My Career: Photographer and art director Kyle Sven

Did you always want to be a photographer?
No, I always knew I was meant to be in a creative career but what that medium was only revealed itself to me in my late 20s.

In college, I studied… I am completely self-taught. In fact, I am a high school dropout.

My most formative work experience was… for the last 12 years, prior to going full-time with photography, I worked as a designer and art director mainly in branding and advertising

My first real job was… I spent two days doing stock take in a garden nursery back in South Africa.

The most invaluable thing I learned early on in my career was… if you don’t ask, you don’t get!

A common misconception about what I do is… that I just push a button on a camera.

My main responsibility in work is… ideas, ideas, ideas! And then to execute them visually.

Do you have a career mentor or someone you look up to/seek advice from?
Absolutely, I am very fortunate to have a few really close friends in the industry who have helped me hugely with advice or even just a second opinion. I find it really helpful to sense check with people I trust and admire. Gavin Leane was someone I reached out to early in my career who has now become such a big part of my life.

The biggest risk I have taken in my career so far is… is to quit a steady job and leave a career I have worked in for 12 years to chase my dreams!

I wake at… oh god, let’s not get into it! My sleep pattern is all over the place at the moment but in an ideal world, I would love to be up at 7.30am every day.

The first thing I do every morning is… ashamed to say but I check Instagram. Very conscious of my addiction to my phone.

My morning routine is… a self-care routine is very important to me so I try to exercise three to four times a week, usually this is a combination of yoga and running.

I can’t go to work without… an oatmilk flat white

I travel to work by… foot. I roll out of bed and to my desk!

On an average workday I… every day is different, it depends on what I have on or how much I have on but I am very generous with my downtime and allowing myself time for self-care, creative thinking and exploration. All those things add up to a better way of working and ensuring I am absolutely not stressed! I think we live in a time where stress is a self-prescribed measure of success. If I am not on set shooting something, I will be working on ideas or putting together creative decks for clients, editing images, working on my own brand and marketing.

I start my working day at… this is also never a constant, every day is different. Some days I won’t start until 11am. If I am on a shoot, it’s usually an 8am or 9am start.

The first thing I do at work is… check emails

The most useful business tool I use every day is… my calendar. I am absolutely addicted and have every meeting, shoot, task on there. Even my run days and yoga classes will be in there.

I rarely get through my working day without… my notebook. I absolutely love a list!

The best part of my day is… I love mornings, I love the promise of a new day, new opportunities.

The most challenging part of my day is… probably the 16-hour editing days when I am glued to my computer. It tends to be very monotonous and can make you go a bit loopy after a few days of doing it consistently.

I usually end my day at… again every day is different. If I am editing, sometimes I can go until 2am before I call it.

I switch off from work by… self-care and connecting with friends. It’s so important to maintain a self-care routine and connect with friends and family when you can, just to disconnect from anything you have to do.

I often prepare for tomorrow by… making lists, I absolutely love them! And I also love to plan my lighting setups by drawing out a diagram.

The accomplishment I’m most proud of is… my first solo exhibition, it was such a big moment for me. It was an opportunity to define my visual style as an artist and develop a body of work that was completely me!

If you want to get into my line of work, my advice is to… think less and do more. Just do the work and the work will lead to more work. Things will be revealed. You will learn things along the way but you have to do the work! I am pretty sure I am stealing someone’s quote here, but it applies to my life and I think about it all time.

I’ve just finished working on… I have just finished a creative collaboration with some of my favourite people and friends in the industry. It’s out on sickymag.com if you’d like to check it out! I am aggressively prioritising creative projects this year. I am also working on my first short film – my directing debut – yes this is an exclusive and that is all you will find out about it!

Imagery courtesy of Kyle Sven