Story & Lesson Highlights with Justin Miller of Grant Park

We recently had the chance to connect with Justin Miller and have shared our conversation below.

Good morning Justin, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? Are you walking a path—or wandering?
I’m definitely wandering. I’m a big believer in the power of the unknown-unknowns. I’ve made a practice of reminding myself that the best things in life, the most important and most fruitful things in life are the low probability, unexpected things. I have an idea of where I’d like to end up, but I’m constantly opening myself up to where the unexpected may lie. I like to think of it as having a path unveiled for me.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Absolutely, I’m a photographer and director. Mainly rooted in documentary work. I got started in documentary photography, like a lot of folks, during the protests of 2020, and I think that can be seen in the commercial and fashion work I do today. I also think something that makes me a bit different is that I came to still photography from directing motion work. I’m almost embarrassed by my lack of knowledge about famous photographers (I’m catching up), but my educational roots are in cinema. My still images are more informed by Scorsese, Truffaut, or Tarkovsky than they are by any photographers.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Presence, or lack thereof. I think one of the biggest things that I’ve seen break bonds between people, in all sorts of relationships is a lack of presence, and that can be either physically or emotionally. On the other side of that coin, people remember how you made them feel more than what you say, I’ve learned that simply being present with people has fostered deeper connections with those that I’m closest to, as well as given me the gift of meaningful connections with people that I’ve just recently met.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Putting myself out there, showing people who I am. A few years ago I had a revelation that people want to see who you are, at least the right people, and if you’re not showing people who you are, you take that away from them. I also think you kind of give people permission to show you who they are, at least I’ve felt that way around folks who put themselves out there.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. Where are smart people getting it totally wrong today?
Betting on big, monolithic content. I think the future is small and agile. The volatile nature of our media environment means that at-bats are the most important metric, and that’s true for anything that fits under the umbrella of the attention economy. When you understand that, you start to understand that it’s not about knowing what will work, but focusing on creating and putting out what could work, to find what does work.

Sadly, I think that means the days of giant productions with large specialized crews are a thing of the past. But, I think the future is bright for smaller, more agile teams that can optimize concepts.

Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. How do you know when you’re out of your depth?
When I think I’m not, lol. I think our brains have a bad habit of hyper-focusing once we think we’ve found a solution. I think that’s the most dangerous part of any creative process, because it closes you off to other options, even when you do go with that first idea, I’ve found that the end results are always demonstrably better when filtering through this process.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.justinblainemiller.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/myhumblestopinion

Image Credits
Image 4: John Cena
Image 5: Sway Powers
Image 7: Ashley Kennedy
Image 8: Sean Gloria