Meet Christopher Riggs | Director of Photography, Editor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Christopher Riggs and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christopher, how do you think about risk?
Being scared and terrified about what you are doing and how you are moving forward, either in your career or business, is a good thing. It means you are challenging yourself to be better and pushing the envelope of your skillset and what you can offer the world. As a Director of Photography, whether I’m working on a commercial, narrative, or documentary project, every film set I’m on, I’ve been nervous, not being able to sleep the night before. It is exciting knowing I will be facing a new set of trials and difficulties every day. In that navigation of risk and responsibility comes creativity, but more importantly, comes collaboration. Film & television work is a very collaborative field that fundamentally revolves around numerous sized crews telling stories about the human condition and life on earth that hopefully inspire us to be better. When facing differences and struggles comes the ability to communicate with a diverse set of voices. There lies a fantastic opportunity to listen–and, more importantly, comprehend those voices, especially if those voices have been marginalized. If we can create safe spaces for the authenticity of experience through that collaboration, whether as individuals or as a shared experience, abled or disabled, marginalized or not, it can give us the mechanisms to express ourselves in a way that formulates equitable change in the future–allowing us to take risks and be bold in the face of uncertainty. Hopefully, those spaces will merge into a shared societal space that is just and fair for all. The only way to take risks and move through adversity is through collaboration. That means listening and elevating all voices seriously, which in turn manifests opportunity.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think striving for distinction in anything we do isn’t easy. It’s a hard road that is riddled with failure, struggle, and long anxious nights. For me, it took 26 years of my life to find my passion. I dropped out of school twice, moved around jobs, and switched careers a few times, but in that failure, I found success and exposed who I was as a person and who I wanted to be. I discovered what I cherish and what was worth living for, worth devoting my time towards. That ended up being cinema and expressing myself and experiences through the images I capture and stories I want to tell. Cinema reaches and impacts people’s lives in profound ways; it can influence a flourishing future that improves circumstance, offering a perspective of all who walk this Earth. I connect with that on a spiritual level that inspires me in the work that I do, pushing me to educate myself on new techniques and approaches to certain aspects of the field. There will always be more to learn and areas to experiment in, and that’s so exciting; that’s something worth living for in my mind. In my missteps, I’ve learned how to fail and who to surround myself with. People who have that same mindset, people who will push me to be a more authentic version of myself, creating better, more motivated work. I look at myself and the work I do with an immensely critical eye. I am never satisfied with the finished product, almost in a sense that the work has failed or that I have failed. Through that lens, I see what I can improve, not only in lighting, composition, movement, or technical understanding of the work but also in how I go about interacting and collaborating with people professionally and on an individual, more personal level, striving to be more inclusive and open-minded. That said, that does not mean the work I do is terrible. There is a fine line between recognizing and taking pride in the work that I’ve done but understanding where I can develop and grow my skill set.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
The best pizza in Colorado, and in my opinion, in the U.S., is at a little mom-and-pop pizzeria in Golden, CO called Mannie & Bo’s. Order the Matador and thank me later. If you need to work up an appetite, there are a thousand outdoor activities close by, from hikes, rock climbing, kayaking to paragliding close by. Plus, it’s only a 10 min drive to the world’s greatest venue, Red Rocks Amphitheater.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
There are a lot of people in my life that have pushed me to where I am today. More importantly, these are the people who have given me unconditional support no matter how or where I have struggled in my life. In an academic and professional setting, I would not have the success or be the creative I am today without Kristina Robbins of KO Illustrations and Red Rocks Community College, one of the most down-to-earth, hard-working people I have ever had the pleasure of working with. The same goes for Thomas Kolicko of Traverse Image LLC, who took the risk in hiring me as I was just entering the professional world, who showed me that business and the work we do goes hand in hand in with giving back to the community and taking care of the world and environment around us. On a personal level, I wouldn’t have even had these opportunities without the support of my grandmother, Ann Riggs, my great friend Joesph Gregory, and my fiance, Joana Gomez. These people have stood by my side and supported me and the decisions I’ve made, whether good or bad. It is that unconditional love that gives me purpose, and it’s essential to recognize that any kind of success has people like this who surround it.

Website: autosav3studios@gmail.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/autosav3studios/

Image Credits
Joana Gomez Charlie Gandarias