We were lucky to catch up with Kenneth Ortiz recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kenneth, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you could go back in time do you wish you had started your business sooner or later

Sometimes I find myself wishing that I moved forward with becoming a professional photographer earlier in life. Although I believe that I stepped into the photography community at a good time in my life, I often wonder what kind of progress and person I would’ve been had I taken myself more seriously. I started exploring the opportunity of being a professional photographer in 2019. Before then I would mainly work with my family and do street photography it was more of where my interest aligned. Once I started exploring the idea of moving back to New York becoming a full-time photographer definitely help solidify coming back to the city. Although the idea was present it was thanks to my partner I ultimately move forward with it. She was my biggest supporter even invested in a few classes for me. Being in New York again help me hit the ground running, I found myself looking to collaborate with whoever I could. Making sure I attended every photo meet up. See how much progress I’ve made since 2019 when I officially presented myself as a professional photographer with confidence made me wish but grateful that I still pursued it no matter where I was in life. I hope I can encourage anyone that feels like they’ve missed out that it’s never too late to pick up what your passionate for and pursue it. I try not to dwell on the timing of things because I believe that it happened for a good reason. Now I can focus on making the best of my art and growing with my community.

Kenneth, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

For those of you that don’t know me my name is Kenneth Ortiz I’m Photographer based in New York City. I’ve been practicing photography for about 20 years now and I’ve been shooting with Nikon for over a decade. I primarily started with street photography and eventually branched out into other forms of photography and now I kind of do it all. What I will always be most proud of is my ability to provide my clients with the work that they’re looking for. my clients live very much happy with the work that we produce and that always fills me with a sense of accomplishment. I’m very hands-on with my clients and try my best to be transparent with them so that we can meet somewhere in the middle and get the results that they’re looking for.

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

Being resilient goes hand-in-hand with being a photographer. Unfortunately when you’re trying to build a name for yourself it comes with a lot of disappointment. I was fortunate enough to meet some talented people who are very serious about their career and wanted me to join their team. For a few years it worked out great but once money became involved the relationship started to dwindle. Three years later we no longer speak or work with each other even after I put in all the hard work to help them grow. People tend to put their own needs before what’s right and it’s important that we speak up about what our expectations are and what we should receive because I know any creative not be compensated for the hard work they’re putting in. unfortunately dealing with clients and capitalizing off of your crafts there’s a lot of resilience that required things can go south really fast.

Have you ever had to pivot?

Pivoting is definitely part of the process. There does have to be some degree of versatility in your craft especially when you’re trying to capitalize off it. Like I mentioned before I started originally doing street photography and eventually worked my way towards portrait projects and Brand projects. I think the one time I pivoted the most was during quarantine when I decided to start photographing Protest. It was a moment in my life where I felt like I needed my work to have more purpose and meaning outside of wanting to make income.

Contact Info:

• Website: Kennethortizphotography.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/kopshotthekid
• Twitter: Kopshotthekid