EPISODE 112 | DEAN HEARNE | PHOTOGRAPHER

MARIA LE MESURIER PODCAST

In this episode, Maria Lemejura interviews photographer Dean Hearn about his unconventional journey from professional BMX riding to interior

Key takeaways

• Dean transitioned from a professional BMX background into lifestyle photography through documenting global travels.
• His wife, Jess, was instrumental in introducing him to the world of interior design and decorating.

Main topics

• Career transitions
• BMX culture

Notable quotes

Don't be a dick.

Conclusion

A profound look at how creative professionals can navigate burnout by

Transcript preview

Speaker 1 (0:01) Hi, I'm Maria Lemejra. Welcome to my podcast where I'll be talking about many different things as a life and style editor, inviting guests on from different fields that inspire me, editing things both in and out of life, finding and sharing interior design styles to make home as comfortable as possible, recent discoveries, personal style, feel goodbyes, wellness tips and tricks, favorite sayings and affirmations, plus any lessons learned along the way. I believe that life should be easy and it's not always easy at all. It helps to understand how others get through it to bring life together. Today I'm chatting to the very talented interiors, travel, portrait and lifestyle photographer Dean Hearn. It was during six months of travelling through America and Australia in 2000 that Dean's passion for photography really grew and his interest in interiors photography soon followed. Dean works with interior designers, hotels and luxury brands all around the world. His work is regularly featured in House and Garden magazine and he photographed the book New English Interiors by Elizabeth Metcalf. He says he's always been fascinated by the power of photography to tell stories and I'm so happy to be talking to him today. Hi Dean, how are you? Speaker 2 (1:25) Good, how are you? Speaker 1 (1:26) I'm very well, thank you. You look, I love your pale pink t-shirt. I know, Speaker 2 (1:31) yeah. I mean, it's just... It's a good one. You Speaker 1 (1:34) know, Speaker 2 (1:34) I've been quite a monochrome person for a long time, but I feel like I'm trying new things. I kind of make sense to, like, you know, a lot of what I photograph, I think maybe it's just imbibed in my sense of clothing. And I wear, like... I only wear, like, three different things. Like, I wear T-shirts, jeans, and occasionally shirts. Like, I'm very simple. That's Speaker 1 (1:56) not Speaker 2 (1:56) good to me. I'm very simple. So I felt like, you know... branching out and having a bit more colour in my life. Speaker 1 (2:03) It suits you. Okay so please can we start by you saying a little bit about the reason why you got into photography as I loved hearing about it when we spoke before. Speaker 2 (2:14) Okay bear with me this is like a slightly winding Speaker 2 (2:21) probably ramble um but I feel like it all has some kind of context yeah Speaker 1 (2:26) um Speaker 2 (2:27) so I used to ride a BMX bike professionally that's basically what I'd done um growing up although I still feel like I'm growing up but like probably because of that um so yeah from the age of I mean I did it since I was like I don't know 10 11 it's kind of always been in my life um and then from like 16 to early 30s that's basically what I what I did I was a you know kind of sponsored I don't like to use the word athlete because it sounds way more professional than it is but that was the kind of the the world that I grew up in that kind of counterculture BMX skateboarding surfing like sphere um and so a huge part of that was photography and filming like it just Speaker 2 (3:19) that was just what you did like I remember as a 13 year old like they were building a new road near our house and there was all these like things that you could kind of set up to ride and at the time my granddad had a video camera that just happened to be at our house and it was like okay we're just going to take this without really asking um yeah and go down there and document what we're doing um and so at the time weirdly filming or videography was like the kind of I don't say gateway drug but like that was a bit of a precursor to photography because it was Speaker 1 (3:56) just accessible Speaker 2 (3:57) right like it was just I mean it wasn't accessible in that I probably should have asked before I took the video camera and slightly that and we did actually damage it but you know we're kids so um yeah that was like We had something that we loved doing, that we were super passionate about, and we just needed to find a way of documenting it. And so that, you know, photography, film, it all become a huge part of that. And then kind of moving forward, as I became sponsored, started a bike company with some friends. And so as a part of that, photography just kind of was always there in the background so whether it was documenting our travels like taking a team of riders to a country like you know we went everywhere like Iceland, Hawaii, all over the world Speaker 1 (4:53) and Speaker 2 (4:54) so usually we'd have like an official kind of photographer and then I'd be there like kind of doing the behind the scenes and documenting things sort of as they happened and then kind of learning about product photography and all of that stuff, but it always had this like kind of connection. I wouldn't say means to an end is the wrong phrase, but it was like, I had this thing that I was passionate about. And then, so like the photography was part of that. Like it was just, I Speaker 1 (5:24) can see that. Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 2 (5:28) And so, you know, yeah, did that for a very, very long time. And then my wife, Jess, who we've been together 26 years. So. met her in i don't know what year it is 2010 um so like kind of right in the middle of that kind of I don't want to call it a career because it felt like one huge kind of rolling sort of like work party life yeah Speaker 1 (5:56) it was but it was yeah Speaker 2 (5:58) it basically was um I'm not gonna lie it was like I mean it's the same as now like it's incredible like it's just how all this stuff works and it happens um but yeah so I met Jess and then she was like just obsessed still is with interiors And at the time, for a long time, I guess, it was just... Speaker 2 (6:25) I guess it wasn't like a planned path, but through her, I kind of learned about this whole world that I had no, you know, clue about like Speaker 1 (6:35) decorating Speaker 2 (6:35) rooms and riding a BMX bike. They're like about as polar opposite as it gets, you know, the rooms that I'm staying in when I'm on a trip, I'm like sleeping on a really disgusting sofa in a room. It's got like 15 people in a house. It's got probably 15 people living in it. Speaker 1 (6:50) And it's Speaker 2 (6:51) just like absolute chaos. Like, yeah. and so it was, I don't know, there was a calming element to it I suppose from like what I was used to. Speaker 1 (7:00) But Speaker 2 (7:01) just seeing how passionate she was about it and like yeah she, I guess that is where that's obviously you know I owe everything to her in that respect like that she brought me into this world that she loved. Speaker 2 (7:19) at a you know at a time when we were we bought our first flat so there was a lot of decorating renovating and stuff like that and she had such a clear vision of how she wanted it to be yeah and Speaker 2 (7:36) that just yeah you just absorb these things don't you like you just not at one point then would I have even thought like oh I'm I like photography and like she's into interiors but like you know and I could and there's these pictures in this magazine and I could I could do that like in the early stages anyway um but as time you know progressed and things happened I left the company that I started in the in the bike kind of world and Jess and I just wanted to kind of work together that was just it like we were you know we were kind of a little bit joined at the hip like we do do a lot of things together that's Speaker 1 (8:15) really lovely so as your life evolved your you took your camera from filming you what you were doing on your bmx to then documenting your life together and and yeah Speaker 2 (8:27) it's weird it's like this non-linear path that makes total sense i probably said this before like yeah it's not a trajectory that makes sense but it actually does because well it does Speaker 1 (8:36) completely Speaker 2 (8:37) it's my journey it's our journey it's like yeah Speaker 1 (8:39) exactly you Speaker 2 (8:40) know it's just going with what feels like the right thing Speaker 1 (8:43) Yeah, absolutely. At Speaker 2 (8:45) that Speaker 1 (8:45) time. You told me that you think your success is down to an element of luck. And I think that's very modest of you, as I think it's probably more to do with your talent. Do you feel that your inner confidence has grown over the years alongside your success? Speaker 2 (9:01) Yeah, like I am quite a, I'm quite confident. Like I'm quite a confident person. Like I just don't really, how's this going to sound? Because if you're not that confident, it would sound like. I sound like an egomaniac, which I'm, I don't think I am. I don't know. Cause I don't think it's really like that. It just seems like a natural way of doing things. If you're going to like, and this does come from full circle, comes from the bike riding. Yeah. Well, Speaker 1 (9:28) I was going to say, that's exactly what I think. Yeah. You're Speaker 2 (9:31) doing something that is like inherently dangerous. Yeah. Like somewhat, sometimes like illegal, I suppose you're not supposed to be in some of these places doing the things you're doing. Someone's taking, you know, I got hurt quite a few times. It happens, but like, So if you're not, like if you're going into doing something and you hesitate and you're not confident, like, Speaker 1 (9:50) and Speaker 2 (9:51) I saw this countless times with people around me, like you get hurt, like, and it just doesn't, it doesn't work. But like, if you're just, if you're just confident in what you're doing, like it just, it might not work, but at least like you're giving it the best. No, I can Speaker 1 (10:06) completely see that. It goes, it goes hand in hand. Like, and I don't think you even would have overthought anything at all when you were doing your BMX. you'll be a max not really i mean occasionally yeah yeah Speaker 2 (10:17) and that's and it is that it is that like Speaker 1 (10:22) It's just getting on with it and you're not you're not obsessing over every single small detail and what could possibly go wrong and thinking of the negatives you just maybe you're not even thinking about what you're doing you just get a job and you go and do it. Speaker 2 (10:34) Yeah I mean I think these decisions and these things happen very quickly in my mind like I can like all of that happens quite inherently naturally fast like I can see the possible problems see this what's going to happen okay I'm going to do this so all of that's sort of irrelevant. let's go you know it's like and I think that does you know that