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

NEIL, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I got my first camera at 12 years of age and started to develop an interest in photography, but it wasn’t for another 12 or 13 years until I started to get serious about it. When I got my first 35mm SLR, I read article after article in the magazines of the day, learned about the technical side of taking photos from that reading material and developed my creative eye, as much as I could. This laid the groundwork at an early stage, for what would eventually become my full time occupation, some 30 years later.
I don’t believe that speeding up the learning process of any art is actually possible, but an ongoing experience from day one: When I opened my studio, I had to learn about strobe lighting for portrait and fashion work – the resources available on the internet these days are wonderful in helping with that, but really, there is nothing like experimenting, being constructive in criticising one’s own work and practicing at every opportunity is invaluable in the lifelong learning experience.
I would say that any obstacles to learning more to date, would have to be self imposed – either an unwilligness to find out about certain things, ignorance of some areas and discipline to sit down and do the reasearch.

NEIL, 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?

As previously stated, I became interested in photography at an early age, which may have been influenced by my father always taking photos, viewing family photos taken by him or my grandfather, who also did wedding photography as a side gig.
Growing up in England, photography was a real hobby for me, especially after I left the Navy in 1984 and started to collect 35mm equipment and develop a passion for the art.
My first interest was always nature and landscape photography, although I also tried experimenting with abstract teqhniques, but felt constricted by the medium of film in that respect, probably due to a lack of understanding and knowledge.
I went on to have a successful career as and electronics and electrical engineer after moving to South Africa in 1987 and sadly, my interest in photography waned, after all of my equipment was stolen.
In 2001, I went to a motorcycle grand prix in South Africa and borrowed a point and shoot film camera to take photos – that obviously wasn’t too successful, so before I went again two years later, I purchased a couple of second hand 35mm SLRs, some zoom lenses and a ton of film – BINGO, I was back, hooked on photography and making photos I could be happy with. However, it was getting expensive and I didn’t do as much as I would have liked.
In 2005, a business trip to Munich, Germany, needed me to take 100s of photos of a printing press that was being dismantled for transporting back to South Africa. At about that time, I had started to hear about digital photography and so when I realised how expensive it would be to use film for the entire project, I got my first digital camera, an 8mp Panasonic Lumix FZ30.
After the trip the camera was with me at all times, my interest had turned into a passion and I started making photos of everything I could, including doing portrait photography – I found I was quite good at that and having worked as a service engineer for a number of years, dealing with people came naturally.
In 2008, a chance encounter led me to a visit to New York and the idea of moving to America to become a full time photographer was born – a difficult time to get into the business, but I was determined.
I arrived in America in September 2011 on an artist visa and 2 years later, the studio was opened in Patchogue, on Long Island, NY – firstly with a partner, then as Neil Tandy Photography in 2018, 2 years after getting my green card.

The studio work has always been a mix of headshot, fashion, model portfolio and portrait work, with a lot of experimentation with lighting – I have developed a 3 light setup for myself that I love to use for dramatic work, but can easily employ classic lighting when needed.
I always shoot tethered in the studio and clients can see exactly how the session is progressing.
My ability to experiment, see light and how it works,explore angles, my ability to put everyone at ease and to pull real emotion and expression from sitters and a genuine interest in them as people, really does set me aside from others who often just want to get paid for taking photos.
Over the years, I have also developed an extensive portfolio of fine art photography for sale, whether that is purchased or not – I will often photograph just for myself, or to share on social media, to try to offer people the chance to see the world from a different perspective, whether it be nature or the bustling streets of New York City, the sights of Palm Beach or the rugged beauty of the National Parks.

During the last 5 years, I have also done a huge amount of magazine photography for smaller local New York City independant lifestyle magazines, shooting a very large amount of covers and features and recently doing travel photography and writing articles.

I would have to say that I am most proud of being able to evolve and grow as a photographer, being open to inspiration from so many other wonderful artists and incorporate that into my work.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

In the society of the modern world that thrives on instant gratification, I would like people to actually stop and look at the art, think about what the artist has done to produce it and to appreciate just how much of the heart and soul goes into it – of course, we all love when our work is bought and I would like to see people paying fair prices instead of trying to get wonderful art as cheaply as possible.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I haven’t really developed a large understanding of it, but on the surface, it really looks like a great way to protect an artist’s copyright, make work more accessible for purchase and to put much needed funds into an artist’s wallet.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.neiltandy.com/ https://www.neiltandyfineartphotography.art/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/neil_tandy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/neil.tandy/

Image Credits

Girl in green dress – designer Ese Azenabor
African model – Saame Foxx
Model in ad- Petra Pennington