8 Questions for... Augusta Sagnelli
Baby Blue
is an American photographer, & founder of indie book publishing house Kingdom Anywhere, which is based in Paris. She has been on Substack since December 2021.
1. Why Substack?
I discovered the platform via another photographer whose work I love very much and had followed for a long time on Instagram -
who writes A Year of Love. Her work often features nudity of the poetic, raw, and sensual nature, and would often get banned or removed from IG. One day, she posted she was moving to a platform called Substack and curiously I followed; if it was good enough for her it had to be worth while. Quickly I realized the potential and the difference of the overall feeling of the platform, and was excited to tell my husband about it since he was looking for an alternative to visual social media platforms to share his writing and voila! I wanted a place where I could feel my audience valued what I shared, actually read what I was writing about it, and if that could by some chance result in receiving some money? I was in.2. How long did it take you to find your groove?
Honestly it has been almost three years and I think I am still finding it. I like that I was an early adopter and have been able to see all the additions and improvements that have been made and are still being made. I struggle with how to turn my type of subscribers from free to paid. I feel I’ve found my foundational patrons who just want to support me no matter how often I post or if I send them free prints in the mail or not, and I am extremely grateful for them, but I’m just not the type of Substacker who is going to start a how-to-take-better-photos tab or start reviewing photo books to try and create a reason for people to justify paying for my Substack. As far as my creative groove I think I found it right away and haven't strayed far. My posts are usually 60% image or more and the rest is writing about the images or a feeling or thought that relates to the images even if not directly. Sometimes I write more essay or opinion like my little piece on why I love digital photography.
3. How has it changed you?
It has certainly made me think more about my personal work. As a full time freelance commercial and portrait photographer, it’s difficult to set aside time to focus on what you love about the craft, let alone put something together worth sharing or publishing, so Substack has created a space and motivation for me to think and organize that work and therefore has helped me develop that part of my photography practice. It also just feels good to be seen, and for a lot of artists that means people seeing your work and getting a chance to understand what you’re all about and what the work is all about on a deeper level than a double tap and like counts. It also has strengthened my connection to literature and reading in general. I have a great deal of respect for writers, especially novelists, perhaps because I am married to one, perhaps because staring at a blank page and imagining an entire world from within my head and finding the words to tell it (with style) seems like an impossible task to me, and because of my respect for people with enough determination to finish such a piece of writing I was motivated to start Kingdom Anywhere with
- our own independent publishing establishment, if you will. We have two titles out: his second novel, The Requisitions, and a debut poetry collection, SPILL, by & artist Mitalee Mehta. We use Substack to market the books and to garner author’s readerships before, during, and after publication. I can’t say for sure that I wouldn’t have gone down this path if it weren't for Substack, but Substack definitely made independent publishing feel more attainable, and independent publishing has forever changed me and my professional and creative trajectory, even if we are just in the early stages of the transformation...4. What mistakes have you made?
I probably haven't made enough mistakes. I could be a little more experimental, a little more bold about asking for subscriptions, a little more unhinged in my comment leaving or my feed starting. Like everyone, I could be more consistent, but one to two posts a month feels good for me. No regrets so far.
5. To pay or not to pay?
I am all for letting people pay artists for anything and everything as much or as little as people are willing. If you want to pay me so I can one day buy myself a Leica not on a credit card, you are more than welcome, because that is what this kind income is used for in my opinion: to put back into the art. When you pay a writer to read their writing, that money is going straight back into the work, whether its via a good hot meal or a new computer or a train ticket to the countryside where they can focus on that manuscript, thats why if you can, you pay, because you’re helping bring about that artists next creation, which is why I understand the need for larger names to come to Substack, so substack can stay afloat, but if the majority of users are paying George Saunders for a writing workshop, or Helen Mirren for acting classes (no idea if she's actually on Substack or not) then will us little guys, the “locals” if you will, have enough paying subscribers left over willing to actually support us in our endeavors?
6. What artistic and technical choices have you made?
I chose to give my substack a name that wasn’t my own, and wasn’t necessarily photography related. I made this choice on day one and I don’t think I’ll change it. Baby Blue is kind of an alter ego if you will, the part of me as an artist that really leans into that creative act, who isn’t afraid of entering that vulnerable place of sharing what comes to you in those exalted moments of inspiration and creativity. I hosted my first solo expo in Paris last May and called the show Baby Blue, because it was fitting and because many of the photos in the gallery show were images that I shared for the first time on Substack, so in a way it was a retrospective of the work I had made over the first four years of living in Paris but also a collection of work that first saw the light on Substack. I guess I’ve chosen, consciously or not, to let Substack be the place I make my first edit to what work I am eager to share publicly, with an audience I know is already curious and captivated.
7. What has been the effect on your writing?
As a visual artist first, it has helped me improve on my writing skills and reconnect with the joy it brings me to put into words what hopefully enhances the photography. I’ve always loved writing, and have been told once or twice I’m not bad at it, so Substack has certainly been a place for me to exercise that muscle and to find my style.
8. In it for the long haul?
No doubt—unless the space turns sour like so many other platforms before it, unless the founders and team stop caring about the integrity of the creators and start only caring about the bottom line, I will continue to use and to tell people to use Substack, either as creators or just a reader. So long as it remains an antidote for much of the rest of mainstream internet, I’ll be on here.
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So much in common when you work with creative things whether it's photography, writing, art. Those universal feelings and thoughts make our struggles worthwhile. Great interview, thank you both.