Today we’d like to introduce you to Inti St. Clair.
Inti, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I didn’t take the straightforward route to photography — or to much of anything, honestly. I started out as a chef. Trained hard, helped launch a restaurant that did really well, and worked myself into complete exhaustion in the process. When I finally had time off, I did what any burned-out person does: I got in a car and drove with no real plan.
Somewhere on that road trip I figured out what I actually wanted. Freedom, creative work, the ability to be my own boss and go anywhere. Photography seemed like the answer, so I dove in with a camera and zero formal training and just started shooting.
That was more than twenty years ago. I’m based in Austin now, and my work takes me everywhere — I’ve traveled around the world finding inspiration in over 60 countries, and create imagery for brands like Google, Microsoft, and Delta. More locally, I’ve crated imagery for AMD, Texas Health and Visit Austin. Last year I was named Photographer of the Year by both ASMP and APA, which I’m still a little amazed by.
But honestly the part I find hardest to explain is how much the earlier, seemingly unrelated stuff feeds the work. Growing up in a tiny town in rural Oregon with hippie parents in a ranching community. Living abroad in high school for a year without speaking the language. Studying foreign languages in college. Cooking professionally. None of it looks like a photography career on paper, and all of it shows up on set every single day — in how I connect with people, how I stay calm when everything goes sideways, how I find the image inside the chaos.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The beginning of my career was genuinely hard in the unglamorous, un-romanticized way that doesn’t make for great stories until later. No formal training means no roadmap. I was figuring out the technical side, the business side, and the creative side all at once, mostly by making mistakes and trying to make better ones next time. There were years where the income was unpredictable enough that I had to be very creative about what “making it work” looked like.
And then there’s the industry itself. Commercial photography is a feast-or-famine business even when you’re established. Campaigns get cancelled. Budgets get cut. A client you’ve worked with for years moves on. You can have a genuinely great year followed by a genuinely humbling one, and the roller coaster never really stops; you just get better at riding it without white-knuckling the whole time.
The other thing nobody tells you is how isolating it can be. You’re running a small business, which means you’re the creative, the producer, the accountant, and the salesperson, often all in the same afternoon. For a long time I thought that was just the deal. Over the years I’ve built a support system that has made an enormous difference: my rep Shannon McMillan at Homestead Creatives, a network of photographers and industry peers who actually understand what this work involves, people I can think out loud with. I’ve also tried to give that back: I’ve mentored emerging artists throughout my career and served on the APA National Board as both Vice President and President.
What I’ll say is that the hard parts were worth it, which is maybe the most clichéd thing you can say and also just true. I wouldn’t trade the burnout that sent me on that road trip for anything. It pointed me exactly where I needed to go.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a commercial lifestyle photographer and director. The industries vary – healthcare, technology, finance, travel…but the work is always about people. Moments of authentic emotions and engagement.
The scale varies wildly, which I love. Some days it’s an intimate portrait session, or an editorial story. Other days it’s a full crew, multiple locations, and a roster of professional athletes.
What sets me apart, I think, is a combination of deep calm and genuine curiosity. The unexpected happens on every shoot…the light shifts, the schedule collapses, and whole new ideas shape. My job is to stay present, stay loose, and make something great out of whatever is actually in front of me. That’s a skill you build over a lifetime of saying yes to unfamiliar situations, and it shows up in the work every single time.
How do you define success?
The truth is I feel incredibly lucky to have found this thing to do with my life that I genuinely love. There is no better day for me than a day with my camera in my hand. That feeling has never worn off, and I don’t take it for granted for a second.
Beyond that, success is pretty simple: Did I make something beautiful? Does it tell a good story? Does it communicate what my clients need? Did the people in front of my camera feel it? When the answer is yes, I’ve had a good day. The awards I’ve won are lovely confirmation, but they’re not the thing. The process is the thing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.intistclair.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/intistclair/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/intistclair/
