Paul Barbera finds Where They Create - Fantastic Man

Today, Paul shares more on the realities of shooting for Where They Create as well as reminding us of the virtues of patience and persistence. The photographs Paul has included today make for a great example of the beauty hiding everywhere. - Jenny x

I had been working on Where They Create more on than off for over 5 months when I started to run out of studios through my circle of friends and I started to think about a wish list of places that I would like to have access to. Fantastic Man has been a favorite magazine of mine for many years and I decided to contact them. They told me that they were not ready and to try them again in 6 months time. It was worth the wait.

The thing I love the most about doing the project is the surprise I get when I see where and how creative people work and the objects that studios and people surround themselves with. In many ways, you need to let go of any expectations because they get blown out the window.

I am always surprised to learn at how much more studios do than you realize...For instance - Fantastic Man don't just publish magazines. They also do the catalog for COS (H&M’s upmarket label) and they also have their own perfume line. Located in a classic late 1960's building in the middle of Amsterdam, in an office that was much smaller than I had expected,  I initially found this space quite dry and a bit of a challenge to shoot. However, I found more and more to like about the space while I was shooting. It usually takes around two hours to shoot the studios and people go about their work as I am doing it.

Where They Create has opened many doors for me. While on one end of the spectrum, I find myself photographing a high-profile publication, on the other end is finding myself meeting a painter at her studio on a little island in the Caribbean...