HAPPY MONDAY!
As always, this week we interviewed one of our very talented members/photographers:
— MAX BAKER —

Keep scrolling to see some of her seriously incredible work & the rad people she’s gotten to work with!

Tell us about yourself!
Well, where do I start? I'm originally from Sacramento, and I knew I was going to end up in LA for my career. Being an artist is just part of who I am. I would always have a sketchbook with me as a kid; it was an escape for my shy self from the real world. I ended up going to school for media arts, and picked up my passion for photography while hanging out and working with the film kids. Ever since then, photography has grown into what is now the love of my life. I've been blessed to meet and work with some really amazing people from all over the world, and I'm a huge believer in everything happening for a reason. So, if it weren't for all the little things that have happened in my life, I wouldn't be where I am today and I wouldn't change a thing.

What inspired you to pursue your current creative path?
If you know me, you know how much I love music. When I first got into the photo thing, I was seeing what I could really do with it. To this day, I still find myself going to see my favorite artists for the 20th time because that's how much I love the energy a show has. One day, an online publication emailed me, and wanted to offer me a collaborative position as a concert photographer for the website and give me some experience. I never even knew I could do that! Combine photography with music?! Who knew right? So I jumped on the opportunity and found out how much I loved doing it, the concert photography thing. Because of that, I've been able to shoot and work with artists like Demi Lovato, The Struts, LANY, The Driver Era, and so much more. It's frickin amazing, truly.

How did you find out about TGS?
I think, if I remember correctly, TGS followed me on instagram or emailed me about joining the collective in late 2017. It seemed like a really cool opportunity to meet and work with other creatives who just want to push themselves as artists. Ever since then, the people I've met in this community have been nothing but nice and down to earth. Really genuine human beings. It's hard to find people like that in such a competitive field. Literally, everyone, I've met and created friendships with because of TGS have the kindest hearts. TGS compared to other communities online is honestly one of the best I've encountered.

Why did you decide to join TGS?
I was making the move to Los Angeles right after I signed up, and I thought it would be a good way of meeting and working with new people and building relationships. If it wasn't for social media, I wouldn't have half of the friends I have now!

Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I get a lot of inspiration from other artists, like other photographers or graphic designers or musicians. Music and film is a big thing for me especially. The idea of how everyone is living in their own movie called life and everyone has a place in it, whether it's an extra, or loved one, or memory, there's so much inspiration to creating a concept for a project. From a simple setting in a coffee shop, or telling a story of someone else's passion, it's fun to draw inspo from songs and favorite films.

Fave aesthetic, look or theme when shooting?
Ooh, let me think. I'm always a moody type of editor, even though I'm a bubbly type of person. It's the same thing with Sam (my sister), she's a filmmaker and is always killing off characters in her stories even though she always has a smile on her face and a contagious laugh. So yeah I'd say moody is my aesthetic.

Do you have creative friends you like to meetup and brainstorm with?
Absolutely! There's just some people you connect with and have the same vision on things. Sometimes you come up with a concept and want to create it ASAP, and it's great to have those people you can shoot a text and connect and make the idea a reality. I know my little group, we call ourselves the Dream Team, consists of my sister Samantha Baker, Kirpa Sudick, Anniessa Glover, and Mariel Garcia. We love working together and creating and just hanging out and it's a good little group of creatives to depend on.

Most interesting story revolving around your creative medium?
Hmmm, there's so many! I think a lot of it has to do with me being a fan of an artist and then having the chance to work with them. It's crazy how things can work out. For example, there was a band I was a fan of in high school, called The Cab, and just last year the lead singer of that band booked me to shoot his album release party. Pretty cool how the universe works sometimes.

Random stuff about you
I'm super into true crime and paranormal anything! Podcasts, TV shows, you name it, I've probably seen or listened to it. Is it a problem to know so much about serial killers or how to find out if a house is haunted? I'd like to think not, but I'm just weird like that sometimes I suppose.

THANKS FOR READING!