VE ALWAYS HAD THIS AMBITIOUS, RESILIENT ATMOSPHERE ABOUT YOU. ARE THERE SPECIFIC FIGURES IN YOUR LIFE WHO HAVE INSPIRED THIS SPIRIT WITHIN YOU?
HG: My freshman year of college, I had a specific professor and group of administrators at school that really encouraged me and inspired me and made me feel empowered in my goals. I would accredit them with a lot of my feeling like a capable photographer and professional. I can think specifically of this professor that I had...Shout out Nathaniel.
HG: I hear you. I have this constant feeling of fear and exhaustion and anxiety. The only thing that I can find that's super comforting is that, any time I sit down and talk with other artists or people whose work I admire, they say the exact same shit as me. They verbalize these patterns that are super consistent in my life too. It makes me feel like, Oh, everybody is experiencing this. I’m looking at these people that I love and support and I'm like, I know that you can do that. I know you and I know that you're going to figure it out and you're going to get your shit done and you're going to make something beautiful, or maybe you'll make something that’ll suck and you'll live and learn from it. I don't think that I'll ever really be able to make those feelings go away, but everybody feels them so they don’t fucking mean anything. HONESTLY, I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT IN THAT WAY, THAT THE FEELINGS ARE SO UNIVERSAL AND THUS WE REALLY HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR. IT SOUNDS LIKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN CONQUER IT, AND THAT’S A POWERFUL THING.
Shout out Nathaniel indeed, whoever you are and wherever you
HG: I never feel like I'm ready to walk away. I’m stubborn in that I'm
may be. If you haven’t been checking Instagram recently, the Wisconsin-born-Photoshop-extraordinaire experienced one of her most successful years yet. From working with mega-stars Nelly Furtado and Rico Nasty to shooting editorials for powerhouse zines Schon and Polyester to bringing Tara Babylon’s Fall/Winter 2023 collection to our feeds, Glassel definitely secured 2023’s bag. We go on to discuss the chaos that is the past year and how it has affected her.
going to finish what I started. I often feel like the only thing to do is to just keep going. If you can just stick with yourself through it, you'll eventually find where you're going.
HAVE YOU HAD POINTS WHERE YOU’VE FELT OVERWHELMINGLY TIRED? LIKE, PERIODS WHERE YOU’VE WOKEN UP AND FEEL LIKE YOU NEED A WEEK OFF FROM THIS WORK?
HG: That was definitely what this whole summer was like for me. But I've always been that kind of person where I just go way, way, way too hard on something, and then I eventually have this total breakdown and am like, “Oh my fucking god, I really can't do this.” I think I've gotten a little bit better at curbing it now. But April and May, I had the busiest and most insane, productive season in my career ever. It was back to back with these incredible opportunities, and I also work a full time job. So I literally, for two months, was not leaving my house. I was working from 9 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week, for two months. I don't know...I mean, does that happen to you? Suddenly, Hope reminded me that this is a discussion between photographers and, seeing as I too take the occasional photograph, I couldn’t help but divulge my recent feelings regarding exhaustion: I SO DESPERATELY WANT TO DO THINGS, BUT MY MIND FEELS WRAPPED UP IN THE PRACTICALITIES. “HOW AM I GOING TO AFFORD THE GROCERIES/HOW AM I GOING TO EAT TODAY?” I ALREADY STRUGGLE WITH PRESERVING MYSELF IN MY HUMAN FORM. I HAVEN’T REALLY FIGURED OUT A BALANCE OR ANSWER, SO I HONESTLY HAVEN’T BEEN DOING ANYTHING. I’VE BEEN COMING UP WITH IDEAS AND GETTING MAD AT THEM AND THEN MAD THAT I’M NOT EXECUTING THEM AND THEN THROWING THEM AWAY, AND THE PROCESS JUST KEEPS REPEATING.
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SHIFTING SLIGHTLY SOUTH OF THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD THAT WILL INEVITABLY PLAGUE OUR EVERY WAKING MOMENTS, LET’S DIVE INTO HOW HOPE GLASSEL OPERATES ON-SET. I’M CURIOUS TO KNOW IF YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN A FAN OF COLLABORATION OR IF IT’S SOMETHING THAT YOU’VE HAD TO DEVELOP A LIKING FOR, SEEING AS PHOTOGRAPHY IS JUST AS MUCH ABOUT THE RELATIONSHIPS YOU FOSTER AS IT IS THE ART YOU MAKE.
HG: I think it's been something that I've developed a liking for and am also still learning how to balance correctly. It’s really important how you present yourself. I for sure had to learn a lot of communication skills and how to be graceful because I can be a little bit much without really meaning to be. It's definitely an ongoing process for me, learning how to direct something in a way where everybody feels very excited and equally on board, where everybody's working towards the same thing. I think people spend a lot of years developing the skill of how to get everybody pointed in the same direction. IS IT ACCURATE TO SAY THAT THERE’S AN ADDED PRESSURE ONSET BECAUSE WE’RE IN NEW YORK? HG: Yes! There's a lot of ego here, and there needs to be to survive and be seen and listened to. You need to come ready to assert yourself. There's this equally accepted attitude where it's just a game of being the loudest and most forceful person in the room, and I don't really want that as I move forward. Lately, I've had the opportunity to work son bigger sets with bigger clients and bigger teams, and I can kind of start to feel that pressure to talk and act and treat people a certain way. I do feel this wind coming into my career, like this is how you need to be in order to get to a certain point, especially in New York. There's such history here, and there's this industry that has been around forever. It’s such a system, and I don't expect myself to come in and change the system completely, but I do want to have my own way about things and I do want it to be kind and gracious.