An Inspired Chat with Tony Hoffer of Downingtown, PA

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Tony Hoffer. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Tony, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to share your story, experiences and insights with our readers. Let’s jump right in with an interesting one: What do you think is misunderstood about your business? 
I think being a good photographer is means a lot of different things to different people, but being a GREAT photographer is all about soft skills. The ability to listen to clients, coordinate with art directors and communicate effectively are some of the most important skills a photographer can have. Being good at these things usually means being good at business.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Tony Hoffer. My wife and I own Hoffer Photography, based outside of Philadelphia, PA. We specialize in weddings and portraits. I also shoot commercial/advertising work under Hoffer Media.

We started our business by accident and quickly got busy enough that we needed to leave our jobs to pursue it full time. That was 18 years ago. Since then we’ve traveled the world shooting weddings. We focus on genuine and original photography. To us, that means listening to our clients and understanding how we can adjust what we do for each client. That has served us really well as we’ve always worked from 100% word-of-mouth referrals… ever since we started.

Okay, so here’s a deep one: What breaks the bonds between people—and what restores them?
Empathy. That’s something I’ve learned a lot about in the past few years. As the world has become more and more divided, I feel like being empathetic is becoming a lost skill. As I’ve seen some friends and family become more opinionated (sometimes radically so), I’ve also seen amazing examples of empathy. When people can see the best in others and try to understand the things that have led to who they are, it restores a level of humanity to our relationships. It’s something I’m working at to try to be a better friend/photographer/husband/son.

Is there something you miss that no one else knows about?
Life before social media.

So a lot of these questions go deep, but if you are open to it, we’ve got a few more questions that we’d love to get your take on. What are the biggest lies your industry tells itself?
That sameness equals success. One of the biggest things that plagues wedding photographers is trying to create the same things as everybody else. Chasing trends and chasing clients is always a battle that strips away the joy and originality of what we create. I wish more people in our industry would focus on what makes them unique rather than what makes them more like others.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
Constantly. I think that’s one of the calling cards of an artist or somebody that’s hungry to create things. If you ever start resting on your accomplishments, the fire goes out. So whenever I’ve gotten a “game-changing” client/job, it’s never quite been feeling of euphoria that I expected. I love making things, but I don’t love having made things. So as soon as something cool comes and goes, there’s nothing I want to do except find the next one.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://hofferphotography.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/hofferphotography
• Facebook: https://Facebook.com/hofferphotography
• Other: http://hoffermedia.com
  instagram.com/hoffermedia

Image Credits
All photos are from Hoffer Photography (that’s us!)