We recently connected with Ryan Galvez and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Ryan thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to start by getting your thoughts on what you are seeing as some the biggest trends emerging in your industry.

Some of the biggest trends that I see in my industry are people relying on social media as their main source of their reputation. Many photographers and videographers are getting so caught up in the social trends that their work is all looking the same. Social media has its place, however there is more to being an artist than following what is trendy to gain followers. In my experience, some of the greatest photographers that I’ve met are the ones that are true to the process of making a photograph. They spend their time in the studio and printing instead of on social media making reels.

Ryan, 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?

My name is Ryan Galvez and I am a photographer & cinematographer from Ventura County, Ca. My whole life, I grew up playing soccer and that was my first love. When we got old enough, we were told by our coaches to start making highlight videos to send out to colleges in hopes of getting recruited. This is where my door opened to the power of a camera. As I graduated high school, I had one offer to a school that was way too expensive. From there, I knew that my path was with a camera.

I started photographing my friends and started making little skate videos. When I was 19, I knew this was what I wanted to do. I dove deep into the great documentary photographers and started to become inspired by them. The main ones were Joel Meyerowitz, Stephen Shore, and Marry Ellen Mark. I began documenting my home town on medium format film and was also doing the drive from VC to LA to make photographs on the streets.

During this time, I knew that I wanted to make a career out of this so I started reaching out to professional fashion and commercial photographers. I reached out to 100 people, and only one person got back to me. That one person pretty much gave me the start to my wonderful career.

I am now 24. Since my great friend Christopher Brown helped me kickstart my career, I have been working professionally as a photographer and cinematographer since I was 20. My main area of work is currently in branded content production where I shoot various campaigns for fashion and beauty brands. Some of my biggest accomplishments to date are – my first billboard in Times Square for Michelle Pfeiffer’s perfume brand Henry Rose, billboards in every domestic terminal inside of LAX, and the ability to so far sustain a fantastic career.

One of the things that I always say is that as a photographer and cinematographer, I want to be able to change lanes. I never want to be stuck in one lane with what I do. I think that my ability to change lanes and do multiple styles extremely well sets me apart from the rest of the crowd.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

When I was 18, I survived one of the deadliest mass shootings in America. I was at the Borderline Shooting in Thousand Oaks, Ca when a gunman came in and murdered 12 people. It was an extremely hard event for me to navigate and it is still something that I have to deal with in my every day life. I had extreme struggles with PTSD, panic disorder and anxiety.

My camera allowed me to be at peace. I took a camera with me everywhere and it was one of the strongest outlets that I could have. I always say that if the shooting never happened to me, I wouldn’t be where I am now. It showed me to live life to the fullest every day and that you have to love life.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I have the goal to be great. I don’t know what that truly means and where that falls, but I motivate myself to be the best that I can be. I want to make books, shoot ads, and have a story as a photographer and cinematographer that is pure to the art that I make.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ryangalvezphotography.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ryangalvez__/