Meet Michael Gatty

 

We were lucky to catch up with Michael Gatty recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Growing up, I was shy, quiet, and bullied. I hated middle school and high school — constantly being taunted and ridiculed for being “a faggot”. In college, things got better, and I came out of the closet, started working as a photographer for a small, gay, community news paper, and began to find a glimmer of my stride. But it wasn’t for another decade that my life changed. On 9/11/2001 I was working in human resources for Target — a fancy way of saying I worked at a Target, hiring people. When the planes hit the World Trade Center, everything — including my Target store — closed for almost a week. I was living in a tiny town, on the eastern shore of Maryland, called Salisbury. I hated life in a small town. When the WTC collapsed, my dad, who was a magazine publisher, called me. He begged me to travel the 3 hours plus to NYC, and photograph the trust that were delivering aid to the rescue workers. The final straw came when he said, “you have been bitching about your job for the past three years. Here’s your chance to change careers.” I thought he was crazy, but I gathered my camera and headed to Ground Zero. Those photos launched my career in photography, and I quit Target.

But I still shoved myself into a carefully crafted image. I called it “my republican face”. Working in DC, now as a freelance photographer, I felt like I needed to present a clean cut, masculine, tie wearing face to clients.

Then one day I was doing a meet and greet with former President George W. Bush. He had snapped at me after I gave him the general instructions of how the meet and greet was going to go. I curtly replied, “Yes Sir, I have done this before. I’ve photographed you, your wife, your father, your mother, and your brother. So, yes, I have done this before.”

The President smiled. “Which of us did you like the best?”

I snapped back, still a bit pissed he had called me out in front of an entire room, “Sir, I’m a Democrat.”

The entire room gasped. To his credit, the President fell over laughing. Every time he posed with a participant, he shook their hand, “Heh, heh, heh, gotta smile for the democrat!” he said. At the end of the event, he walked up to the client, “It’s about time a photographer didn’t have a stick up their ass!” He said.

That single interaction changed how I would present myself professionally. I realized I needed to embrace what made me different — my sense of humor, my directness, my ability to shed shyness and jump in front of a crowd and take control — that even being flamboyant could help me, professionally.

It took a while, but it was when we began marketing US Event Photos as an LGBTQIA+ owned company, that we landed our largest clients and contracts. Now, clients expect me to be a bit out there, a bit off beat, uber creative — and a little loud. Living out loud is a freedom — and in my case, has been lucrative.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I’m an event and corporate photographer — I only work for companies, I don’t do weddings or private events. That hyper focus on serving corporate America, with a not-corporate attitude — is how we differentiate ourselves. There are three parts to my business: event green screen photography, corporate headshot photography at events and in office, and corporate event photography. Each section of the business I approach uniquely. I don’t do green screen with big sunglasses and goofy hats. I don’t do photobooths with a little box thing that takes the picture after a count down and spits out mini-strips of photos. For green screen, we focus on high end. Creating images you know must be green screen, but look real and authentic. Photobombing a rock star on stage. Inserting participants into famous movie scenes. Forest Gump style, participants being placed into historic scenes. For headshots, I’ve reimagined the portable studio. Basically, at an event I set up a complete studio. Six lights. I don’t use umbrellas or strobes, but continuous LED lights. Every headshot photographer I’ve ever seen has basically the same setup — and it (in my opinion) is limited. My setup lets me customize for each participant on the fly — and generates headshots I can stamp with my approval. Event photography is probably where I’m the most “in the pack”, as there’s only so much you can do to shoot differently than other photographers out there. But being creative, and funny, helps a lot.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Find a niche and stick to that niche. It can be anything, but rule it. Be the best at it. Understand your brand, and stick to it. Never waver — even when the mortgage is late, the credit cards are mimicking the national debt, and your family is wondering if you should begin stripping for a living — stick to your guns. If you are the best at what you do, if you approach what you do differently than everyone else (because that makes what you do better not just different), you will be able to make a living and thrive. Living out loud, as the ruler in your field, will bring clients to you, not drive them away.

What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?

I was a shy, quiet kid. Until I “came out.”

It was a late summer day, and my parents were living in a huge house in rural Howard county, Maryland. I was in college, but nearby — at UMBC. I lived at home the first year, with plans to get my own apartment as a sophomore.

But, I met the cutest guy ever when out one night. He lived far away, and we spent the evening talking and I was falling hard. But, we didn’t have a place to go.

So I brought him home, to my parents. Remember, I wasn’t out. I snuck him into the basement, through the garage, and was in the process of figuring out — this was very early morning — if my parents were soundly sleeping and I could sneak him up to my room. Just as I opened the basement door, there was my dad. He pushed passed me, hearing a noise.

After jumping up and down yelling “INTRUDER”, he asked me who the guy was?

I came out on the spot.

Then I went upstairs, and told my mom.

My parents reaction? Make up the guest room for my “friend” and they went back to bed. It wasn’t totally without drama, but neither parent ever made me feel — awkward.

Both my parents always wanted me to live authentically. I didn’t make it easy on either of them — I was a bit of a handful, once out, I was OUT — but they never, ever made me feel bad that I am gay.

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