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

Alphonso, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s start with a story that highlights an important way in which your brand diverges from the industry standard.

I believe creativity comes from constraints and the unpredictable nature of life. I like to embrace the chance for happenstance and serendipity when on set. Sometimes, there are things that don’t happen according to plan, and being able to let go a bit and let serendipity take over can bring you chances for beauty to manifest itself. Having a plan and executing it is of dire importance, but the ability to seize opportunities when they arise is a skill that has to be honed as well.

All in all, as you grow and continue to create you’ll find your personal style and it’ll emerge and evolve as your business and vision grow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2011 and diving head first into the photography industry as a photo retoucher and the film industry as a reality tv production assistant, I’ve been diving between the two industries ever since. To this day, as a full-time Television Producer for WABE, one of Atlanta’s NPR & PBS broadcasting stations, I run my personal media company AW5 Photography where I produce and shoot photos and videos for various needs. This ranges from product photography, commercial brand videos, documentaries, and everything in between.

When I’m approached by clients, it’s my main goal to hear their visions, end goals, and pain points associated with their production before we start any principal work. From there, communication is key while we put all the other pieces of the production puzzle together. Every project is special and I love approaching each job with a keen eye toward bringing out the emotional content that anyone who sees the work can feel.

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

After getting my start in the photography industry, I was offered a position as a production assistant on Oprah’s dating show, Lovetown, USA which was being shot 10 miles from where I was staying in Fernandina Beach, FL. I initially had plans to use my retouching money to save up and move in with some friends in Los Angeles so when this higher-paying opportunity arose and would save me gas money, I jumped at it. But this wasn’t my pivot. I continued to do photo editing as a freelancer and the production assistant work maintained my plan to move, but as the show was winding down I was offered another reality television production assistant job in Atlanta, GA, my hometown. While I had people and plans awaiting me in Los Angeles, I opted to stay on the east coast as word was getting to me that the film industry was slowly moving to Atlanta and work would be booming soon. I did a bit of research and decided to shift my plans and stay down south. In retrospect, I’m very glad I made the pivot. I gained so much knowledge about careers I had always been interested in and eventually found myself where I am now, doing what I’d always wanted to do.

What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?

The best source of new clients is your older client. Maybe not all of them, but the ones you made especially happy with your product! It’s imperative that while you’re working with a client that you’re polite and cordial with them, even if they are a bit tough to work with so that you can always reach out to them to show your new work, how you’ve grown, and to give them the chance to remember the work you did. This will allow them the comfort of sharing you with people they know, which makes your past clients feel like a part of your business community.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.aw5photo.com
• Instagram: @aw5_photo
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/alphonso-j-whitfield-473b6021

Image Credits
Portrait by Diwang Valdez