We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tony Nguyen a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Tony, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you 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?

I am 100% able to live entirely off my life as a photographer in Northern California. You know, it didn’t start as a plan to become a photographer or creative, but I have always had the creative DNA in me since I was a child. I used to go to a daycare that really allowed me to explore my creative side with interactive play, recess, etc. That seed was planted when I was way young and it has proved to have grown into a tree that fruits well. When I was in college, a friend asked me to pick up a camera for a photojournalism class – I never tried or had any desire to before that moment. From there, I learned how to use a camera on assignments and gravitated toward things involving people and movement. Over time, people just offered me jobs here and there from weddings to animals, there was nothing (and still nothing) I would turn down. The growth I took in the first few years of the business helped me create a business model that is self feeding and requires very little marketing now. I didn’t quite jump to full time immediately. I, in fact, worked as a pension administrator for two years that taught me how to organize, write as professional, coordinate, and work with spreadsheets. Then when I felt I could float on my business earnings for at least 3 months, I decided to quit and go full-time as a photographer, and haven’t looked back since.

I think the most important aspect of being a creative full-time is your ability to communicate well with people, value your work, and understand how to use the art as a medium of conversation rather than just making money. Can I say I love photography, probably not, but can I say I enjoy what I do with it and how I get to interact with people and the world, absolutely! My favorite part of photography is getting to know people, helping people see themselves in amazing light, and experiencing some of the interesting aspects of life. Now, I have firmly planted myself as a dance and commercial photographer and that feeds into all the other things I enjoy doing like families, seniors, and of course weddings. The variety of work allows me to keep my creativity alive and enlivens all my work from the different perspectives.

Tony, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I answered some of this in the previous question! LOL

I think what sets me apart from other photographers is my ability to be collaborative and flexible in what I see will work for the art. I never try to impose my ideas and concepts on a project. I always try to take the perspective of the people I am working with and highlight them or the project in the ways they are wanting it. For example, when I work with one of my major corporate clients, their art director helps guide me to what they are wanting and looking for. I work on removing my ego and go toward what they are looking for and wanting. This has served well as we continue to work together and I have grown in my abilities as I take their decisions as challenges for me to learn from and overcome to be a better artist.

Another thing that sets me apart is my background and knowledge of the human body due to my dance background. I am still a dancer/choreographer/executive director today after over 20+ years in the dance industry, and it influences how I approach photography and the world. I allow my dance background to influence how I guide models, people, shape bodies, and angle choices I make. Lastly, I think my personality plays a big role in what jobs I have been able to achieve and get. I am generally an open person and willing to try new ideas to see if they might work – even if I might think it won’t. This mindset has allowed me to grow and see that there are many rivers to the same ocean.

How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?

Oh we all know about COVID and it’s effects, especially in the early months of it. From March to June of 2020, I usually make about 60% of my annual income, and because of the shut down and subsequent modified life we had, didn’t have much business for the rest of the year. That compound with a business decision I made to purchase lots of equipment on a business loan to increase my capacity as a business with associates and subcontractors, made it all come crashing down with COVID. Along with that, I had recently gone through a heartbreaking divorce. So we can say, I was going through a LOT. I thought at the time, maybe it’s time for me to shift careers and try to land a office job so I could cover my losses and maybe not let this happen again. Luckily, I moved in with my best friend who supported me not only emotionally but with lower rent to I could work on budgeting and getting fully on my feet as I worked through the debt and low income time. I can honestly say though, I miss this time. I got spend more time with my friends and family (even though digitally sometimes), got into better shape, cooked a lot, and really felt connected with everyone around me. And because of the tighter budgeting, I was able to climb out of $20k in debt and slowly kept the photography business going as I worked part-time managing a fitness studio.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspects of being a creative, there are so many! I’ll just list them to be quick about it… – make your own schedule
– work from anywhere in the world
– meeting interesting people
– work in varied environments and industries
– be creative and play in your work
– travel
– make people happy with images
– work less than 30 hours a week
– connect to other people

Though if I had to say just one thing that is the most rewarding, it would be it affords me time to spend much more time with my daughter. Because I don’t have to work a full 40 hour work week AND have a flexible schedule that I am in charge of, I am able to spend lots of time with my daughter that’s not just the weekends or after a long day at office.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.tonynguyenphotography.com
• Instagram: tonynguyenphoto
• Facebook: tonynguyenphoto

Image Credits
Tony Nguyen Photography