Today I'm thrilled to bring you a conversation with artist Jason Siegel, who has a fascinating practice and approach to creating his work. Let's dive in.

First off- can you introduce yourself to our community? Your name, where you are from, and the mediums you work in?

My name is Jason Siegel. I'm a professional photographer and sculptor based out of Denver, CO. On the photography side of things, I split my time between the music, commercial and lifestyle industries & on the sculptural side of things, I build replica firearms out of 100% recycled camera equipment :)

Let’s dive right into your latest project and work backwards from there. What can people expect from this latest release?

So although this upcoming release is being referred to as "my latest project," this project's origins actually stem back to 2017, when I was asked to create a body of work for a gallery up in Aspen. However, this upcoming release will essentially be the genesis of moving this project into the Web3 space.

What people can expect to see on Wednesday will be a small batch of photographic editions released of a single sculpture that I built for the project. Over the years, I've built nearly 20 of these sculptures. I plan to release editions of each one of them over the coming months as well as lots of 1/1s, collaborative pieces and other exciting things with utility that I'm not quite ready to divulge publicly yet. They will definitely be something that everyone who's interested in the project should be looking forward to though.

The collection is called Shoot Portraits Not People. I thought it was a perfect name for a project like this. There are so many similarities in terminology between photography and firearms (even outside of the word "shoot") that this name just made total sense for me. Also plays well with the strange duality of cameras creating and guns destroying.

The collection looks and sounds amazing. I'm excited to see it unfold. When you trace this concept back to its roots- where did this idea come from and how did it evolve over the years? What is the meaning you find in creating these pieces, the message you hope to convey to those that experience these pieces?

So this project originally came from me seeing an image of a flat-lay of someones gear on the floor in the shape of a gun. It was very much just the shape though, it really only kind of looked like a gun when you squinted your eyes. I thought to myself "I feel like I can do better than that". SO, I tried and succeeded. I dumped all my gear out of my bag on my living room floor and arranged it in the shape of a gun. I took a photo, posted it online and people went crazy over it.

It was at that moment that I realized I needed to start building these into actual, physical sculptures that someone can hold. However, I wasn't about to start drilling holes in the back of all the gear that I used to make my photographic living out of, so I started hitting up every antique store in Denver, sourcing old, broken and unwanted gear.

Here's the flat lay I created. Where it all started for me:

That show lead to another, and another and another until two years later I had built 16 guns (including one to be mounted on a 1947 Willies Jeep I bought and refurbished for the project) and sold every single one of them. What I had originally planned on pricing at $1,000 a piece, pieces were now selling for between $10-$30K a piece.

Every show has had an anti-violence charity component to it which has been amazing, and after taking a two year break, I'm back into building much more comprehensive and interactive pieces. But honestly, I'm most excited about bringing this project into Web3.

I want people to take what they want from this project. Obviously with a name like Shoot Portraits Not People, it certainly stands for something, but I don't want to tell people how to feel when they see this project... Other than maybe a little bit of shock value and hopefully some interest in seeing something so different.

Honestly, my favorite part is being able to create something with a medium that it wasn't intended to be used for and being able to use what most of the world sees as trash because it's broken or outdated, to create something new. Apart from the grenade fuses, EVERY single piece that makes up the project is made of camera gear, even the wood stocks that you may see on some of the guns.

I love how many angles you've considered this from. The work, the cause, the technology, it is very clear that you've put a lot of thought in here and I'm excited to see the reception.

Let's shift a bit and discuss the NFT space in general. How did you first encounter this technology? And what has the journey been like so far, what excites you about this world? And lastly, I saw a tweet about ETH Denver, which I agree with. I was amazed by the positive energy and excitement there. What stood out to you as an artist here?

I think I learned about the NFT space the same way a lot of other newbies learned about it, just from having a friend or two that started talking about it. I've been lucky though, so many of my friends that started talking about it were doing awesome things in the space and were all pushing me to get involved.

Because I'm like the least tech savvy person on the planet, to be blunt, it's been a super nerve-racking and a super overwhelming journey for me so far. It takes A LOT for me to learn something new, but I've been incredibly fortunate to have had an amazing group of people I respect, to hold my hand through the beginning.

At the end of every new day that I'm involved, I find it getting easier and easier for me to find my way without having to text my friends about what I should tweet lol. The community has been incredibly supportive and truly, I think thats one of the things I'm most excited about.

Other than the community aspect, I've been dwelling a lot on the use of blockchain and how to use it to its full potential. I've come up with some pretty amazing ideas and concepts that I can't wait to implement into this project that will apply to both the physical and digital goods associated with this project. And that doesn't even include my excitement for how blockchain is going to be integrated into the rest of the world - that's what I have the most fun thinking about.

I'd love to wrap up with a question I ask everyone who I interview. What is your advice to an artist who is earlier on their creative journey?

When I was younger, my grandmother introduced me to a very well known landscape photographer. I showed him some of my work and he told me that there was too much variety. He said that if I were to become a successful photographer that I would need to focus on one thing or I would never make it. When I heard that, it kind of made me feel like someone was telling me I can’t do something. I’ve spent the last 13 years trying to prove him wrong.

While I am certainly not the best or most successful photographer on the planet, I have found some success in each of my genres and mediums. When people ask me what my favorite thing to shoot or create is, I always tell them that I enjoy it all. In reality, it’s the fact that I’m able to hop between portraiture, live music, product, album covers, commercial work & lifestyle that keeps me interested in what I do. When I add being able to build guns in the mix, it only makes it better.

Perhaps I would be a better artist if I had taken his advice and focused on only one thing, but I don’t think I would be as happy or useful.

My advice for artists earlier on their journey is to stick to what you love & try to find more things you love. Try your hardest to not be taken advantage of, don't compare yourself to others (I do it way too much and hate myself for it), answer your emails, ask for help, charge your worth and don’t let people who are more seasoned or successful than you that you cannot do something.

Wonderful advice Jason- and thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. To the reader, you can find all things Jason Siegel by visiting his LinkTree.