Meet Birgit Buchart | General Manager Lomography USA

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

Hi Birgit, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I am from Austria and grew up in a small village in the mountains. As long as I can remember I wanted to escape and live in a big city. My parents taught me the importance of experience and memories over material things. They loved to travel to new places and made it a point to take us to a new country and culture every summer instead of buying new cars or flatscreen TVs. I’m pretty sure this sparked my interest and curiosity in living in a different country (and big city) early on.

I believe now that my grandmother’s and mother’s life experiences have impacted mine a lot and are the main reason why I feel the urge to have a career, dream big, make some drastic and perhaps life risky decisions and never say no to any opportunity presented. I am lucky to be close to both of these very strong and progressive female figures in my life who have paved the way and passed on their views and experience to me, supporting me every step of the way.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My path has been very intuition-driven. I never had that one particular career goal and I never even dreamed of being a manager. My first priority was always to surround myself with things I love, that was all. I wanted to be in an environment that made me happy and for me, that was first New York City, creative people and art. I think that was always in the back of my head and while for a long time I didn’t really know where I was headed, I made several decisions that led me to the place I am in now and I couldn’t be happier.

Everything I achieved, was due to passion for these things as well as the willingness to take risks. A lot of opportunities happened because I was willing to compromise and to take risks for the things I loved. I was okay to create gaps in my resume, to start a low-paid internship at a point in my life, people told me I shouldn’t settle for this anymore and I gave up a lot (including a well-functioning long term relationship) in order to move across the ocean and take the opportunity to live and work in NYC.

I didn’t overthink any of those decisions, I acted intuitively and listened to my guts. And I have learned that those kinds of decisions, I will never regret. Because even if my path changes at some point down the line, I know that in the moment it was the right decision, because I felt it was right.

Lomography is the perfect company for me because it is just as reckless and passionate as I am. Because of my passion for analog photography, the company has put a lot of trust in me and supported me along the way. They have taken risks for me and even offered me a position, I didn’t even know if I was ready for in that moment. But they have pushed me to believe in myself, to learn and grow with their support.

I think the reason I was willing to take so many risks because I wasn’t afraid to fail. I try to keep my mind open for the possibility of changes.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
New York City has been my lifelong dream and even now, 4 years later, I find it hard to believe that I somehow turned this pipe dream into reality. When friends are visiting, I try to take them to as many places as possible. NYC has so many faces and I want people to see them all.

One of the first spots is Marcia P. Johnson Park in Williamsburg, with one of the loveliest views of the skyline, to really take some time and let it sink in: You’re in NYC! European visitors will then be taken to Kellogg’s Diner, because this whole Diner experience with shitty, fatty food is a must-do when in the states.

I’ll make them walk all the bridges, I love them and I can never decide on a favorite.

I’ll take them on a stroll through the West Village to show them that NYC is not always stressful but can be calm and pretty in the middle of Manhattan.

Recently, one of my favorite night-time places has been “Wild Birds” in Crown Heights – they have a great Jazznight on Wednesdays, good cocktails and let you bring in the food from the Taco Truck outside.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Big shoutout to the women in my family who shared their own stories and values with me and encouraged me to always try things because nothing has to be a pipe dream: my grandmother, mother and sister.

I also want to shoutout my boss and one of the company’s founders. In this very male dominated industry, she has been a great role model and very encouraging and supportive of me from the start. Experiencing the photography industry now as a female manager, I can only imagine the strength and courage it must have taken in the early 90s when she entered this industry.

The people of New York City also deserve recognition. It was due to a whole bunch of people I met and interacted with during my first 6month visit to NYC that I dared to take the step and move across the ocean. The creative community I encountered here made me feel welcomed and supported.

Website: https://birgitbuchart.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/birgitbuchart/

Image Credits
(c) Birgit Buchart