Executive Voice

Sterling Chandler: A Rising Photographer & Filmmaker

Sterling Chandler is a Photographer, Filmmaker & Entrepreneur from London. This 16 year old has worked with many brands and musicians. From Aston Martin to The Specials.

Digital marketing is also Sterling’s forte, his company The Greenhouse Social hosts a wide number of clients in the entertainment industry. Just recently he has directed the digital campaign for the charity initiative the ‘White Label Auction’ alongside National Album Day and major labels such as Universal Music Group (incl. Island Records & Virgin EMI), Sony Music & Warner Music to raise funds for The BRIT trust. Contributors to this cause included The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys, Liam Gallagher, Ed Sheeran, Oasis, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, Genesis, The Specials, Coldplay, Sex Pistols, Mark Ronson, The Who, Lianne La Havas & many more artists.

The Specials at Coventry, Photographed by Sterling Chandler

Olivia Toffolo from Medium caught up with Sterling to see how he is coping and adapting to life in lockdown. As well getting the inside scoop on projects he is currently working on. Have a read!

How are you finding lockdown and what projects are you working on?

“Not too bad! Even though it’s been quite a drastic change, I’m just getting into it. It’s hard as I can’t do any photoshoots, but it doesn’t stop me from doing digital work. I’ve offered to help creative freelancers, local businesses and charities with getting their brand online for free. At the moment given the circumstances, it is very hard for an independent physical business to make ends meet. By seeing the difficulty I felt it was necessary to try and help in any way that I can. I have recently started with Tonic, A mental health charity, I’m helping them market their fundraisers, create social content/ campaign and spread the support they offer across the internet!”

How long ago did you start taking photos?

“I started off about 5 years ago taking photos, posting them online and having a bit of fun with it. Only until about a year and a half ago I started professionally.”

What has been the most interesting & rewarding project?

“Definitely working with the band The Specials. I started digital marketing for them around a year ago. Since then, I have been able to help grow their presence on social media, just over the last year we have reached around 45 million impressions across Instagram, Twitter & Facebook.”

I also managed to also get in touch and ask him how he is getting on!

What changes has isolation made to your life?

“I’m going to be honest. The thought of being at home seemed a dream a month back, especially as being a Year 11 student, we all were just starting to get into intense revision for our upcoming GCSE exams in May. Obviously, these have now been postponed which seems the unthinkable but bittersweet at the same time. We were all under a lot of stress with the workload (some more than others). Therefore, in a way that weight has somewhat been lifted however, has been replaced with the scare of the virus and the uncertainty which surrounds it.”

Do you think there is something we should all be focusing on during this time?

“I feel it’s very important to reach out to those who are more vunerable than us, but also those who we normally speak to and offer support, also remember and respect how lucky the UK is to have an organisation like the NHS. Without it, I couldn’t imagine what state we would all be in. But also more importantly take the time to focus on yourself and positivity and work on things we always said we don’t have enough time to do.”

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