We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Bastos and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Amanda, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I pursued an artistic career because I found myself restless; I graduated university with two Bachelor’s degrees for the same reason – I got bored and thought, ‘I can be doing a lot more with my time,’ so I did. It was that easy.
When I started photographing professionally I realized I had complete freedom to express my vision, whatever vision I had, and that sparked passion in me. I wasn’t always an artistically driven professional, but sitting at a desk analyzing data in Excel was not cutting it. In fact, it doesn’t cut it for most people.
I started investing more in my editing software, spending more time perfecting my craft, and eventually it was easy to tell what was making me happier. I think it’s always been there – inside me – this artistic drive, but it took having an unfulfilling career to decide that there was something that could be more up my ally, so to speak. I think many young professionals in this day and age feel a similar way.
Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art is all about capturing what’s really happening the moment it’s being captured. My photos emit emotion and energy, and the hope is for my audience to feel the same things that my subjects and I feel when each photograph is being taken.
I think there’s something incredibly significant about taking a family photo while the baby is crying, for example, because it shows us all that what we see is real – babies cry, and they do it often.
Nowadays with Photoshop, Instagram filters, and everything in between, we put ourselves in a headspace that requires absolute perfection out of the final product for us to be satisfied with it or to put it on a Christmas card. That’s not real life, and my goal as a photographer is to undo that sort of damage and bring back family photos and wedding ceremonies that give you goosebumps, rather than make you say, ‘wow, that girl looks perfect in that photo.”
If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The very first day of a week long trip I would have to take my bestie to my favorite spot – Red Rocks Amphitheatre. We’d go for a hike, get lunch in downtown Morrison, and then see a concert while drinking Coors beer, of course.
On the second day we would tour around downtown Denver, hit up Union Station and grab dinner in Larimer Square.
The third day would remain in the city and consist of visiting every museum there is to visit. If you haven’t noticed by now, what’s really important to me is showing my friend the city’s history, culture, and architecture. As an artist I think these are the things I gravitate towards and am intrigued by, of course assuming my friends would all be the same way.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’d like to dedicate my shoutout to my mother. I’m grateful to say that she supports me in any and every endeavor I pursue, no matter how much she may disagree with it. Talk about unconditional support… That’s my mom, by definition.
When I seek advice she’ll always say, “if it makes you happy, go for it; you have nothing to lose. If you fall, my net will catch you.”
I recognize that not everyone has parents like her, and I hope that anyone reading this can recognize the impact that kind of support can have on an anxious, scared, young entrepreneur.
I’ll also shoutout my therapist, whose name I will keep confidential, but he will receive a copy of this segment. Thank you, therapist, for opening my mind and helping me treat myself from the inside, out.
Website: www.amandabastos.com
Instagram: @PhotosbyBastos
Other: Email: photosbybastos@gmail.com
Image Credits
All credits to Photos by Bastos, LLC.