Today we’d like to introduce you to Travis Perkins.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised a shy and reserved young man in the piney woods of East TX. Looking back, I can tell I was destined for Austin. I first visited in 2005 as a teenager, and by 2011 I had moved to the city, a recent grad with two interview suits and a freshly shaven, young, and naive grin on my face.
As serendipity would occur, I never wore those suits more than twice and was quickly transformed (born again, you could say) into the creative, ambitious, and free-flowing energy that has made Austin, TX so special and possibly my forever home.
In the early years, I bounced around jobs, working at Whole Earth Provision, as a paralegal, as an IT manager, as a Brand Marketer, and English Teacher abroad. Eventually all paths converged, and the growing hobby of photography bloomed into a full-fledged career in commercial lifestyle photography. This has given me the freedom to travel the country living out of my 2016 Tacoma, combining work and play, and maintaining ATX as my home base and continued muse.
For a season, I was interning at three different publications, all the while working a full-time job within IT. I lost a lot of sleep, a girlfriend, and a lot of money to camera gear…but from the process of diving deep into what I loved, I was able to fast track myself into the lifestyle I had dreamt up. (an intersection of passion and skill)
I stopped working for other people late in the year of 2018 and by 2019, my business partner and I were off to the races.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
There are no smooth roads when pursuing a life that goes against the corporate grain, and my story is no exception. The cliches of freelance life are as real as they could ever be. Flipping between the creative mind and the business development mindset is no easy task, and I found myself making that switch countless times during the day. They say that freelance life is either feast or famine, and it’s certainly true. Apart from the normal woes of freelance instability, Covid proposed a whole new set of challenges, specifically as marketing budgets were slashed and travel compromised.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work primarily in what you would call “Commercial Lifestyle Photography”. This is typically shot for a product-based company but occasionally for service-based brands as well. My most rewarding work involves creating and telling a genuine/authentic story for a brand via still photography. This has a unique set of challenges in storytelling, as opposed to video, as you are truly capturing a moment in time that conveys a larger message. I think it’s the purest of digital mediums that requires not only technical skill but an artistry of mindfulness, observance, and reverence for authenticity (yes, even within the context of a staged scenario). I’m most proud of the photos that don’t just convey a message about a brand or highlight the function of a product, but the photos that convey a feeling. Due to my personal passions, much of my lifestyle photography takes place in the mountains, rivers, and deserts of the American West, where the vast open spaces and extreme weather conditions, create a blank canvas with high risks and high rewards.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Consistency is key, in my opinion. Dedication to a scene, community, space, etc. can, over time, open up all the doors you need. I also try to live by a 1:1 Say: Do ratio with my community… meaning, if I say I’ll be there, or do something, I do it. No excuses, no questions asked.
Contact Info:
- Email: ventanamediaco@gmail.com
- Website: www.ventanamediaco.com
- Instagram: @travperk_photo – @ventana_media
Image Credits
Travis Perkins, Scott Del Vecchio, Andy Cochrane, Josh Garza
