Today we’d like to introduce you to Wilson Webb.
Hi Wilson, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, you could tell our readers some of your backstory.
Certainly… well I was interested in photography from an early age because my father often had a camera, and his darkroom was mysterious. I learned how to use a camera and how to print at a very early age. In high school, I took a video production class that was taught by a great teacher and was incredibly thorough. That class led me to a job in a costume shop during my last two years of high school, where I learned the basics of character and gore makeup. One day, someone came in asking about makeup effects that could be used in a horror film that they were directing, so I started working with them, going as far as shooting a terrible, really bloody film the summer after I graduated. I then went to college in VT, at Goddard, but needed more modern equipment, so I decided transfer somewhere with more resources and landed at Minneapolis College of Art + Design. During an intern study, I met a local Gaffer (a person who is in charge of lighting and electricity on a motion picture crew) who noticed that I was a fast learner. During my senior year he started hiring me for local commercials, music videos, and movies. I continued that line of work for almost 10 years as MN had many films at that point due to their then great tax incentives. At the same time, I was still shooting photos and often had a small film camera on my tool belt. When the Coen Brothers came back to their hometown to shoot A Serious Man, they were looking for a local photographer to be there shooting day to day and they took a safe bet on me. (; my name kept coming up. They hired me, and the rest is history)
Let’s go a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what challenges have you overcome?
Filmmaking is hardly ever a smooth road. Although it seems exciting from the outsider’s point of view (and it certainly can be at times), it is also a very bizarre business. Everyone on the crew is working as a freelance contractor, so you never know when or where you may get your next job. As you can imagine, that aspect is very frustrating… the last year, with all the lack of work because of the strikes, has painfully shown us that. I’ve been fortunate to get a lot of breaks at just the right time, and having the Coens refer me to a few other great directors was undoubtedly an enormous benefit.
Thanks for sharing that. So, you could tell us more about your work.
The job of an on-set photographer is to shoot photos that help to advertise, promote, and sell a film. It also documents the filmmaking process and the working relationships on set. We take most images that you see in magazines, online, in social media and on movie posters. Our photos are also used on social media, of course, but the job of an influencer is a separate task performed by another crew member. This is a new development, and I have yet to see this in my jobs, but others have. I’m known for the quality of the images that I take, my particular look, and my calm demeanor on set. I always have several film cameras close by, along with the digital ones, and those B+W film images can be quite beautiful. Many directors, creatives, and other photographers know me for those.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
After college, I wanted to stay in the Twin Cities because of its size, cost of living (compared to the coasts), and because of its incredible music and arts scene. On the minus side is the discrimination and historically wide racial gap that we’ve have for much too long.
Contact Info:
- Website: wilsonwebb.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wilsonwebb/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@wilsonrwebb/video/7319907635430591790
Image Credits
Please let me know what images you will use and I will then provide studio credits where needed. Also you did a similar profile on a local musician Dylan Hicks and used 2 of my photos. The photos are credited to 2 different photographers and are both mine. Can you please fix that mistake? Thank you.
