Making Time : Pia Howell

Do you have a day job? What is it?

Yes! I work full time for BAGGU. I'm in charge of our wholesale department and work with almost all of our international distributors. I also give aesthetic input and just designed a pattern for a bag that will come out this summer. BAGGU usually feels less like a day job, actually, and more like something I've helped to grow over the past few years.

Do the people you work with know you are a photographer?

The people I work with are all creative themselves and know that I'm an artist. Since I don't use a camera for my main photo work anymore and really just make contact prints, I don't usually call myself a photographer. I just say that I make photographs, among other things. Anyway, I think a lot of people who have only seen my images online can't tell that they are photographs made in the darkroom.

Does the work you do during the day affect your personal work?

Sometimes; I do appreciate working for a company that cares so much about color and simplicity. Mainly, though, I feel like I've learned so many valuable lessons about how a small creative business works. My mind has really been opened up to the possibilities for art and design crossover lately.



If you could rearrange your time, what would be the ideal balance between your personal and professional work?

Ultimately I'd love for personal and professional to become one and the same. But for now, I fantasize about working full time in 4 days and having 3 left over to make my own things. Sometimes I find it hard to switch back and forth, to slip away from analytical thinking and into visual reverie.

Images: Pia Howell

Top to bottom: After Max Bill (2009), Framed Trio (2010), Silver Marlboros (2009)