We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dylan Truesdale. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dylan below.

Dylan, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

I hope my legacy will be a testimony of tenacity. I want it to inspire others and show what resiliency can help you achieve in your career and life.

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?

I am an adventure photographer inspired by wild places and unconventional people. As someone who spends a considerable amount of time in the outdoors I am drawn to be a steward of our environment, an advocate for wellness, and an ambassador for adventure.

I am a Rocky Mountain School of Photography Professional Intensive distinct graduate and a published photographer. My photography journey, a lot like the rest of my life, has been far from conventional. Both have required an intense amount of tenacity and have been shaped by some quite literally death defying moments – but even if I could go back I would never change a thing.

I’m drawn to stories and driven by authenticity. I find purpose in sharing the genuine and raw moments of the human experience. And my goal is to continue to use powerful imagery to inspire exploration and celebrate unique individuals and unconventional ways of life.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Resiliency is something that I learned at a very early age, I had to. My father went to prison when I was 5 and my mother struggled with addiction most of my childhood. I was lucky enough to have my grandparents as a constant positive force in the early years of my life but despite their efforts I bounced around a lot in the dirty little town I grew up in. Stability was non existent and I was exposed to a lot that a child should never have to be exposed to. And because of that I learned that you had to be tough to survive.

When I graduated high school, I knew that I wanted to get as far away as possible from the town I grew up in – so I joined the Army. Being the headstrong young man that I was I enlisted with a contract that bound me toward some of the toughest and most selective military training one could find – and I finished that training too, landing me a position with one the most elite special operations forces in the world. 4 years, a handful of deployments to the Middle East, more missions than I can count, and a bronze star wrapped my military career up and I was ready for a new adventure.

Fast forward to my journey toward photography. After some time away from the military and a lot of reflection and self discovery my creative side was reignited and I felt drawn to dig deeper within that aspect of myself. During that time, I was fortunate enough to stumble across Rocky Mountain School of Photography. An awesome, unconventional, but specialized school nestled in the mountains of western Montana – a place where I’d always dreamt of going. After discovering RMSP, there was nothing that was going to stop my from going. I sold all my belonging including the house and moved to Montana with only the possessions I could fit in my car – 9 months and a lot of blood, sweat, and tears later I graduated from RMSP top of my class.

I began my photo career with what seemed like nothing in my way and a wealth of opportunity. I moved to Hawaii to work under arguably the best surf photographer in recent history and to pave my own way as a surf and adventure photographer. But just as I was finding my stride I was involved in a major car accident that left me clinging to life. The accident cost me my right eye, a compliment of teeth, a broken leg, multiple reconstructive surgeries, and an extended stay in the ICU. It’s something that I’m still recovering from… but never once during my healing have I ever given up, or lost my resolve. Upon returning home I gave myself a “polaroid a day” assignment that I worked on for 3 months. 2 months after my accident I started training again and another month after I ran in a 5k event. I took that momentum and have kept running with it ever since. Despite being severely injured and losing an eye (as a photographer that’s a big one) I’ve never lost sight of my dreams or passion. I continue to photograph professionally and build my business. Since my accident I’ve been published and photographed and filmed all over the US, including Hawaii, Oregon, and in the Far West Texas desert. It sometimes takes some help – but thats what life is about in all aspects – community has always been something really important to me. I’m fortunate enough to have some very giving family members and the best girlfriend that a man can ask for – she’s been with me through ever step and I couldn’t have gotten this far without her.

All that to say, life is going to throw you some curve balls. And when it knocks you down it’s not going to stop and wait for you to get back up. If you have a passion and a vision for where you want to be or what you want to achieve you’re going to need some Tenacity to get there. You’re going to have to be resilient because life will happen. It will knock you down, and hard. But if you have the heart to push forward, to keep putting one foot in front of the other, and the resolve to say I’m doing this despite all odds – you will find not only success but a purpose driven life that rewards you each and every day.

And that, those principles, My Tenacity… that’s the legacy I want to leave behind.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My goal is pretty simple actually, it’s to inspire. I photograph a lot of active lifestyle, adventure, and travel – I do that with intention. When people view my work I want them to feel inspired to go out and try those things. Specially youth. Tech is important so don’t get me wrong but it makes me sad when I see children glued to their devices. I want my work to bring about positive change in that. Not just for kids but for all people who see my work – I want them to think to themselves or even say out loud, I’m going to go do that! Whether it be charging huge sets at Pipeline or just taking the first step toward weight loss, each is equally important to me. Whatever it is. I want my work to inspire and encourage people to get up and do it.

The compliment to that – when people hear my story I want them to feel inspired as well. I want them to know that no matter where they come from, how distant it may seem, or what obstacles may be in their way – success and fulfillment are on the horizon. They just have to put in the hard work and continue to run toward their dreams and goals and eventually they’ll have it. And odds are they’ll have a pretty cool story to go along with it as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: dylanchasemedia.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/dylanctruesdale?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dylanchasemedia
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-c-truesdale
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@dylantruesdale

Image Credits
Dylan Truesdale (me)