Garrett Gillette shared their story and experiences with us recently and you can find our conversation below.
Garrett, it’s always a pleasure to learn from you and your journey. Let’s start with a bit of a warmup: Who are you learning from right now?
The person that I’m learning the most from at the moment is my past self. There have been many moments as of late that have been entirely about self-reflection and learning from past experiences and mistakes. Whether that be with life or photography. That’s one of the things that I enjoy the most about the business; you have to be brutally honest with yourself at all times. You have to be willing to accept the past but still be able to make the necessary adjustments to continue to help yourself grow. And I’ve learned that as long as you get a little bit better every day at something, in the end, you’ll get to where you want to go.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
My name’s Garrett and I’m a twenty-seven-year-old lifestyle photographer based out of central Illinois. I’ve been in the business running on almost eight years at this point. I started out doing primarily landscape photography, and grew into doing portraits, couples, concerts, engagements and weddings along the way. Landscapes still hold the biggest place in my heart, partially due to my huge love for traveling. I love being able to travel to new and interesting places and show off the beauty that the world has to offer. Every place has a different story to tell, and I think it’s my responsibility to help tell those stories through the photos I take. Truthfully, the same thing applies to people. Whether it’s a solo portrait session, a concert, family photos, or the happiest day of someone’s life, every single person that gets in front of the camera has a story. And they are all worth hearing! During my journey I’ve learned that making other people feel comfortable and happy in front of the camera is what it’s all about. Your work matters, but your ability to connect with people is what keeps you around. And to me, there is nothing more rewarding in life than seeing the look on someone’s face after seeing photos that fill their hearts with joy. I don’t have a business motto or any special words I try to live bye; all I know is that life is special. And to me, it’s worth trying to document every second of it.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
Without a doubt, my amazing mother. There hasn’t been a day since I was born that she hasn’t been my biggest supporter. She never missed a practice, a game, helping with my homework, anything. At the drop of a hat, she was there for my every need. Even during my college years, when I finally decided that I was going to be done with athletics and academics, I was terrified to tell her about my decision because of all the time, money, and work she put in to help me reach that point. But my heart wasn’t in it anymore, and that’s all that she needed to hear. I needed to make a change, and she was going to help see me through it. Even during those strange last years of college, when I couldn’t find my purpose or things to make me smile, she never left my side. Always giving me new ideas or inspiration for how to overcome those struggles and get better. And even when I started taking pictures over seven years ago, she was the first in line to show support. I had gone from having my whole life planned out, to being as lost as I’ve ever been. Deciding to jump into a very expensive hobby, with very little money and basically no plan. But through all of the uncertainty, she was always there. Never leaving my side for a second. I can’t even think of how many times during this journey that she has shown me more support than I could’ve shown myself. There were many points during those years when I wanted to stop this journey altogether. But I remembered how excited she was the first time I had a photo in an exhibition, or a magazine, and was actually having success in something that genuinely made me happy. Still, for many years, I was never satisfied with how my career was going. Constantly feeling like I’m improving and growing as an artist, while not having the extensive clientele and financial stability that I was looking for. But she was always there to remind me; it’s not about the money. Money comes and goes, but the joy you feel in your heart is what sticks around. Once I finally listened and understood what she was saying, I got my smile back while taking photos. And after seven long years, getting back to being me has finally brought the business that I’ve been working so hard to achieve. None of that would have been possible without my mama right there through it all. She will always be my biggest blessing in this life.
Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
I miss how simple it all was in the beginning. Not to say I’m not extremely appreciative of how things have turned out, I just miss how peaceful it was without all the responsibility. I don’t think when I was in those early moments, I was able to fully appreciate how meaningful they would be later on. And obviously hindsight is undefeated. It’s also fair to say that I needed to get out of those early stages to really grow as an artist and a person. For as long as I can remember I’ve been someone who keeps their circle very small and only really keeps to himself. And for a long time, that way of doing things worked for me. But it’s very hard to live like that while trying to grow something based on your name and talent. The photography business has always been challenging to me because you have to build relationships with people and be your own brand at times. This presents a lot of challenges to someone who is naturally introverted and is almost always terrified of meeting new people. One of the things that attracted me to this line of work, was the fact that I could create these incredible images while still remaining kind of incognito. For the longest time I completely strayed away from showing my face on my social media pages, because I wanted them to be specifically about the pictures that I took. And to be honest, that way of doing things definitely held me back in terms of growing my career. Something that I’ve had to learn from peers and people I admire in this space, is personality matters just as much as your work does. I like to think I’m easy to get along with once you get to know me, but I generally don’t try to let new people get too close to me so I can save myself some pain down the road. Thankfully, the past couple of years in the photography business have taught me to drop that way of thinking and doing things. In business, and in life. I’ve learned that for people to feel comfortable in front of my camera, they have to be even more comfortable in front of me. Communication, respect, and trust are the three most important things in this business to me, and every single person feels and portrays those things differently. As the photographer, I feel it’s my job to be able to adjust to each person’s way of doing things so we both get the outcome we’re looking for. And in the past few years, I’ve been able to come out of my shell so to speak, in the photography business, life, kind of everything. Thankfully, that change has brought more business and more new amazing relationships than I could’ve dreamed of.
I think our readers would appreciate hearing more about your values and what you think matters in life and career, etc. So our next question is along those lines. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
Always staying true to myself, no matter where this journey takes me. I think it’s very easy to lose yourself or forget why you started when it comes to this business. There’s a very common theme in photography of getting into it as a hobby, and eventually trying to turn it into some kind of career. I’m definitely a byproduct of that statement. But another very common theme, is getting so caught up in the grueling business of things that you start to lose the joy you had from the beginning. Almost nobody picks up a camera for the very first time and automatically starts making good money with it. It’s a years long process to acquire the skills, knowledge, and experience you need to turn this hobby into dollar signs. One thing that I have always tried to include in my journey, is making sure to leave space for my personal shooting time. There have been countless days when I’ve been floored with photoshoots, and as I’m leaving I think the last thing I want to do is keep holding the camera. But at the same time, going for a photo walk in a new and beautiful area brings me a peace that’s hard to describe. So even when I’m tired of taking photos, I still need to go out and take more photos. That shows me that I really love doing this. And as long as I can say that, I’m happy with my journey.
Okay, we’ve made it essentially to the end. One last question before you go. Are you doing what you were born to do—or what you were told to do?
Definitely born to do. But I have had struggles with this question for a long time. To me, my journey is about overcoming mental health problems and finding your love and passion when you least expect it. My early life was primarily focused on athletics and academics, with nothing else really having my interest. So, when the time came for me to give those things up, I didn’t know what to do. I was lost within myself because I had no other hobbies, no other ideas, and no direction to who I was without those other things pushing me along. After a couple of years with no idea what I was doing and no hope that things were going to swing back my way, I stumbled my way into this creative world and have never looked back. I was at one of the lowest points of my life, feeling completely and utterly alone, when I took one photo that changed everything. During one of the early years, I decided that I wanted to spend Christmas Eve as alone as possible, because the last thing I wanted to do during the holidays was infect my people with my problems. So, I took a solo drive about thirty minutes from where I was living at the time, just to get away from everything. I was so unwell, and driving thirty minutes to sit at a boat marina and stare at the water was truly the only thing that I thought could help. That was the best decision I’ve ever made. As I was looking out into Kentucky Lake, tears pouring down my face, I looked down and saw this little metal box hanging from my neck. I had gotten this camera as a gift from my aunt the Christmas before but had never even taken it out of the box. I still don’t know what made me think to bring it with me on this trip. Maybe it was God putting me back on the right path for myself. Maybe it was a last desperate move to try anything and help turn this ship around before it sunk for good. Maybe it was some inner part of myself that finally decided to make a positive change and get better, no matter what that meant. Maybe it was all three. I try not to think about why I grabbed the camera that day, instead just being eternally grateful that I did. The picture I took of the marina that day changed my whole life. The very first picture I ever took with a real camera. And it made it into places that I didn’t even know existed, let alone places I thought my photo could end up in. The joy that I felt from that photo, and the overwhelming support from peers, friends, and family are the only reasons I’m still here today. That photo and that experience kept me going, and it’s lead me to where I am now. Seven years in, including countless struggles, obstacles to overcome and things to learn about myself and the business, and I wouldn’t change a damn thing. That first photo showed me that I was meant to do this, and the constant support that I receive to this day from my family and friends show me that there’s nothing else in this life I should be doing.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.garrettgillette.com
- Instagram: @garrettwgillette
