Samantha by Ben Kautzky
If there’s one thing I truly love to do in life, it’s take photos. It’s what I eat, sleep and breathe for, and nothing gives me the satisfaction quite like making a vision come to life. I never planned to be a professional photographer growing up, but I found my way here through the love of storytelling.
You see, I was a theater kid. Stories, costumes, acting, makeup…all of that I ADORED, and still adore and implement in my shoots all the time. I was also always a writer, coming up with short stories and poems since before I can even remember. This eventually led me to a newspaper class in college where I quickly found another passion, and I enjoyed it so much that I changed my major from drama to journalism. Being a highly competitive field, I started taking pictures that went with my stories and from then on, I always had my camera.
But I can’t say that the rest is history, because I spent a good chunk of my 20s actually working in journalism, covering federal courts, crime, politics, government…you know, all the good stuff that keeps you up at night while you slowly become addicted to coffee and reading Twitter and Facebook for 24/7 updates. My shooting style was newsy…stark, even. I began to feel restless and, despite the constant-ness of working in news, bored to death.
So on the opposite end of that spectrum, I started trying to balance my stressful workload with my rapidly developing love of editorial photography. Any time off I could get I was shooting my friends, edging in weddings, going on tour with musicians (while remotely working) in the hopes that I could cure myself of the news humdrum and utter unhappiness I was facing with my professional life. In the back of my mind, I longed to work for myself. Finally, after I stretched my once-a-year vacation time on a trip to Mexico, New Orleans and Miami, I realized the only thing I was really, truly passionate about was photography, and that to do myself justice, I had some changes to make.
I came back and put in a month’s notice at my job. That was three years ago, and I haven’t looked back.
Now my corporate clients have included some amazing companies like:
Greystar Properties
GLAAD
United Methodist’s Association
Chord Real Estate
+ more
+ fashion designers and stylists including:
Manuel Couture
Eileen Kelly Designs
MadnessIs
RagPepper
+ more
+ Here are a few features I’ve had the honor to be included in:
