THE HOURGLASS

Judith Puckett-Rinella:  What was your first memory that you recall (in hindsight) that was the catalyst for the current path you are on? How old were you?      

Brian Bielmann: I was 15, I caught my first wave all the way to the beach, I knew I was hooked, surfer for life. I loved the magazines though I never ever thought one day I would see my name in them. But everything that has happened in my life started at the moment I reached the beach after my first ride.

JPR: Fast forward to now, what is the most recent event or shoot that really fueled your fire- something that happened or that you captured on film that really got your blood flowing (an affirmation of sorts that you are doing what you love).

BB: Well- three years ago, the day at Teahupo’o that was called code red, was the scariest day ever shooting from a boat in massive twenty foot surf. I got the best photo of my life of Nathan Fletcher, the craziest wave ever ridden (its on my home page, cant miss it) I really did get the best angle as my boat driver kept us until the last boat to make it over this wave. Still remember it - Yikes so scary.

JPR: Is your approach different from your Instagram to your traditional portfolio or gallery work?

BB: I have to admit I’m really bad, last winter I was doing so good two posts a day, then I started traveling and have not done much for the last 2 months, and I spent all this time on my web site and I’m not sure if people even look at them anymore. I have just set up a whole system now for people to buy prints of my favorite shots right off the site. So we will see how that goes.

JPR:  How are your Instagrams so damn good? Can share any secrets with us?

BB: That so funny thanks for saying that because I feel like I’m lost with all the internet stuff. There are young guys who have been shooting five or six years or less with massive amounts of followers, and I have been giving away free signed prints with every new 1000 followers. I’m a huge music vinyl collector so I take a new print and put it up on instagram. All my prints are named after songs, so I have my followers choose a name from a record that best suits the photo and the winner gets that print. It’s really fun!

JPR:  Your work is not limited to world of surfing. You do outstanding portraits as well as a myriad of other genres, but you have a strong creative thread strung through out all of the different subject matters you shoot. How did you fine tune the strong tone in your work? Can you share with us an image you took from very early on in your career?

BB: Well again thanks, I’m blushing... I went to LA in the early 80s and worked for fashion photographers in the spring and summers and in the fall and winter it was back to Hawaii for surf. I did that for eight years so I got a pretty good education on different fronts. I thought I wanted to shoot fashion 'till I realized aside from the photography aspect and the girls of course, I had no interest in fashion so in 1990 I moved back to Hawaii full time and it was all about surfing. Having said that the Surfing world was all about travel, lifestyle scenic and portraits as well as the actual act of riding waves, so I probably had a bit of an edge on the pure action photographers. All that time in LA was not wasted.

JPR:  If you could only pick one- a matter of life or death and you had to choose- what would your personal favorite be from another photographer that you admire?

BB: The photo of Greg Noll by John Severson holding his board on the beach with a huge pipeline wave breaking. Funny how my favorite shot is not even an actual surf shot probably says a lot about my photography not being solely action.

JPR:  Who is your favorite surfer to shoot right now?    

BB: Right now, well I just did a trip with a Volcom surfer named Ryan Burch who shapes his own crazy boards so different than standard boards that are being ridden and the lines he draws while surfing these boards is so beautiful, kind of a throwback to 60s style. I LOVE IT.

JPR: Who has been your favorite surfer to shoot in the span of your career?  

BB: Well that would be Andy Irons, I was blessed to have been with him the best years of his career and have so many iconic images of him.

JPR: What is next for Brian Bielmann?

BB: Trying to survive in this ever shrinking world of professional surf photography, But I really love what I do, and that keeps me moving in the right direction.