Born in the shining moonlight on the 24th of April, 1976, Brian Koperski came screaming and kicking into this world in Laramie, Wyoming.
After surviving the cowboy life, Brian packed up and moved to Phoenix where he attended ASU for both his BA and MA degrees.
On his 30th birthday, Brian waved goodbye to his American life and moved to London (where he quickly assumed an official UK accent, that he holds to this day, to help himself blend in with the Europeans).
Brian's been through the trenches of the international sales & marketing world alongside guest appearances in public relations, business development, and marketing. He moved to Rome in 2007, and has since become a father, started working for AUR, and has become a professional photographer in his free time (which is rather scarce).
Q. When were you happiest?
2 seconds before asking to do this interview... however, when I got married, and the birth of my daughters hold the true top spots.
Q. What is your computer and/or phone wallpaper?
Two different photos that I’ve taken personally and neither have ever been shared with the world (and usually I put all my photographs out for everyone to see)
Q. What did you want to be when you were growing up?
That depends on the decade:
70’s: Wanted to be Nappy free
80’s: Wanted to be 10 years older
90’s: Wanted to get lost
00’s: Wanted to get somewhere
2010’s: Wanted to take naps after changing nappies
2020’s: Wanting to avoid COVID...
Q. What is the worst job you've ever done?
I’d say the worst job I ever had was being an overnight convenience store clerk (for 1 week). Nothing more motivating than a 3:00 am 'crazy-head' looking for Redbull and day-old hotdogs to get you inspired to polish up that old CV.
Q. If you weren’t a photographer and a professor, what would you be?
If I wasn’t doing what I do now, I’d prefer to be me 20 years ago with the knowledge of the world I have now plus the experience.
Q. Which word or phrase do you most overuse?
“Wouldn’t you like to know?" Seriously, that’s the one. Usually said gruffly.
Q. What is the most important lesson that life has taught you?
If the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, you’ve got a lot to do in a day (if by chance it doesn’t, you’re officially free...)
Q. How do you relax?
It really depends on the day, but overall, I just like to take my camera and point it at the world in front of me. It's also pretty cool to simply be with my family in our quaint 13th-century house in the Italian countryside.
Q. If you could travel back in time just once, where and when would you go?
Who wants to go back to the past? I want to go to the future!
But, if I had to go backward... I’d jump back to the 60s. It’s a safe bet back then. Far better than this circus we are living in now (actually, I’d even say that January 1997 was more fun than where we are now. Do you remember 1997? Nothing happened for me in '97, but in retrospect, even nothing was better than this COVID situation - may it all end soon and give us back our boring 1997s).
Q. What trait do you most dislike in yourself?
[Shouldn’t I be paying a psychologist to answer that?]
Maybe you’ll get it out of me during a podcast, but not here.
Q. What trait do you most dislike in others?
I generally dislike when people are 1) Not a fan of Star Wars; 2) Not fans of Monty Python; 3) Bad cooks (especially bad BBQ cooks!) 4) Lousy at spelling.
Q. What’s your guilty pleasure?
Watching whatever I want on the 200” screen in my studio… as loud as I want… whenever I want. Severe abuse of popcorn and beverages is required.
Q. Tell us a secret
Those are locked away in a “my little pony” diary that you’ll never have access to! Maybe you’ll get it out of me during a podcast, but not here.
Tune in to Season 7 of the AUR podcasts, starting Feb. 2022!