We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Ty Williamson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Ty , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with what makes profitability in your industry a challenge – what would you say is the biggest challenge?

What I do is very niche I’ve personal struggled with this when it comes to establishing myself. I photograph and film what I think looks cool or has a value to me. Colors, shapes, light & shadows no matter the subject if I take the photo I saw something beautiful I’ve always put what I like first. Which isn’t the most profitable approach today.

Ty , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Helllooo Im Ty Williamson I’m a photographer. I started around 2010 as a hobby because I was always into filmmaking.and cameras. Ended up at CADY studios and worked as a high school photographer. We did yearbook pictures, events, sports & senior portraits . Now I’m mostly focusing on my own work which is more street and landscape inspired however I still do portraits. There’s just something about portraits I can’t leave behind. I’m also into printing and love to print my images. It take photographs to a whole new level. I’m also working on a photo book “Divine Anxiety”

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Yes I actually have a recent example of this. I was feeling stuck in the high school photographer industry. I could tell that particular type of work was not fulfilling to me anymore so I decided to move away from that field and focus on my personal work. I believe putting commercial concerns over personal taste is a losing battle.

Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?

“To Live Without Fear” -Wolfgang Tillmans
“Portraits” – Gunner Stahl
“ Eyes on the City” -Evelyn Hofer
“Embarrassing Intimacy” -Jerry Hsu

& Endless films I’ll spare you, from skate videos to occult horror

Photo books are extremely important for the medium. The value in them is insane you don’t only get inspiration but learn new techniques and even a new way to view the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @tyjwilliamson
• Youtube: @tyjwilliamson

Image Credits

All photos are taken by myself even the portrait.