Analogue Adventures with LomoAmigo Broke-Ass Stuart

Broke-Ass Stuart is a contemporary travel writer and blogger. He created and hosted his own documentary television series “Young Broke & Beautiful” which debuted on June 2011 on IFC. This travel maverick has seen the world and will continue to show us his favorite spots. Check out his interview and gallery after the jump.

Name: Stuart Schuffman (aka Broke-Ass Stuart)

City: San Francisco

Country: USA

Tell the community a little bit about yourself? What do you do for fun and is it the same thing you do for a living?

I’ve been called “an Underground legend” (San Francsico Chronicle), “an SF cult hero” (SF Bay Guardian) and “the chief of cheap” (Time Out New York) but to those familiar with my work, I’m just “that douchebag who writes books about cheap stuff and drinks a lot”. Also, my third book Young, Broke & Beautiful: Broke-Ass Stuart's Guide to Living Cheaply came out recently and I had a travel on IFC this summer called Young, Broke & Beautiful.

Yeah, I guess what I do for fun is my living. I get to travel and write about it and then make money doing it sometimes. Then I also get to travel and make television about it. Not too shabby. But Lately I’ve been playing Civilization 5. That’s a lot of fun, but nobody pays me to sit in my underwear and play a computer game. At least not yet!

How did you end up being such a pro at being a ‘broke ass’ and what is the greatest thing you’ve learned from the experience?

What’s that Hunter S. Thompson quote? Something like, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” That kinda sums it up nicely. But real, I’ve just been broke for a long time and I’ve been able to help other brokesters by writing about it. I save lives dude. Well not really, but I do make people laugh while they’re reading my books on the toilet. As for what I’ve learned: no one is gonna do shit for you unless you do it yourself first.

How does an average day of Broke Ass Stuart look like?

My days totally vary. If I’m in town (SF) I spend most of my day in my living room, in front of my computer. Then I go out at night mostly because I go crazy from being in my house all day. If I’m on the road, then my day generally consists of wandering around and exploring new places I’ve never been before. My life is kinda an adventure.

How long have you been a Lomographer or are you new to this whole thing.?
As you can tell by the blurry shots, I’m new to this whole thing. But it sure was fun!

Aww, don’t be hard on yourself! You take excellent snapshots, especially for a first-timer! You have any tips?

Yeah, here’s a tip: remember to be steady and also use a flash.

How did you like shooting with Lomography camera’s and what did your friends think about your analogue cameras and photo’s?

I thought it was cool and everyone was like, “Wow, what a neat looking camera!” No one has seen the pics yet, not even my girlfriend (who is in like half of them), but I’m sure people will dig them.

What was the strangest, funniest, or hands-down greatest photographic/Lomographic encounter you had while doing the series?

The funniest moment was the definitely the little drunk guy. He’s the Latino dude in the dark photo. He’s like barely 5 feet tall and also one of my neighborhood drunks. When he saw my camera he asked me to take a photo of him and then he tried to entice the lady in the background to come out from behind the bulletproof glass to be in the photo with him. I ran into him outside of a check cashing place, and we did the photo inside. That’s why there’s bullet proof glass.

If you had to choose, which is your favorite photo from the selection and why?
My favorite photo has to be the one where K— is in the picture frame. We’d gone up to Napa for a wedding and spent the following day going wine tasting. This was on some cool vineyard with lots of art installations. It’s my favorite because she looks so beautiful (as always), and the photo looks like it’s from Mademoiselle in the 1960’s.

If your photo selection should have a soundtrack, what would it be? (3 songs title & artists please)

Hmm…let’s see. Most of them look so whimsical, so I’m gonna say:
“The OnlyLiving Boy in New York” – Simon and Garfunkel
“Sparring Partner” – Paolo Conte
“California” – Joni Mitchell

What else is on the agenda for you? Anything you are looking forward to you would like to share?

What’s next? Hopefully expanding the website to a city near you very soon!

Your advice to future Lomographers is?

Here’s my advice: Don’t take blurry pictures. Jesus, you should see the rest of the pics I took. I got motion sickness just looking at them.

written by mmoya on 2011-12-14 #people #amigo #lomo #lomography #lomoamigo #broke-ass #stuart