Amanda Friedman is originally from suburban Detroit. After graduating from RIT in 1998 she made the move to Los Angeles. She shoots for a variety of different clients including Time, Newsweek, Travel + Leisure, Budget Travel and London’s Sunday Telegraph. Her photos have been published in American Photography annuals 15, 17 and 18 and she was also a 1999 Surface magazine Avant Guardian.

03.12.08

Critiques: Not Always Helpful

If you have a degree in what field is it? A BFA in photography from Rochester Institute of Technology.

What was your strangest assignment? Shooting a retired pimp, the “Archbishop Don Magic Juan” at his home in Los Angeles.

Which photographer would you like to meet? Richard Misrach.

What famous person (living or dead) would you most like to photograph? Jimmy Hendrix.

Aside from your camera and lighting, what item could you not work without? My iPod.

Is there anything you would not digitally retouch? I’m still shooting, 95 percent of the time, with film. So, in general, I don’t retouch at all. The only time I do is if the client requests it.

From where do your best ideas originate? They’re usually happy accidents.

How do you overcome a creative block? I like to look through magazines and photo books and go to art museums to get re-inspired.

Do you have creative pursuits other than photography? Painting, cooking, knitting.

What music are you listening to right now? Boards of Canada, Ennio Morricone, Ruxpin.

What’s your approach to balancing work and life? I force myself to take work “time outs” usually an hour per day to relax. And vacations, of course, also work really well for me.

What’s your favorite quote? “Money can't buy you happiness, but it can buy you a yacht big enough to pull up right alongside it.” —David Lee Roth

Do you have any advice for people just entering the profession? Work really hard, promote yourself and don't take criticism too seriously. In photography, you get critiqued left and right and if you let other people’s opinions overrun yours, it will have a negative impact on your work.

What’s one thing you wish you knew when you started your career? To not take everything so seriously. I used to get stressed out over every single job, but as time went by, I realized that I always did the best that I possibly could, so if a shoot went badly, there was really nothing I could have done about it. Eventually, I learned to just let some things go.