We were lucky to catch up with Sid Hoeltzell recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sid, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Have you been able to earn a full-time living from your creative work? If so, can you walk us through your journey and how you made it happen? Was it like that from day one? If not, what were some of the major steps and milestones and do you think you could have sped up the process somehow knowing what you know now?

From 1978 when I graduated from F.I.T. in New York, I was and have been a successful commercial photographer. I was a generalist for a long time but managed to always come back to food and beverage photography. Having won awards and accolades over the years, I have taught and still learn to this day. Having worked and lived in photo-studios for over 40 years, I still have great clients and a successful business in Miami. I have seen trends come and go, I specialized in large format film photography and now concentrate on food and beverage photography. Maybe that got me prepared to be on Masterchef 9 as well as another reality food show. All part of enjoying what I do every day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Basically self taught, then commercially fine tuned at F.I.T. and seasoned in the NYC photo arena. I create images that my clients use in advertising, I create fine art images for sale (over 400 commissions for 18 ships of the RCCL lines), and I have even been a fine-art photographer for famous museums and auction houses. I have won a Silver international CLIO, many ADDYs, and been published all over the world. I traveled to the Vatican Museums to capture their artwork for a reproduction series, I have taught at two great institutions, and my students and interns have become outstanding photographers. When given the chance, I create compelling images, and I now write a great food column for the Biscayne Times… just for fun.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

I have always completed my assignments and then given the clients a 360 degree view (thru taking the photos from other angles of techniques not originally selected for the assignments) which have often been the selections and the vision the client are most excited about. Keeping the drive and opting for my vision has been the most important part of my creative life-span.
Learning to adapt and still maintain my style ( I never liked being censored, keeping up without bowing to cancel culture)

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

I want to get involved. I have such unique and rare images (over 15,000 museum pieces which are covered by non-disclosure ) in my personal work spanning 55 years… its amazing. I have a Papal certificate and the original artwork done by my mother for paintings commissioned by th Vatican for the 1987 Papal visit to Miami, books of illustrations from 1863, huge artwork collections that are rare NFT items to be shared in the near future.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sidphoto.com
• Instagram: sidphotomiami
• Facebook: sidphotomiami
• Linkedin: sid hoeltzell

Image Credits
Sid Hoeltzell, Miami