Today we’d like to introduce you to Tim Lampe.
Tim, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I’ve been in Atlanta since 2004, I’m a transplant. I finished up high school in Alpharetta, GA with a bunch of other transplants. I was told Atlanta was a transplant city, but not until I moved into the perimeter did I realize how vibrant the culture is, but that everyone was excited to form this identity for what Atlanta could be. I graduated Savannah College of Art and Design with a major in Advertising Design worked in agencies for a few years and got tired of it fast. I found more comfort working internally at CNN for a few years and then most recently MailChimp. You still have clients, but they’re internal, and there are shared goals. It’s easier to communicate and get to better solutions. About a year ago I made the leap to go full freelance around the time I launched a non-profit teaching kids photography called Future Photomakers. It was the culmination of everything I’d learned so far in my career, and my way to contribute to Atlanta’s identity, and its future. Public arts funding is still a mess in Georgia, but we put on a photography class for public middle schoolers in Atlanta and threw a gallery show with the proceeds going back into the school. Since then, I’ve been thriving with freelance art direction for brands like Yik Yak, Slack, Target, Netflix, Tumblr, and Samsung. It was an unlikely career path that led me to be where I am now, but I wouldn’t change it. I want to continue to thrive in the work I’m doing expressing my voice and also contributing to the identity of Atlanta.
Has it been a smooth road?
Failure and success are similar to me in the sense that they both provide information. The information you gather, you get to use to decide where to go next. I’ve experienced a good bit of failure from being fired to pitching projects that get nixed, to getting your artistic vision compromised. I’ve found that the moments after failure where you try to bounce back show tremendous character. Now it’s easier to pick things up again and keep going after I hit road blocks.
What has been the proudest moment of your career so far?
When everything came together for the Future Photomakers program. Here I had done some editorial work at CNN that was a way of telling others stories and it invigorated me, so I started to develop another way to give back. We brought the idea back to Atlanta, which is low in the list of public arts funding in the nation, and decided to teach a photography program for middle schoolers with Instax cameras. It took over a year of planning, partnering with schools and other volunteers, and the actual 7 weeks of the program was one of the most rewarding things of my life so far.
Tell us more about the struggles you’ve faced along the way.
Struggling with voice is tough, and whether or not you’re doing the work you’re supposed to. Many creatives get comfortable in a company or a certain type of work because you are good at it. I’m constantly trying to get closer to the work that speaks the most of me, or my purpose of doing creative work. I am technically proficient in a lot of creative applications like illustration, photography, and art direction, but I want my unique voice to come through. Many creatives don’t stop to take the time to dig deeper with this.
Is there something we can do as a city to improve the outlook for professionals like you?
I love Atlanta, and as a freelancer, it is ideal for keeping overhead low. Yes, in other cities there might be bigger opportunities with bigger budgets, but the cost of living and the minimum of your overhead for month stresses me out. Here it means that I feel a little more comfortable, and there’s a little more room to do something special. Atlanta is a city where we are helping define what the art is, and what is important to represent this city. The downside to that sometimes is that Atlanta is not often looked to as a city with important work coming out of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: Www.timlampe.com
- Email: hello@timlampe.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/timlampe
- Other: Www.veryclever.co
