We were lucky to catch up with Patrick Cray recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Patrick thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you tell us the backstory behind how you came up with the idea?

During Covid like many people I had a lot of free time on my hands and especially at night. I started sharing images from my night adventures and walks around the city of Buffalo that I was taking on my IPhone and they started getting some eyes on them. I slowly started getting asked for prints and to capture events and do portrait photography work. I then realized that I was in need to invest into a camera so that I could follow my passion for photography.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am a photographer that has a focus on documenting this time in the space I call home Buffalo New York in the best light possible. I focus on creating images of the forgotten and often overlooked spaces and populations. I believe that my city is in a renaissance and there are so many new things that are happening and there needs to be documented at a high technical level with a splash of artistic creative eye. I think that my clients share that same idea with allowing me creative freedom with capturing events and spaces. I built this freedom by creating a visually compelling instagram account that I have curated over daily posts over 3 years. During this time I shared everything I did from cityscapes, landscapes, candid street portraits, editorial styled photo shoots and going to local events and just documenting what I see. I was able to branch this out to now doing almost everything and being extremely well versed as a photographer.

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

I really enjoy my freedom as a creative. I used to work in so many different industries that I just never seemed to fit in. I also enjoy the idea that people enjoy seeing my eye for the spaces that we are physically in and are sometimes not paying attention to to small movements that surround us at all times. It truly does not feel like work but an extension of myself that I can make a living off of.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

As a local from my city I started to realize that a lot of the spaces that I was in where not being documented specifically spaces outside of downtown Buffalo but I needed to draw attention to my instagram by making viral images so I started with capturing images of my city at night from higher vantage points that most people would not have access to. I crated a semi viral image and it just took me off from there after it got shared by acouple large accounts. I mixed these images with very detailed descriptions breaking down my story figuring out how I to use my newly acquired camera equipment.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Yungpainkiller
• Facebook: Pat Cray.
• Linkedin: Pat Cray
• Twitter: Oldpainkiller