SPOTLIGHT // BRIANNA WILSON

Instagram is a wonderful thing. Sometimes you're just led to the most amazing community of people. That's what happened one day when we stumbled upon an account called "With The Locals". The concept is simple, a city guide each week told from the perspective of one local, Instagram only. That's right, each local takes over the Instagram account and voila, magic. Creator and photographer Brianna Wilson is onto something: she recognize the medium as a collection of communities, and she's carving out her own.

Read on to find out why we think Brianna Wilson is a Daring Creative. And stop by the @WithTheLocals account this week, our Editor-in-Chief is on deck covering Los Angeles!

When did you decide to pursue your current career path?

I can’t really remember a time when I wasn’t interested in photography, in one way or another. I am extremely lucky to have an encouraging family and to have had the opportunities to explore my interest at a young age. But I never had that defining moment. I always carried a camera around, my high school offered some classes, I studied Film Production at Penn State. After college I was convinced I wanted to be a film editor- I think mostly because I was afraid that if I tried to make a living off of photography, it would ruin it for me.

I was working as an assistant editor, on some amazing projects, but it was just so clear that I was miserable. So I quit. And I don’t recommend it to anyone because that first year was not fun. Eventually, I realized I needed to start being creative solely for myself again. I began building up my photography portfolio from there.

As far as With the Locals, I’m kind of head over heels for Instagram, it holds so much potential! There are so many amazing accounts to follow and I was constantly taking screenshots of the places they posted about. I figured maybe there was a way I could bring some of that to one space to share. It’s been a real pleasure helping to build a platform with these awe-inspiring talented people from all over the world.

How does the city you live in influence your creativity?

I’ll be the first to admit I have a love-hate relationship with New York. I find the city to be both stimulating and stifling. Inspiration is a constant energy here, sometimes it’s overwhelming. It’s so so great to be able to wander such an all-embracing city, but I often have to shut myself off to it to get work done. If nothing else, New York has taught me to focus.

In your words, what does it mean to be a “creative”?

For me, it’s keeping an open mind, being thoughtful, and materialize ideas. I do think most people have wonderfully unique ideas but executing them is a whole other monster.

What is the biggest misconception about what you do?

I think this is something that happens to most people in creative fields - often people hear that I’m a photographer and they reply “that’s fun.” And it is! Because I love it but it’s so much more than that. It’s a lot of hard work and something I take seriously. And even more so than that, sometimes they assume because you love what you do and that it’s “fun” that you’ll do it for free.

What was the biggest opposing force that you encountered on your creative journey?

I’ve found that I’m not very “creative” or productive when I’m feeling down. I’m just not someone who thrives off negative feelings. But I do what I can to keep a good attitude - yoga, friends, traveling, candy for dinner.

In thinking about the things that you have created, is there something that you hated but the public may have loved - and perhaps purchased?

In a sculpture class, the professor gave us three weeks to create a hanging mobile. My schedule was out of control and I ended up throwing together a musical themed suspended mess at 3am the day it was due. It was a joke, it was literally falling apart during the class critique. Strangely, people were extremely receptive to it- someone said that they felt that the broken cassette cases symbolized the dying music industry. Really it was just insufficient glue.

I’m sure there are more things I’ve done that would make me cringe but I don’t dwell on it too much. The feelings I have for my work are obviously going to be singular to everyone else. Of course, I hope people enjoy my work but in the end, the experiences I gain tend to impact me more than what people think of it. 

Finish this sentence:

I want people to remember me as: Someone that saw the positive more than the negative. And hopefully made them laugh a bit.

If I only had 24 more hours to live, I would do: I would spend the day with my family, at the beach, in Erie.

I couldn’t live without: I want to say camera but it’s probably milk. No milk shakes, chocolate milk, or milk and cookies. Yeah, I don’t want to live in that world.

To learn more about Brianna Wilson, check out her portfolio  here, or for more on With The Locals, follow along here.