Alumni Spotlight Brenden Savi
Creative Circus Alum - Photographer at Brenden Savi
#AlumniSpotlight The Creative Circus graduates the most sought after creatives in the industry. Take a moment to read about the lives, careers & personal stories of some of our fantastic alumni.
Brenden Savi – Photographer at Brenden Savi
Creative Circus Alumnus – Photography
Advice to the Graduating Class:
Take what you learned at the Circus and move forward fearlessly. You will forever be surrounded by creatives with just as much talent and drive as you, if not more-so… let it inspire and push you – you’re one of them now and you’ll have to prove yourself.
Advice to the Incoming Class:
Network with your classmates and collaborate as much as possible in order to build an ace portfolio and cultivate lasting creative partnerships. I also feel it’s very important to take classes outside of your chosen medium. As a photographer, it was amazing being able to sit in on design classes to gain a new perspective and absorb new skills to utilize in my work. The boundaries separating creatives are blurring rapidly… designers are becoming photographers and photographers are learning 3D design… it’s really exciting and inspiring to see how far creatives can push themselves and it’s something that will really set you apart in this industry.
What do you wish you knew in school?:
I wish I knew I didn’t have to stress over classes where I was producing work I didn’t really care for and instead focused on producing personal and collaborative work. The classes are a great foundation for technique and very necessary, but for me, my side projects were where I thrived. Leaving the school with a solid book I was really proud to show off was imperative.
What does the Circus mean to you?:
I’ve always been very shy and I happened to go straight to the Circus after high school, so it was where I was able to really hone in on myself, my style and my technique without the corruption of a previous formal education, which I’m eternally grateful for – it really shaped who I am today. I’m also going to sound like every other alumni ever, but the people you meet there do become family – not only the students, but also the faculty. I’ve even become close friends with students I didn’t even go to school with at the same time… our paths just crossed later on and it was this immediate bond we shared which is really unique. It’s this weird, dysfunctional community that remains very loyal to each other.
Describe a monumental, light bulb moment for yourself while you were at The Circus:
I wouldn’t say there was a ever a specific moment… rather a synergy that began to form over time as my aesthetic and way of working really started to blossom… projects just became less daunting and everything became more natural for me. It can take time and it’s not always a monumental, lightbulb moment – everyone goes through a transformation in their own unique way.
Favorite project you’ve worked on:
I teamed up with my art director from the Circus, Haas Carter, and we ventured to Iceland to work on an experimental aural + visual project we came up with called Awake. We didn’t want to prepare too much to allow our creativity to flow more naturally and now be constrained… we just went into it full-force without a second thought. As a result, we almost died in the desolate landscape, wrecked a rental car while off-roading, saw the northern lights on a black sand beach, partied with the locals, and created something we’re really proud of, even if we had to cut the project short to pay for the rental car we trashed. It was chaotic, beautiful and inspiring.
I almost got arrested filming a music video in Taipei as well. That’s a close second.