From working with brands to personal passion projects

Our interview with photographer Danny Owens

Danny himself

This week we bring you the photographer who was “cool on instagram once”.

Danny Owens is a photographer and creative producer living the life that so many dream of over in Portland, Oregon. He’s been able to work with brands like Gap and Samsung and his insight into story driven photography is something you have to read about.

We connected with Danny through Twitter just by shooting him some messages and appreciating his photography. As soon as we started talking we wanted to delve into his story. So this interview below is some of the conversation we had with Danny.

You can connect with him via Twitter here, or go directly to his website to see more of his photography and philosophy. All photos featured were taken by Danny.

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How did your story start, did you study photography or did you purely have photography as a hobby until recently?

My creative journey started out at first without a camera. I originally was pursuing graphic design as my career, studying it as my major at school and using that skill within some internships for awhile. However, I quickly realised I didn’t want to only be creating behind a desk and I started to entertain the thought of pursuing photography.

I went on to compete for a monetary art scholarship at my school, won, and bought my first camera… a canon rebel t3i that I literally used to death.

Has their been a particular story you’ve shared which has been a highlight?

Early on in my photography career I had the opportunity to fly to Liberia, a country in western portion of Africa, to help document the story of a non-profit doing work there. It was extremely eye opening and helped show me the power that photography can have in the lives of others and how it can be a really strong agent for change.

Some of Danny’s recent collection from working with some different brands

I honestly have enjoyed so many of the projects I’ve worked on that allow me to create a story narrative, so its definitely hard to focus in on any one of them.

We see you love to travel, where’s been your favourite place that we should suggest to our readers?

Wow… thats tough! I’ve been to basically every major city in the United States and some in Canada.. so if I had to pick a favourite city I would say I really loved visiting Chicago or my home base of Portland.

I’ve gone on quite a few long roadtrips up and down the West Coast and I always highly suggest doing that. There is so much diversity along that route and so many amazing things to see. Some of my favorite memories have come from driving down the coast by myself, setting up a solo camp, and just enjoying what’s around me.

Last summer I headed off to Ireland, and that country also blew my mind with its natural beauty and some of the most interesting people and stories I’ve ever experienced.

A collection of photos taken on his recent trip to Ireland

But honestly, just get out and travel, doesn’t matter where.

— TWEET THIS

I truly think travel and experience can do more for you as an individual then education or anything else money can buy.

Any places on the bucket list to travel to in the near future?

I’m heading off to Greece and Italy this fall, and Greece has been on my bucketlist for sometime! Super excited about that trip.

Some other places I would love to experience would be Cuba, South Africa, any Scandinavian country, and India.

What’s your short term goal, any particular personal projects you want to work on?

This year I haven’t spent a ton of time working on personal projects as I’m really trying to dig into the creative industry in Portland and finding new clients… but I would love to continue documenting artists and their process.

Always aim to think outside the box when working with brands and create a story

Recently I’ve been meeting and capturing photos of local artists working within their own spaces, and it’s been extremely fulfilling to be able to see the behind the scenes of artists of different mediums. You can see a recent feature here.

We’ve loved chatting to Danny and recommend checking out all his stuff, from his website to his instagram over at @danny.owens.

More interviews coming soon, check out our last interview here and also another article you may like if you enjoyed this.

Be passionate and do not expect immediate success

You don’t always need a photographer

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If you’d like to chat or get in touch the best way is probably through Twitter @FieldworkUK.