SD Voyager - Phillip Silverstein Fine Art Photography /  by phil silver

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Phillip, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’ve been active my whole life… A former college athlete, I learned the importance of hard work, dedication, as well as self-development. I think these components play a key factor in photography. You have to move around, and sometimes reach crazy locations to get the right shot. You have to be dedicated, waking up early for sunrise or staying up late editing. And you certainly have to work hard to be good, you can throw a rock in any direction and find someone with a camera. Sports led me to my passion for travel.

I was fortunate enough to live and play American Football in Milan, Italy back in 2013. I traveled all over Europe (unfortunately camera-less) and developed a love for reaching new destinations. It was after sports that I began my entrepreneurial journey, working closely with startups in San Diego. In 2015 I booked a trip that would change my life forever. I ventured to Patagonia, Chile, and my neighbor at the time let me borrow his camera. I went down there with no tripod, no additional lenses, and no expectations other than to explore the regions beauty. I came back with the photos, and he told me to hold onto the camera a bit longer.

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From there the fire began to spread. I’d get up early to capture sunrises before going to work, and rush to catch the sunset at the end of the day. Back to business, there was an immense need for high-quality photos, so I began doing everything from product photography to high-quality hero photos for marketing campaigns as well as fashion photography to help sell apparel. Luckily I’ve been able to continue to travel and capture some unique photos along the way that are exhibited at Alexander Salazar Gallery on Market St right in downtown San Diego!

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Has it been a smooth road?
Please show me anyone that had a smooth road? We all have obstacles and struggles to overcome in personal life and in business. How quickly we can get over these determines not only our outlook but the outcome of what we make happen in life. As an athlete as well as a child with allergies, growing up on the East Coast wasn’t very friendly to me.

For starters I was allergic to grass, playing football. Secondly, there were plenty of broken bones and surgeries. These helped me build up a strong inner core – learning to not get discouraged by the small setbacks and enabled me to recover quicker than most. When it comes to photography, most of the struggles have been internal. I’m extroverted and enjoy talking with people, and have a lot going on in general. Photography requires a LOT of time, for starters Many nights spent sacrificing social life to go shoot or edit, sometimes you can be social while doing both, but most of the nitty-gritty editing is done shortly after midnight. That’s just to be decent at your craft as a photographer.

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Branching out to the artist realm is another story. It’s an uphill battle until your first sale. Try stretching a canvas perfectly… learning the hard way and completely messing up on your first few canvas pieces. Well, that’s exactly what I did, but it helped me to understand and appreciate the process while finding a reliable framing & stretching company to help in the future. Finding the right manufacturer for my acrylic pieces wasn’t easy either. Like magic, my digital raw file is meticulously edited and transformed into a piece of four feet long photo-paper and sandwiched in between polished acrylic and metal only to forever hang on a wall and transport its viewer into another time and place.

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Now you have a product – now you need customers. The dilemma every start-up business faces. How do I get the word out? The best way for an artist would be in an art gallery – so I found a gallery in San Diego to work with. Many of my finished pieces are on display at the Alexander Salazar Fine Art Gallery on Market St right in downtown! I’m appreciative of the struggles as they taught me the lessons necessary to become who I am today.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
My main focus the last few years have been my photography and media business. I love creating images that make people want to take action. Ever since I picked up a camera, I have been able to help portray businesses in a great light, products in a tasteful manner, or places as pretty as you’ve ever seen. My brothers start up business required a lot of hands-on time, so I was able to learn marketing & branding on top of creating high definition media to drive sales.

Through this, my development as a photographer as well as a brand strategist and businessman progressed to the point that I currently maintain 3 companies that keep me busy 24/7. Phillip Silverstein Fine Art Photography has been my passion and looks to highlight familiar and exotic destinations, invoking a sense of wanderlust and a need to make moves, while instilling a calm tranquility as you take in the beauty of mother nature. Not to be biased but my pieces are uniquely striking I think anyone can find the perfect mood to complete their room amongst my limited edition images, I am excited to continue to travel the world in pursuit of the perfect sunset!

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CBD has helped me overcome multiple ailments as they arose over the last few years, and I wish I found it years ago while I was an athlete. After much market research and trial and error, my good friend and I created a line of CBD products intended to help our networks and others in need recover faster by using CBD. That company is called Inflamade and we do a pain cream, sleep tonic, as well as sleep capsules. I’ve been doing marketing and content for other companies over the last few years, why not market my own products, while helping others in the process? Life is about balance and finding it where you can.

For me, photography is a form of meditation. It also enables me to tickle my creative fancy for the day if I’m shooting for businesses or clients. With the release of the shutter, endorphins fill my mind, keeping me stimulated and excited for what comes next. In a transient state throughout, anticipating the color palate of light changing as the sun goes down over a beautiful location, I usually have energy after shooting. Even though its night time now, my mind doesn’t desire Netflix or television, rather a fresh perspective of the day and weeks projects, tasks at hand, and eventually getting back around to editing and releasing new content.

Is our city a good place to do what you do?
San Diego is amazing! It has so much to offer. As a creative or an entrepreneur, it’s a perfect place to get everything you need to get done! I appreciate the palm trees and tacos. The endless beaches are there when you need them, and you can find other creatives or do the best of networking around Downtown, Little Italy, and La Jolla, no matter your industry. I’ve enjoyed living in San Diego since 2013 and it will always be my home base on the west coast.

The last two months I’ve been back and forth between Venice, CA, doing two art shows and also had a few Inflamade meetings. Venice is a good location, I’m finding it doesn’t have the overwhelmingly busy “LA” feel but is a neighborhood you can focus on what you need to get done while enjoying some natural and man-made beauty around the beach and World Famous Canals.

Being based here for the summer made for some awesome photography opportunities, and I’ve definitely shooting the neighborhood and City of Angels. Business in San Diego is great, it’s just about finding the best way to network with the people you need to meet. As with anything, if you feel resistance or feel that its time for a change, you can always go and come back to the slice of paradise that is San Diego, it will most likely welcome you with some sunshine.

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