PROFILES
I am Scott and I am a photographer. I have an incredible job: I get to make a living by exploring the world, meeting and documenting people and telling their stories through my lens. As a photographer, my work is all about this exploration, discovery and human connection. However, somewhere, somehow, social media sadly seems to have altered both travel and picture making. Often, instead of enjoying our own unique experiences, many people travel for the sole purpose of capturing the “perfect” Instagram photo.
A quick scroll through Instagram clearly demonstrates that so many of us can take a pretty picture, but not everyone can actually tell a story with that picture. In order to truly be creative we have to constantly think about the stories behind our images. We have to reach further than making pretty pictures for pretty pictures’ sake. And, in the process, we must shed the superficial bucket-list-bragging travel that permeates so much of our social media feeds. If we’re able to do this — and if we can scratch beneath the surface and allow photography to be the window into a culture — oftentimes we’ll discover that the most beautiful stories are not always set in the most beautiful locations. But how can we do this? Travel. Travel empowers us to be inspired. Inspiration is all around us when we venture off into the world. And true inspiration is really just about being able to reframe the way we see the world. By doing this we are empowered to look at the ordinary and reveal the extraordinary. But only if we seek deeper and more meaningful experiences while travelling.
I am working with Scott Dunn, the international luxury travel operator, as its official Flying Photographer for these same reasons. We have similar values, and the travel experts at Scott Dunn share my ethos in curating journeys that transcend the ordinary. Their team of travel experts possess an insider's wealth of information — they know the best kept secrets of any locale, even those off the beaten track, and are able to offer access to key people, like seasoned guides, field specialists, domain experts, and so many other contacts and resources that really help to bring a trip to life, and to uncover the soul of each destination.
Looking beyond the most Instagram-able moments, gazing at our world through a different lens, searching for a different perspective and engaging more deeply with a destination will not only lead to making better and more impactful imagery, it will also lead to the most enlightening — and often life-changing — experiences we could ever imagine.
