There is a certain mythology around starting out in the creative industry. For the creative, inspiration is everywhere in the unexpected, and it demands only that you notice. Sometimes there’s also a tendency to romanticize things or develop small obsessions that highlight the possibility of bringing visual projects to life. And that’s what I rediscovered in my conversation with Tim. The creative journey involves a bit more than it might seem, and all external factors contribute to the creation of a visual product, whether it’s a change of city, a change of environment, or, why not, certain changes taking place within us.
At first, I think Tim’s work drew me in because I sensed a very New York kind of rom-com aesthetic, but later I realized it was also about a sense of belonging. His projects have this old-modern feeling, and the stylistic choices bring a kind of comfort I find hard to explain. Maybe because they show the world the way I used to imagine it when I was younger and discovering visual projects for the first time. There is something very cool about that: the feeling that an image can bring back a version of the world you once believed was out there.
Here is our conversation.
a: I’d love to hear about the early days. How did all of this start for you?
Honestly, it started without any plan at all!
When I was a kid, I was always making little videos with my cousins and friends. We’d film random things, usually to Lana Del Rey songs or whatever music we were obsessed with at the time, haha. I took my camera everywhere. Looking back, I think I was just fascinated by the idea that you could make someone feel something with images.
The funny thing is that I never thought this would become my career!!
I actually started in social media and marketing, helping brands grow online. But after a while I realized I cared way more about creating ideas than posting them. I slowly moved into YouTube formats, creative direction, bigger productions, then started working with celebrities and brands in Russia. Now I’m basically starting that journey again in New York, which is exciting… and honestly a little scary too, but I kind of like that feeling!
a: Creative direction is so much about reading the room and, in the end, holding everyone’s vision together. When did you realize this was your way of creating?
I don’t think there was one specific moment.
I think I realized it when I stopped caring about making beautiful shots just because they looked beautiful.
Now I almost always start with a feeling. Or a memory. Or something tiny that happened during the day that nobody else would probably notice. Then I spend way too much time thinking about how to translate that emotion into visuals.
I love metaphors. I don’t really enjoy explaining everything to the audience, I’d rather leave little clues and let people connect the dots themselves. I think that’s much more emotional!!
For me, creative direction is about helping everyone build the same emotional world! It’s really important for me.
a: I’ve been talking to a few creatives from New York and there’s something very much human about the way this new generation builds images. What do you think the city does to your imagination?
New York makes me pay attention! I genuinely think every block has a story if you’re willing to notice it. I also grew up watching so many American movies from the early 2000s that, before I even moved here, I already had this romantic version of New York living in my head.
Now I find myself mixing that nostalgia with the city that actually exists today. I don’t really want to recreate those movies. I think I’m trying to recreate how they made me feel. That’s probably why so much of my work sits somewhere between memory and reality.
a: What does a normal day in your life look like lately?
Honestly… pretty chaotic.
Some days I’m on set. Some days I’m editing until 2 a.m. Some days I spend hours walking around New York with my headphones on because that’s somehow when the best ideas show up.
I also write everything down. My Notes app is completely insane because I’m constantly afraid I’ll forget an idea.
I overthink pretty much everything. Sometimes that’s exhausting, but I also think that’s where most of my work comes from.
I’ve realized I don’t really find inspiration by sitting at my desk. It usually appears while I’m living my life and paying attention to little things.
a: What kind of horror, if we can call it that, finds its way into your work?
That’s actually a really interesting question.
I think… forgetting. Forgetting people. Forgetting feelings. Forgetting who you were at a certain point in your life.
A lot of my work is really about trying to hold onto moments before they disappear. I don’t think my films are “dark,” but there’s usually a quiet anxiety underneath them. Like something beautiful is already ending while you’re watching it. Maybe that’s because I’m naturally an overthinker.
a: I’d also love to know more about the Anna Delvey campaign. How did the whole thing feel while it was happening, were you stressed when everything got confirmed, and what was the concept behind it?
The whole project actually started because of an idea I had.
I wanted to direct smth with Anna because I wasn’t really interested in telling people whether they should like her or hate her. I was interested in the fact that she’d become this cultural phenomenon!
The idea was to place her inside a polished fashion editorial and let people look at her differently for a moment. I think complicated people often tell the most interesting stories.
There was basically no budget, so I had to build the whole team from scratch just because everyone believed in the idea. And I had absolutely no idea what Anna would actually be like in person.
But everything went way better than I expected!! The atmosphere was amazing, the team was happy, Anna loved the pics, and when I finally saw the final images I remember thinking, “Okay… this actually became better than what I had imagined.”
We also filmed a video, but unfortunately it was connected to a specific moment in time. We couldn’t finish and approve everything before that moment passed, so it never got released.
Hopefully we’ll make something together again one day because I still think there’s a really interesting story to tell.
a: What’s a moment from the last few years you wish you had documented?
Honestly, I document almost everything! I make YouTube vlogs, so a huge part of my life in New York is already there.
The moments I struggle to document are the difficult ones. The anxiety. Burnout. The days when I don’t want to talk to anyone, leave the house, or make anything at all. Those moments usually stay off camera because, when you’re living through them, picking up a camera somehow feels even heavier.
And being vulnerable online is complicated. Part of you hopes someone will relate, but another part worries people will just think you’re complaining for no reason.
I think people often assume that if your life looks beautiful from the outside, especially if you live somewhere like New York, it must feel beautiful all the time too. But cities don’t cancel loneliness, unfortunately, so maybe one day I’ll find a way to tell those stories too.
THE END.
All images courtesy of @timbites.