We were lucky to catch up with Bilal Grate recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Bilal, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

One of the biggest trends that I have realized in photography is the extreme photoshop retouching and now AI editing. From the start of my photography career with editing photos I always believed in natural clean images but with where photoshop has gone with retouching and AI editing people don’t even look real let alone like themselves. I’m all about clean clear work and for some big company ads I get the photoshop retouching but it’s to the point where the every day person doesn’t even want to look anywhere close to the way they do in person. Personally I feel it’s making people not love their natural self also teaching the youth not to love the way they look naturally every photo has a filter or crazy photoshop edit that changes the way they look completely. One conversation I had a women said to me and I quote “why would I pay for photos to look like myself” that really blew my mind. Again I believe 100% about clean ups and some retouch but to not look like yourself is crazy to me.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I kicked off my photography career being a part owner of a clothing in 2011. I was gifted a Canon T3 camera that same year so within this first year I took over creating content for the clothing line. Scouting locations setting up product photoshoots and picking models for certain brand releases. After my first few years with the brand I started to get contacted by other clothing lines, people reached out for events and parties so it took off from there. I’ve done fashion weeks, concerts, showcases, been published in a few magazines & local media outlets. I feel creatively I can bring any idea or vision to life. My calm laid back demeanor makes my clients feel comfortable, I want them to give and feel like the best version of them selfs when we are creating it makes the flow and outcome of the photoshoot so smooth. I’m most proud of the fact I’m still doing something I love to do and being recognize for it. I’m still learning, growing, and the jobs and different creative opportunities are still coming in. I’m blessed to still be able to create and make a living off of my creative mind and god given creativity. The main thing I want potential clients to know about me is I’m all about natural clean work and I can bring any vision to life.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I started with the clothing line I started as the co-designer. The fact I was gifted the camera I had to take on the content creating and promotion side of the business. This was in 2011 when instagram was just becoming a big thing photography wasn’t what it  is today. Over the years any and everyone started to pick up a camera and shoot all for individual reasons but the fact I’m still in it still growing and accomplishing things I never planned on from the start shows the resilience of my journey. I stayed consent, put the work in, & kept faith in the process.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

I worked a 9-5 job to start the business. Starting off I wasn’t getting payed for every single shoot I did some I did as a learning experience. I used some of these free jobs like school I needed to do them so I could learn and grow as a photographer. I believe in multiple incomes so my 9-5 helped me upgrade my camera and lens. I was able to purchase an indoor photographer studio set up and at one point I was apart of running a whole creative compound using both incomes to fund it. When running a business every week or every month your profit isn’t always going to be the same that’s just apart of it so you have to do what you need to so you can keep money flowing in.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @GrateVision
• Facebook: @GrateVisionLLC

Image Credits
Photos of me Rafael Arango @racmedia Muse: @made.aalyah @this.iski @reinaxle @angii.x0