Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Max Hendrickson . We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Max, appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I feel like both my parents did a great job at raising me to be a kind, open-minded, sociable, and willing to learn person that it’s helped me a lot in terms of how I conduct my life and my photography career. Through my constant involvement in concert scenes with all kinds of people through all kinds of life, I’m able to interact and make connections with some of the best people I’ve ever met. Not one person’s background is the same, especially in the punk scene in Fort Collins and Denver.

I think without the values I was raised on- and taught- I wouldn’t be able to have the career I’ve had thus far. So my parents did a great job at raising me, for sure.

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?

If you don’t know me, my name is Max Hendrickson. I’m 19 years old, and I’ve been taking photos since I was 12, but didn’t start taking them seriously until I was 16. I grew up in Salt Lake City, learning landscape photography from my Grandfather, and moved to Fort Collins back in 2018 to attain a fresh start, and that was when I also started exploring different forms of photography.

My involvement in my high school photography classes and AP Art really helped challenge my photographic eye, and helped move me away from just landscapes into things I was more interested in. Documentation, concert photography, portraiture, etc. I took my first concert photos of some Fort Collins local hardcore punk and metal acts back in July 2021, and my most recent show was taking photos of Show Me The Body, ZULU, SCOWL, and Jesus Piece back in March of this year.

On top of concert photography being my main form of expression, I love doing band portraits, interviews, and I’ve recently started doing some video work with local musicians as well. It’s been said in a few of my past interviews, but it’s crazy how just one jump of deciding to go to that show in July 2021 really launched my career.

I’m still young, and I still feel very fresh to this whole thing, but I’ve already seen a big change in my photographic style and how I conduct my work, so it can only go up from here, right?

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

First, I need to say that patience is key with growing a following. It’s not gonna be an immediate success of getting all these people to your page. You have to be creating and sharing things that people haven’t seen before. When I first started my page by posting film photos I took of my every day life, it was a pretty boring format and I only had around 150 people following me, which included friends from school, family, my partner, and acquaintances. Once I started doing the concert photos, it got the attention of the bands, who then posted my photos in their feed, leading to their followers seeing and coming to me for more.

It’s been a slow growth from the past 2 years of me primarily concerts to help myself grow, but I just recently hit 1k followers, and also took photos of some of my favorite bands of all time, both of which are goals I’ve had since last year to hit at some point.

So best thing to say is to stay patient, be cool to everyone because they’ll remember you, and find a way of getting yourself out there that feels true to you; and also helps you stand out from the sea of other creators.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

At the start of this whole thing, I didn’t really have a goal. But now, it’s become a broad goal of I just want to make a living off of this.

I wanna keep working with bands, record labels, venues, and promoters to keep taking concert photos because it’s what I love most. Being able to combine my photographic way of expression and my love for music into an artistic documentation of the shows I see has been the most fun and fulfilling experience I’ve had.

I don’t wanna limit myself to just concerts, either. My photography idol Atiba Jefferson,
– who’s done things for Thrasher, Adidas, Supreme, the Los Angeles Lakers, and more- is where I want to be. Being able to just make a living off of photos, however it may be. And make some cool friends along the way, too!

Contact Info:

• Website: maxhendricksonphoto.com
• Instagram: @max.wellphoto