Life & Work with Cameron Bullard of Littleton

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cameron Bullard.

Hi Cameron, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
The story begins like almost everyone else’s: a mid-college crashout resulting in an astoundingly unplanned degree choice, sending an Instagram DM that failed spectacularly, and spending far too much money on a hobby you’ve never actually done. I attended the University of Wyoming, during which I switched majors 6 times before finally settling on a BFA in Theatre and Dance. From day one, up to the time of this decision, I was struggling to visualize career options. However, during a crashout, I had an epiphany that, as a creative, I wanted to create art for people, resulting in the dream of becoming a lighting designer and working at Red Rocks. Having only ever done theatre in grade school, I understood that the only way to achieve a dream of this magnitude was through hard work and diving headfirst. It was extremely tough but rewarding. Roughly 3 months before graduation, a random bout of courage hit. I sent an DM to a stranger who I saw was on a tour coming through Red Rocks, saying roughly “I’m attending this show, I’m a student in theatre production wanting to get into live concerts. Is there a way I can shadow the process from load-in through show?”, to which he responded, “Unfortunately, no.” I thanked him for even responding to my random message and wished him a good show, and went back to my acting class. Twenty minutes later, he responded with some questions. I answered, and after another ten minutes, he said, “I’ll harass my manager to put you on the list. See you at 8:00 am :)” Through all the hard work, I finally got a break. There, I learned more about the concert industry and found a Denver-based production company to apply to. In less than a year, I ran the Lights for a Red Rocks concert for the first time. It’s difficult to be proud of one’s accomplishments, but laying it out for you here and now reminds me of how far I’ve come. I’ve now worked with more than 200 artists over the last 2 years, and that finally takes me to a hobby I picked up last year — Photography. I knew next to nothing about photography, but I enjoyed the artistic expression. I picked up a Sony camera I knew would be good for years to come and would work well with action shots. After posting some nature photography, I had coworkers ask if I could take photos of their local DJ sets. From there, I’ve been fortunate to combine work and pleasure, with concerts and photography. What started as an overpriced hobby has now turned into me bringing my camera everywhere to get behind the scenes of the industry and providing local artists with a more confident view of themselves to keep pushing, and one day get the recognition/break I know they deserve.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been quite a bumpy road ranging from: consecutive 18-22 hour days, health complications, difficult people, time management, miscommunications, Emotional/Mental health struggles, Financial worry, etc. Despite these struggles, I’m attempting to smooth out the work/life balance part. In turn, this should hopefully alleviate a good chunk of the hardships.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Actively working as a lighting tech, video tech, and scenic designer, I have a style of photography that emphasizes the production. When it comes to composition, I assure the artist is the main focus, but being in the industry, additional attention should be paid to enhance the production that these artists and crew pay a lot of money, time, and energy for. I’m proud to have been a part of multi-million dollar builds, and I hold just as much pride in a local backyard DJ Set. But when it comes to photography, I believe you should see more than just an artist’s headshot at the end of the night. I’ve been on a production that took us 12 hours to build, 6 hours to take down, all for a 2-hour show, and the only image on their social was a super tight headshot/portrait; nothing was showing the intricate lighting rig, scenic pieces, or even the incredible scenery. Don’t get me wrong, the portrait was artistic in its own right, and this was a wonderful photo — but it just made me think about what I could do to show more of what it takes to put on a concert. With tickets only getting more and more expensive, if I can provide those who missed the show or those wanting a nostalgia trip a more encompassing view, I’ve done my job.

What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory is forgetting to tell my parents I was the lead role in a Musical. The only experience with theatre I had before my bachelor’s degree was 2 plays in grade school. The first one, I was just a background character because it was part of a class. But the second play was more of a musical, so I had to audition. I did the audition, got the lead, and forgot to tell my parents the role I got. All I told them was that I was in a musical and that it was coming up. My dad shows up with a small camera to record what he thinks is one or maybe two songs. He looks at the program, sees my name at the top and proceeds to call my mom and ask if she knew I was the lead — she did not. Long story short, my dad had to record 90% of the musical and even had to switch to his phone towards the end because he ran out of storage.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cbtheatrics.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cam.bullard?igsh=NjFkNWpoOXFtYWtt&utm_source=qr

Image Credits
Photos by Cameron Bullard, CBTHEATRICS