We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Vincent Conti. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Vincent below.

Alright, Vincent thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

Absolutely — it’s my pleasure. My relationship with photography began very organically and at a very young age. My grandfather always carried a camera to family events, vacations, or day trips. He even had one of the bulk shoulder-mounted video recorders when they first became available in the early-90s, and became the de facto familiar biographer in a way. I think I picked up the habit from him. From a young age I shot on disposable cameras, and later 35mm cameras that I picked up at thrift stores. I was fortunate to tour quite a bit with a band from high school through college (and a little thereafter) and a 35mm camera was my only staple possession. This would have scarcely predated the social media / phone camera era, and I felt the need to capture the scenes and settings almost compulsively. To give them a second life. I think that still compels me now. I was a very late adopter to digital cameras and still only utilize mirrorless cameras with prime lenses, quite utilitarian, and learned to use editing software in the past three years. This came from a place of necessity with my very first paid opportunities with quick turnaround expectations and the desire for modern, perfect images. It’s been a long time of very gradual improvement, and in many ways I don’t feel that the finished product is much different.

Vincent, 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?

Certainly! I have worked professionally in motorcycle and car sales & marketing my entire adult life. I also contribute written pieces to journals. As with photography, falling in love with cars and motorcycles was 100% a cultural and familial thing. The two generations preceding me worked at the General Motors assembly plant along the Hudson River, just north of New York City. We always had old cars around. Everyone rode motorcycles — my grandfather, my dad, all of my uncles… On my fifth birthday I received my first bike with a motor. My other passion reading books. I was always scratching in journals and ended up studying literature in college. Somehow, the band I played in with my friends found a sliver of success, which meant lots and lots of travel. I always kept a 35mm Minolta on my back to bring those stories and those places home with me.

When the music shred up I got a job selling motorcycles, then another selling older motorcycles.. The photos I took became instrumental to the company I helped to run, which was a vintage bike sales and restoration shop. These images caught the eye of local luxury car dealerships who sought more crafty, lifestyle images. This was my first opportunity at very regular, weekly work.

The cars I worked with were absolutely incredible — there’s no chance I’d have had the opportunity to drive them in any other capacity. Even within my current day job in sales, the camera has opened several doors to new opportunities, an immense amount of travel, and most-importantly, to new people.

I still spend as much of my free time as possible working with companies, shops, creatives, and most-commonly friends whenever I have the free time to do so.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

As when I was a child, my passion in taking photos stems from my desire to continue telling stories and in capturing moments. It’s a photographer’s cliché but it’s quite true. For many, vehicles are assets or commodities. For others, they are heirlooms, art pieces, passion pursuits, or an emphatic extension of their personalities. I find immense gratification in capturing the human link in vehicles, through pen and through lens. This is my contribution.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

I was fortunate to begin using social media in a time before advertisers really got involved, before posts could be “promoted,” and before algorithms were used to determine what was shown and to whom. The best thing about that era was in networking with similar people across the country and even across the world. Small, niche communities could be grown despite geographic distance. I’m still friends with folks in New York, Chicago, Arizona and especially California who I met remotely during that time.

Things have tapered off since, but I’ve retained my approach of posting what I want, utilizing these channels as a tool to connect with real folks, and not obsessing on the metrics. In that way, it’s best that the right people find you (and vice versa), rather than the most people. Art has to supersede the world of 1.5 second scrolling, and it will.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.instagram.com/vincent.anthony.conti
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincentanthonyconti

Image Credits
Vincent Anthony Conti