Seattle photographer on mission to unleash world’s creativity

When Seattle photographer Chase Jarvis decided to make a pivot in his life, scrapping a PhD for a career in photography, he says he wasn’t sure where to turn.

“When you’ve been at a high level of education, you’ve been in a PhD program, you don’t want to go laterally and try and learn more. I wanted to learn outside of the formal institution. There was nowhere to go,” Jarvis tells Jenni Hogan on her Next Big Thing podcast.

The next step might have been to seek out a mentor in the industry. But Jarvis explains in the creative realm, that’s not always so simple.

“Certainly in the creative world, they’re very closed because they don’t want to give away secrets and whatnot, everyone’s got their special sauce,” he says.

Jarvis thought all that secrecy was “malarkey” so he decided instead to share everything as he learned in the process. Being one of the first big sharers in the industry, Jarvis quickly rose to the top.

“Over a short amount of time, I created a very large social following, one of the largest of any photographers in the world. And it was through that sort of giving away that I sort of received an abundance, more than I ever could have given,” he says.

Jarvis has over 200,000 followers on Twitter and gets to go on dream shoots covering things he’s interested in around the world. Beyond photography, he’s also translated what he learned from his experience into a new venture.

With partner Craig Swanson, Jarvis has developed Creative Live, a new, online platform to give experts a space to share their knowledge.

Jarvis says the mission of Creative Live is “to unleash the creative potential of millions of people worldwide by connecting them live with the world’s experts in the creative field.”

Creative Live offers courses in photography, software, design, video, film, lifestyle and even business, and Jarvis says anyone can access the information these experts provide.

“Here’s the way it works: we put these people on a sound stage and we point four to eight cameras at them live and anyone in the world can watch for free,” he says.

It’s like a TED Talk, says Jarvis, but the lessons go on for days, literally, many of the seminars are two or three days.

“They teach real skills, teach you how to do the things you want to do. These are not like fluffy, soft things,” says Jarvis. “This is like actionable stuff.”

The presentations are accessible free online while they’re happening. It’s only when accessing the archived presentations that they won’t be free.

Jarvis says they typically get around 40,000 watching the courses live as they happen. Those viewers also have the added benefit of being able to interact with the presenter.

“We’re social from the ground up so anyone in the world who’s watching can ask questions via Twitter, Facebook, and you can join in the online chat,” says Jarvis.

They’ve taken what works in the classroom – a teacher at the front, students able to ask the teacher questions – and have expanded it on a scale viewable by a large number of people.

“The cool thing is this access,” says Jarvis. “You’re learning from the best in the world, the top one percent, and you’re able to ask questions of them in real time, they respond.”

There’s a full course catalog listing all the classes coming up. Learn more about upcoming events at CreativeLive.com.

Listen to Chase Jarvis’ full interview on the latest episode of Jenni Hogan’s Next Big Thing podcast. Listen anytime ON DEMAND at KIRORadio.com.