You’ve Got To Want It. You’ve Got To Be It.

Thursday August 11th, 2011

“I’d love to say I have some fond memory of discovering an old film camera in my Dad’s dusty shoebox tucked away in the attic, but the truth is I picked up a digital camera less than three years ago on an impulse buy.”

That was Matt Dutile‘s response to my question of how he became a photographer. His answer surprised me, especially since he has such polished lifestyle and travel work. You would think he was a seasoned professional who’d be shooting for many years.

Matt went on to explain that after joining the workforce as a public relations professional, he eventually became bored and started searching for a hobby. Thinking back to his high school darkroom days, Matt decided on a whim to pick up a camera to play with. After a few months of weekend shooting, a commercial photographer saw Matt’s work and encouraged him to take his photography more seriously. Matt took his advice and began searching for his own photo niche. Seeing that his passion lay in lifestyle shooting, he put together a lifestyle geared portfolio, left his PR gig, and made the plunge into commercial photography. After a couple months of working with local Arizona clients, he packed up his things and moved on up to the Big Apple,

That sounds really condensed but there was a lot of hard work, marketing and making the images better in between that time. But relatively it all moved pretty fast. It was sort of epiphany style. One day it just clicked that this is what I needed to be doing. Since then I’ve been working non-stop to make it happen, refining/discovering what my visual style is, and getting the chance to work with some great people.

Recently, one of Matt’s promo pieces caught my eye and I decided to get in touch with him about the process and concept behind it. As we were talking I realized what was more interesting than the recent personal project/promo was Matt’s story itself. Making it in New York as a commercial lifestyle photographer is hard for even veteran shooters, let alone one who picked up a camera just three years ago. I decided to dig deeper into how Matt has propelled himself so quickly into the photo industry,

Most of my work has come from word of mouth. I like getting to meet people. I try to get in the door whenever I can.

My immediate focus has been, and continues to be, making my images as good as they possibly can be. That’s always number one for me. Along the way I’ve been refining my brand and brand experience. It’s important to curate your work into a cohesive vision and brand. We’re appealing to creative people – so get creative.

Matt has made some nice images and has branded himself well, even coining himself a catch phrase, “The Energy of Life.” Matt dove into his branding and imagery, trying to express himself and show, “the fun and goofy guy” he is through his photos. Colors, high energy, smiles, and motion are constant themes throughout Matt’s brand and he obviously works hard at consistency. What Matt likes the most is about his work is,

Being able to make people smile or experience a genuine moment and then freezing that moment through the camera. I like finding windows into people’s lives and the places they live. Mostly, I want to tell stories.

However, that’s all well and good, but I’ve known photographers who’ve done good work, even great work, and still haven’t been as successful as Matt, even after years and years of trying. To this Matt’s answer is,

You’ve got to really want to be a photographer. You have to fight for it. There’s no room for people who think, “Oh, well I’ll try this out because it seems like a ton of fun,” or even, “I love this, but I’m not willing to give up x, y, z.” You can’t just want to be a photographer. You have to be a photographer. When it’s a part of your self-identity and not just what you do to make a living, that’s when it’s right for you. It’s not plan B. There is no plan B. It’s make this happen.  And that’s when you realize that whatever it takes to get there, that’s what you’re prepared to do.

- Maria Luci