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

Jack, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. How did you scale up? What were the strategies, tactics, meaningful moments, twists/turns, obstacles, mistakes along the way? We’d love to hear the backstory the illustrates how you grew your brand.

In 2017, when I first had the idea of taking photos of cars, it was solely based off the goal of being able to get closer to high end automobiles. Fast forward to 2023, and it’s all I do now.

The process was not, and is not easy. I’m never not thinking about when my next shoot will be. Or scrambling to find a last minute client for a shoot that NEEDS to happen.

Throughout the years of shooting car meets and just networking, I learned what works and what doesn’t. One of the first things I did starting out was leave business cards on the windshields of every car at the meet. It’d be a good day if someone replied, but even so, why would they pay me?

One of the hardest things I have had to deal with as media personnel, is finding the clients that find VALUE in your work. Those who don’t respond after you tell them a price, are not worth the time of day. If someone’s going pay you for your work, they believe what you do is worth their time and money.

My best piece of advice for any photographer in any genre, is be unique. Find an editing style that works for you and build upon that while still keeping true to yourself. Definitely don’t be afraid to experiment and branch out. but remember why you started this in the first place.

Jack, 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?

My name is Jack. Im a 22 year old freelance automotive photographer & videographer based out of the Charleston, SC area.

I offer everything from simple content creation for dealerships, private sellers, and owners to social media management and marketing for clothing brands, alcohol brands and/or any other retail item.

Cars are definitely what motivate me and are ultimately what id like to be shooting every day of the year. Unfortunately, the automotive photography market is a bit saturated.

What I mean by that is there’s no real guarantee that there’s a need for your service in the place you’re based out of. I find myself traveling a lot for shoots because of where the content is.

However with that being said, I whole heartedly believe in myself and my abilities and will one day be in the Red Bull F1 Paddock shooting media alongside some of my idols.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

My first post on Instagram can still be seen by the public. July 17, 2017. It was shot on an iPhone 6s in the parking lot of my home yacht club. That post got 19 likes.

Fast forward to my most viewed and liked video. 3.3 million views and 450,000 likes.

If there’s anyone to give credit to it’s Instagram. That app has single-handedly built my media business from zero to hero in a matter of years. Granted, it was not easy and there were plenty of times where I wanted to quit. The one thing that kept me going is was the idea of telling everyone I gave up. That is something I never plan on doing.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The finished product.

I’ve found that editing photos is something I could do in my sleep. What takes time is video. However after you spend hours and sometimes days on a video, the outcome is always worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bysolway.pixieset.com/jacksolwayportfolio/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bysolway/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@solwaymedia1109

Image Credits
I took all the photos here. Even the self portrait ;)