Meet Bryan Fandrey: Photographer, Visual Artist

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

Hi Bryan, why did you decide to pursue a creative path?
I’ve found that creating stuff is an outlet I haven’t always known I needed. I used to think I wasn’t creative at all because I couldn’t draw or paint, but I’ve found over time that when I find tools that bridge the technical interests with the creative visions I have I really am able to create and capture great moments. A lot of the encouragement I got along the way as I learned about and started to understand these things about myself has pushed me to try and make it a career. I just really enjoy creating and the specific mediums I’ve chosen, and so a career seems like a great opportunity to enable even more of that and surround myself with the best people to push my visions forward.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
At any given time I’m usually most proud of my most recent project, I want to get into three different ways I express that most of the time centered around my photo/video/visual work: Photo has mostly been centered around concerts and worship environments. I just love the energy of the room and that is the driving force behind every shutter press. As I’m writing this I’m coming off my first couple shows in over a year (thanks, COVID), one was really small, and the other was considerably larger, both were an absolute blast in spite of their different settings and vibes. My passion really lands on trying to capture a ‘moment,’ I look for movement, I look for color, I look for brightness. I want you to see all the details, even if they aren’t all the focal point. Sometimes that’s capturing the posture of a worship leader, the smile of a drummer, the jump of a rapper and the crowd, all of these things are part of what I want people to experience when they look at my photos – I want them to feel like they were in the room. Videos are a bit different, I mostly have background in shooting promo videos for a youth ministry, so energy + entertainment + information are my direct goals a lot of the time, but I also made a lot of fun videos that tried to capture the personalities of students. I want you to enjoy the information that’s being presented, or just straight up have a good time and laugh along with the personalities of your friends, or maybe they’re a friend of a friend. Either way I try to have fun with it, but videos have kind of phased out for me to some extent. Visuals are a bit newer for me, I think they help a lot to create the feelings I try to capture in a room, so designing lighting cues, or creating visuals from scratch in After Effects with songs that inspire me are some main things that jump out at me. Similarly to how I try to capture moments, I want to help enhance it when I’m creating on the other end, I want to rightly portray the blow-the-roof-off energy of a hype moment or the quiet stillness of surrender in worship.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I’m not a big planner in all honesty, and in sharp contrast to the type of stuff I do on a regular basis, I really like heading up north to the mountains and spending time up there. I’m not one for more urban settings usually. So I’d probably take them on a hike or drive through some nice spots I know up that way! Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My home church, First Baptist Woodstock, and so many people there were a huge part of the reason I’m where I am today, I was allowed a lot of space to figure things out while I was there, and they really allowed me to put work out there, and experiment and learn everything from the basics all the way up to things that still contribute to my current style and approach to my work. My college, Chattahoochee Tech also did a ton more me, I learned so much from the professors there and had a lot of room to grow and ask questions and learn more specifics of the industry and the tools I use that I didn’t pick up learning on my own. Some individuals that have had a big impact have been Josh Wright, he’s taught me so much and sort of taken me under his wing even though we’re just a few years apart in age. He’s pushed me and encouraged me so much, and has even gotten me a couple of production related jobs while also pushing me creatively and just being a great guy to talk shop with. Dalton Lewis is another, I’ve shouted him out before and you’ve featured him on your site, but he is just insanely talented and has been more than willing to bring me along for some crazy adventures. Sneaking into shows to getting officially cleared to hang backstage with some artists, to mixing in with the artists and photographers and all their friends after small shows, Dalton is just amazing.

Website: https://www.bryanfandrey.com/

Instagram: @editorbryan

Image Credits
Personal Photo – Dalton Lewis