Luna Sweetheart: Nicole Lipp
☆ By Molly Sharples ☆
RADIATING AUTHENTICITY - it’s clear director and photographer Nicole Lipp is attuned with her vision as well as her creative experience. In addition to photo & video, the Los Angeles artist combines her creative & business interests together through her creative agency, AYF Media. Lipp showcases the diverse nuances of our lives, our emotions & our experiences through a timeless vintage feel.
From acting to business to teaching, Lipp shares not only her continuous drive to evolve and learn for herself & as an artist, but also the compassion and empowerment she has gained as a result; qualities that Lipp has curated through the courage and conviction to pursue her life and career on her own terms. Speaking of her advice to young women starting out within the industry, and her upcoming projects with a visual album, read below to learn more about Lipp’s business, AYF Media, and the influence behind her work.
LUNA: How have you been lately? How has quarantine been treating you?
LIPP: A lot of ups and downs - it’s a wild ride. I’ve been inspired, motivated, creative. I’ve been depressed, self loathing, exhausted. A lot of extremes in all directions. But I’m trying to focus on and appreciate the good days and forgive myself and be gentle with myself on the bad days. The state of our country (and planet!) is INSANE and it feels like there is so much to fight for and stand up against and it’s overwhelming. It’s caused a lot of introspection for me and it’s pushed me to reevaluate my priorities in life. I’ve been wondering where I belong in the world of activism and the world of art and if I’m capable of straddling or merging the two. Or if I should “stay in my lane” and just create for the sake of creation. I think I’ve learned more about myself over the past few months than I have in my entire life. And I’m still learning every day.
LUNA: What motivated you to pursue photography as a career rather than just a hobby?
LIPP: I’ve always been a ~creative~ in one way or another. I started out as an actor, got into directing and then found myself in social media and marketing. In the social media world, I was creating content for brands and producing photoshoots and hiring photographers but I’d always shoot some secondary content on set just for fun - photography was always a hobby and something that made me really happy. About a year ago, it occurred to me, “why am I hiring people to do the thing I love most? Fuck it. I’ll do it myself!” So here I am! I still produce shoots, create content for brands, run strategy and social campaigns, etc. but I have to say, when I’m taking photos or directing music videos/films I feel the most myself, the most secure, the most creative, and the most fulfilled.
LUNA: How do you think your perceptions or visions regarding your work have changed since you first started as a photographer and director?
LIPP: I’ve really learned to trust myself and my eye and my intuition. I’ve always struggled with self esteem and I think since I got my creative start as an actor - someone being directed, someone in front of the camera - it took me a while to realize that I’ve earned my place behind the camera as well. I feel like I’ve lived so many lives already. Actor, business woman, teacher, social media gal, etc. All of these things I’ve experimented with have influenced and improved my photography and directing so much. I feel like I have an understanding of the client or the subject combined with an intuition and vision. It helps me create from a place that is true to myself while still collaborating with and appreciating the client or subject’s needs.
Photo by Marti Hoyos
LUNA: There’s a beautiful vintage feel behind a lot of your work. Are there any key inspirations shaping your work?
LIPP: Thank you!! I think the vintage feel is largely because I shoot on film. I always say it’s “built in aesthetic” lol
My biggest inspiration is probably David Lynch and most of his work is vintage at this point so that might have something to do with it too. I definitely have a deep sense of nostalgia. I mostly wear vintage clothes, I shoot on vintage cameras, I drive a vintage car. Aesthetically, I’d love to hop in a time machine and just exist in another era for a while.
LUNA: Your creative agency AYF Media has been able to work on a range of some incredible projects - congrats! Can you share a bit about what lead to you creating this agency?
LIPP: I started AYF Media because I was working a 9-5 job doing social media for TOMS and I realized that the corporate lifestyle is just not for me. I learned SO much in my 2 years at TOMS and met incredible people and I wouldn’t trade it for the world! But that was the last time I ever really had a boss. I’ve always been creative and entrepreneurial and I realized how important it was for me to have the freedom of being my own boss.
So I started AYF with a pledge to be anything but corporate. It’s a creative agency and we do creative work - even for our corporate clients.
LUNA: Where would you like to see AYF in a year from now?
LIPP: Some of my most fulfilling moments at AYF have been hiring young, motivated creatives and teaching them everything I know! I’d love to grow AYF more so I can hire more. I’m hoping to scale AYF in all areas - photo/video production, social strategy, influencer, etc. I want to spend my days guiding team members and/or on set shooting.
Photo By Michael Lipp
LUNA: How have you seen your interest in both the creative side and business side of the arts play into one another?
LIPP: It’s really hard to make a living as an artist. Lol duh. AYF has allowed me to make a living as a creative. I think the ultimate dream is to support myself financially doing only what I love and I feel really lucky to be pretty close to that. Starting/running AYF has been more fulfilling than I ever could have imagined. There is a huge rush and satisfaction to creating a business and supporting yourself on that business. Of course there is so much growing left to do and so many goals I’m still working towards, but we (my partner/husband and I) created a profitable business and that’s a major achievement that I’m insanely proud of. I love pitching clients and growing the business but currently, the business side of things occupies more of my time than the creative side of things and I’d love to flip that.
Growing as a business woman has helped push me as an artist. For one thing, I appreciate my time spent creating more than ever! I’m also less afraid of putting myself out there as an artist because there’s less pressure on me as an artist. That frees me up to create authentically when working on creative projects.
On the other hand, my business experience informs my artistic choices when I’m working on commercial projects. I understand how to communicate with a client and I understand the social media/marketing industry so I can take photos or direct videos that I know will succeed in those spaces and satisfy the client’s needs while maintaining creative integrity.
LUNA: If you could offer a piece of advice to young women wanting to pursue something in the creative field more professionally, what would you share?
LIPP: My number one piece of advice is to just do it. Don’t wait for someone to give you permission. Don’t wait for someone to call you up and hire you. If you have an idea, get scrappy and get creative. Just make the damn thing. No excuses. Trust your intuition and your creativity. Pitch yourself, slide into DMs, find a mentor, don’t be afraid to ask for help. I guess the gist of this is: don’t sit around waiting for people to discover you, waiting to go viral, waiting for your dream job - do it yourself. DIY your dreams lol
LUNA: What kind of message or reaction do you want your audience to take from your work?
LIPP: It totally depends on the project! Sometimes, I’m creating just for the sake of aesthetics and I just want the audience to be like, “ooh pretty ~aesthetic~ wanna stare at this all day” and that’s okay!
Other times, I’m going for a much deeper affect. I love capturing people in their most authentic and vulnerable moments. The real smiles, real emotions. I love finding the intersection of extreme realism and total absurdity. I mean, I think reality IS absurd; I think there is so much comedy in tragedy. I like making people laugh, making people feel less alone, making people feel seen.
LUNA: Of course so many things are changing, but do you have any upcoming goals or plans you would like to share?
LIPP: I just want to be shooting more! I’ve done several covid safe photoshoots over the past few months and those creative days have been keeping me sane. Shooting in natural light, just me and my camera and the models and/or product (and sometimes an assistant or makeup artist or set decorator or whatever) - I can do it safely.
I also have several video projects that have been in pre production since before covid and I’m just dying to get back to those as soon as it’s safe to do so.
One of them is a full visual album for the new OYLS record. We cast an amazing ~famous~ actor who I’m SO excited to work with! But covid safety regulations + SAG regulations + permitting etc is all just taking way longer than anticipated. I’m just impatiently waiting to get that project back up and running.
I’m the happiest and the most myself when I’m taking photos or directing videos and I just want to be doing that all the time!
CONNECT WITH NICOLE LIPP
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Listen
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From Pavietra 🕊️ https://t.co/BXVgWlZud8 -
slowthai by Rosie Matheson 🤩 https://t.co/z7SDfFQ5iF
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RT @i_D: Ian Kenneth Bird photographs young punks on Polaroid: https://t.co/MKT0tMUqO9 https://t.co/a0tTl12ML5
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RT @AnOtherMagazine: #DreamHome – this isolated idyll in the mountains of Lanzarote 🌵 📸 via Nowness, photography by Clemence Blr 🔁 https://t.co/GUusdxD0cg
