In our first episode of Creative Risk, we speak with Molly Gottschalk, a New York based art director, creative thinker and risk taker.
Molly was a young photography student when she received a message on MySpace — for those of you too young to remember, the very first social networking site where individuals could curate what they love — by none other than photographer David LaChapelle How did LaChapelle find out about her? What was her reaction to that message?
Our Creative Director and Head of Content Gabriel Shalom explores Molly’s early career steps in the world of celebrity photography, the fearless attitude that helped her navigate the field over the years, and how these experiences led her to become a tastemaker at Artsy, one of the world’s leading art publications. Molly has collaborated with international outstanding artists and creatives such as Cecilia Vicuña, Genesis Belanger, Carrie Mae Weems, Julie Mehretu, Amy Sherald, Jeffrey Gibson, Steve Aoki, Kiki Smith, Marilyn Minter, Solange, and Miranda July, just to name a few. How did she make that happen?
In this episode, the first in the series, we discover how a young talented woman from North Carolina, took the risk to leave home and interrupt her studies to work in the creative field and build her career.
Scenes from Molly’s LaChapelle Era

See the entire set of photos here: https://workspace.picter.com/v/lzCBYv7X
Behind the Scenes of Creative Risk
See the entire set of photos by Gili Benim here: https://workspace.picter.com/v/giLAwjS6
Show Notes
- Molly Gottschalk https://www.mollygottschalk.com/
- Artsy https://www.artsy.net
- Tyler Mitchell https://www.tylermitchell.co/
- Tyler Mitchell ICP Show https://www.icp.org/exhibitions/tyler-mitchell-i-can-make-you-feel-good
- History of MySpace https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myspace#History
- SCAD https://www.scad.edu/
- David LaChapelle http://home.davidlachapelle.com/
- Elton John Yellow Brick Road Music Video directed by David LaChapelle https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g0ZMK4bkVM (NSFW)
- Red Oaks S3E1 https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/red_oaks/s03/e01
Credits
- Written, produced, and edited by Gabriel Shalom.
- Recorded by Cory Choy at Silver Sound in New York City.
- Engineering and original music by Alberto de Angeli.
Special thanks to Ian Turner, Tom Tinervin, Leah Lubman, Simon Lovermann, and Claudio Ricci.