Behind the Creative: Trevor Roberts
Wendy Rosales
From breaking away from traditional career paths to becoming a touring photographer, we talked to Trevor Roberts about his photography endeavors and what led him to a successful career path.
Give us a short brief introduction on who you are?
My name is Trevor Roberts, I’m 22 years old, and I grew up in a small-town south of Atlanta, Georgia called ‘Newnan’. I moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma when I was 18 to go to college at Oral Roberts University, and graduated in May of 2019. I’m a full time freelance photographer, with a handful of side hustles to keep me afloat hah! I mainly take photos of music artists and travel on tour.
How has being from a small town affected your motivation to be successful in the music industry?
This is a great question! It’s a lot of different reasons. Most of the people I grew up with will probably get a finance degree or nursing degree, and a few will be lucky enough to become doctors, lawyers, and successful accountants. They’ll get a good stable job, get married in their early 20’s, and work at their 9-5 job, praying to God that they’ll one day reach the top of the company, and be there until they retire at 65. That sounds absolutely terrible to me. Frightening even. I’m not knocking what some of my peers are doing, for some that is exactly what they want, and I commend them for it! Like my dad is a pediatrician, he has been in his practice for about 20 years, and ever since he was a kid, he wanted to be a doctor. But for me, I rather not get stuck in the “rat race” and have the freedom of being my own boss and go after what I’m truly passionate about. So, I guess to sum all of that up, being in a small town motivated me to get out of there, go after what I wanted, which is photography in the music industry, and to not look back.
Think back to your childhood. Was there someone or something that inspired you to be who you are today?
Luckily, I had a lot of people in my life that pushed me to go after what I wanted. To name a few: Jake Ayers, who has been a mentor to me since I was 13 and is still one of my best friends today, John Daugherty, who really encouraged me to pursue photography more seriously, and my dad, who has always been a supporter and hero to me. I owe a lot to those three individuals for the “success” I have had so far, and they still inspire me today!
How has personal experience influenced your photography and creativity?
I think there are lots of different things that have influenced my photography and creativity. I have traveled a ton ever since I was in middle school. Vacations, mission trips, summer camps, and moving away to college showed me a lot of different outlooks on life, landscapes, cultures, you name it. If it wasn’t obvious enough, I was raised in the church, and with that came tons of different influences in the way I shoot things, what kind of people I surrounded myself with, and more. I can’t quite pin one thing, it is a multitude.
What do you wish to accomplish with your photography ?
I have set a lot of short term and long-term goals for my career, some that seem completely out of reach, which I think will push me to work harder. I would love to get on a world tour, I would love to shoot in an arena, I would love to have one of my photos published in a magazine, and the list goes on. While I would love to accomplish those, I don’t root my “success” in those goals, because If I did I would consistently let myself down. So I think the things I listed would be cool to accomplish, but If I don’t, I’m okay.
When was the first time that you remember realizing that your hobby of photography could actually be more than that?
I think when I started getting contacted to shoot gigs. I was like, “oh wait, people actually think I’m good enough to not only let me shoot their concert/event, but they want to pay me too.” It was pretty surreal, but as soon as that flip switched in my brain, I knew this was exactly what I wanted to do full time!
How has meeting more creative people because of what you do helped you out to continue to be successful?
It has been a major blessing! Because of my job, I have been able to meet so many other successful creatives that I have never thought I would be friends with or work with. It has opened up a ton more opportunities for myself; I have gathered inspiration from their work, and have been able to reference to them for advice and ideas, it really is cool. At the same time, I have met plenty of people that are not down to hang or work or collaborate at all lol, but those people are in every industry. I’m thankful that the people I have in my corner are the best in the world, in my eyes!
Is there anything that you haven't done yet that you feel compelled to achieve in the future?
Totally. I kind of mentioned it before, but I would really love to tour internationally with a band I really love. One day, It would be cool to release my own photo book that includes photos from throughout my career that I am proud of. Little things like that I feel like are bucket list goals for someone like me in my career field.
With respect to your creative activities, what has been the greatest obstacle that you have had to overcome?
I think I am in the middle of a great obstacle that I have yet to overcome, but when I do, I think it's going to be a beautiful thing. I have a hard time comparing myself to the people around me; I can quickly get discouraged when I look to my right and to my left and see that some of my peers are so much farther ahead of me and are accomplishing great things that I hope to accomplish one day. Even down to certain images I see my friends producing, I’m like “How in the world did they make that?” But a thing I am learning to do is detach myself from my job, by separating who I am with what I do. My identity can’t be in my job, because if it is, I am constantly going to be letting myself down, I will never be satisfied, and if I fail then my identity will also fall in root of that. So I have been reminding myself, I am Trevor Roberts the person, before I am Trevor Roberts “the Photographer.” It has helped me a lot, and I actually encourage everyone to start living that way, you will be a lot more satisfied and live way happier.
What has yet to date been your most favorite tour that you have gone on?
Oh man, the first ‘joan’ headline tour was a blast! My friend Connor Goad shot the first half of the tour, and I shot the back half, and it was truly the best time. Alan (singer) and Steven (drummer), have become two of my best friends, and to be able to work with them and travel the U.S. playing in these cities for the first time headlining was so special to capture. It helps that I absolutely love their music and have been a fan since 2017, now they’re my brothers, and aren’t getting rid of me anytime soon.
What does a day on tour for you look like?
I have yet to be on a tour big enough that offers the luxury of having a bus and having crew workers do all of the heavy work, so I’ll run you through one of our days on the ‘joan’ headline tour haha. So, we usually wake up in whatever city was halfway between the night before and the next show date, grab latte’s and hit the road. We’ll roll up the venue, unload the van and trailer, set up our lighting rigs, merch, sound equipment, etc. and then run a sound check. After that we usually have some free time, so we will try to go grab dinner somewhere local, and then get back to the venue in time to get ready to play. I usually take some photos of the boys behind stage, getting ready, and right around then, the opening act is packing up their gear on stage. They’ll play the show, I’ll shoot, and then sell merch after. After everyone has cleared out, we’ll pack everything back up into the trailer and van, and hit the road again!
Is there a certain project that you are most proud of?
Probably some of the new stuff I have been working on! I have been able to get on some music video shoots to shoot behind the scenes and I’m producing a lot of photos I’m very proud of. I actually just accidentally shot the back cover of the vinyl for joan’s new EP ‘cloudy’, and I can’t wait to hold the physical copy in my hands; I’m pretty proud of that.
What are your words of wisdom for someone starting out in your field?
I would say, try to take every opportunity that is given to you within reason. Also, there is power in asking, you never know unless you ask. I can’t tell you how many opportunities were given to me simply because I just went for it. A lot of managers and artists will notice that because it shows you want it and are willing to go after it. And be prepared to not make money for at least the first year or two of shooting shows.
When it comes to reaching out to artists what would you recommend for those who are just starting?
I had two methods: find the manager’s email through the artist’s Facebook, and email them with an attached portfolio they can reference, or Instagram DM the artist directly. Every single tour opportunity I have been given so far has started with an Instagram DM. Tell them what you offer, and give them something to reference to. Again, there is power in asking!
When you were just starting out what was one mistake you learned from?
Oh man, I used to be the WORST about photo credits. I would never let the artist live it down If I was not tagged in the photo. Which, to be honest, rightfully so, I always think the artist should give credit. But looking back, I used to embarrass myself trying to get credit for the photo, emailing managers, the whole 9 yards, but sometimes it really wasn’t worth it, and it burnt bridges with that person. So now, if I am specifically requesting credits for a shoot, I make sure to lay down that ground rule up front, other than that, if I did not set that ground rule or put it in a contract, that is on me, and I am not going to bend over backwards to fix it.
When everything goes back to normal what’s one thing you hope to be able to do again?
I am so ready to be back on the road again. I am ready to shoot shows, I’m ready to travel, I’m ready to see people! I think when all is said and done, concerts are going to come back even fiercer, and it is going to be the best time ever.
How has COVID-19 affected you during these times? Is there any way we could support you?
Well Covid took away touring until further notice, which was going to be a main source of income for me this year, so unfortunately it affected not only me but the entire industry in a drastic way. I’ve had to pick up a handful of side hustles, and I’m getting to shoot little things here and there, but it put a huge dent in my income. I sell prints! You can find them on my website trevorhroberts.com and I actually need to update those soon, I have some more I’m hoping to release. Other than that, you can hit me with a follow on insta, keep up with what I’m doing if you want, and just pray all of this goes away soon lol.
To conclude, is there anything else you would like to say?
Go after what you want. You literally get one life and you can do whatever you want to do with it, so don’t waste it!
photos courtesy of Trevor Roberts