Meet Michael Letterlough, Jr.

We recently connected with Michael Letterlough, Jr. and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I talk about purpose a lot, actually and one thing I’ve heard often throughout my career is how lucky I am to have found my purpose so early in life. But honestly, I don’t think I “found” my purpose…per se. I think that I’ve always understood what came naturally to me and the things I had a passion for growing up. Before I knew what “purpose” was, as a kid I was just living in it; utilizing it, practicing it, perfecting it and sharing it with everybody, like my family and friends. I was that kid that loved art class and was always considered the best artist in my class…hell, probably my grade! Drawing was fun for me, and it was always nurtured by family, especially my uncle (my mom’s youngest brother) who was an artist himself, just like his father ((smiles)). I started drawing when I was about 3 years old. I actually still have all of my first drawings, which are a collection of my favorite cartoon characters, as well as a pretty impressive self-portrait for a 6 year-old, if I do say so myself. But while I loved all things art–that included more than just drawing, but also crafting, painting, and even the Chinese art form, origami–I also loved writing. When I was a kid I wrote…a lot. Poems, short stories, essays, my thoughts…I was always writing! Birthday, Mother’s Day and Father’s Day cards from me always came with a lengthy, heartfelt essay that would usually start on one side of the card, make it’s way to the other side, all the way down to the bottom where you should be saying “I love you, Happy…” and then often times continuing on to the back of the card ((laughing)). I’ve won short story and poetry contests, even becoming a nationally published poet in the Anthology of Poetry, all by the time I was 12. Writing was always one of my strongest suits in school. So I also have an aunt (my mom’s younger sister) who nurtured my interest in writing, introducing me to a friend of hers–a long-time career journalist and editor for Jet/Ebony Magazine–when I was just 13 years old. I had no idea that I would one day major in journalism, but I knew even entering college that I had a gift for writing. When I graduated with a degree in magazine journalism I didn’t foresee that I would one day fall in love with the art of photography. I look back on my life’s passions and understand now, at this age and stage in my life, that by following my passions and what came naturally to me, I was living in my purpose, which has always been to create and tell stories–whether that’s through photographs or words.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

I’m a portrait photographer, as well as a journalist…however, I wouldn’t necessarily classify myself as a photojournalist *laughs*. As I mentioned previously, I’ve always been an artist, since I was about 3 years old. My uncles and my Grandfather were artists also, but it was really my mom’s youngest brother, Steven, who was the one that nurtured my artistic skills and taught me a lot about drawing and its techniques. I never thought about photography, or even taking pictures myself outside of instant Polaroids and Kodak disposable camera photos. While I was in college majoring in magazine journalism at Temple University I took a photography course my senior year to fulfill a 2 credit requirement in order for me to graduate. This is where I learned to shoot black and white photos on film with a 35mm camera and developing the images in a dark room. I loved it! There was something kind of magical about taking a photo and not seeing what you’ve captured until it slowly appears in your solution tray in the dark room. My professor Dr. Trayes was the first person to tell me that I had an eye for photography and believed I had a gift for it. He said, “Every so many years I get a student who comes through and shows a real eye for this stuff, and I believe you’re one of them.” I was very much focused on being just a writer at that time, however his words were encouraging, even if they were a bit subliminal at the time, but it kept me continuing to take photos after that class was over as a hobby. Eventually the hobby turned into a full blown passion and I literally became obsessed with it, completely pushing writing and my journalism career to the side. But my photography career grew very quickly, and I was already booking paid shoots (mind you, they weren’t paying much, but they were still paid!) within my first year of taking photography seriously. Because I only had experience with film, I had to teach myself about digital photography. My Grandmother, who wanted to support my newfound interest and growing passion for it, bought my first professional camera–a Canon Rebel XTi–and I used that camera to shoot all of my early work. I also taught myself how to edit and retouch by looking through magazines at the editorials and advertisements, studying a lot of amazing photographers photographs, and watching a lot of Youtube videos about retouching. I spent hours and hours, sometimes whole days, every single day practicing–shooting and retouching…rinse and repeat. I’ve never had a mentor (aside from studying the work of photographers I admired like David LaChapelle, Gordon Parks, Annie Leibovitz, Patrick Demarchelier, Norman Jean Roy, Giuliano Bekor, Steven Meisel, and Mario Testino to name a few). I never worked as an apprentice for another photographer, but I would occasionally ask photographers within my circle for tips, tricks and advice, and they were always happy to share. That’s how I learned and how I grew. I never intended to photograph celebrities, although my entire journalism career focused on interviewing and writing about them. I loved photographing people and being creative and coming up with imaginative concepts. It was my connections and work in the journalism world that led to me photographing some of my first celebrities, and once you photograph one “person of interest” it just became easier I suppose, at least in my case, to photograph more. While I’ve focused a lot of my early photography career on fashion, in recent years I’ve been focused on more portrait and documentary photography work. I love telling stories through words and imagery, and one of the most exciting things to me is finding the “story” in a subject I’m photographing and conveying that, creatively, through a photo.

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?

I think having a real passion for what you do is important. I’ve seen a lot of people over the years jump into photography having never been a photographer before, and then after a couple years they give up and move on because having a sustainable, profitable career in photography is harder than it appears to be. Most people don’t start off making thousands of dollars per shoot in the beginning of their photography journey, but I think social media has made it easy for people to believe that you can by looking at what so many other people choose to post on their pages. I think there are aspects of photography that are very attractive to people, but they don’t anticipate the challenges and hard work. When you have a passion for something you’re willing to push through those challenges, make sacrifices, devote your time and energy to it, and do all of this whether you’re making money from it or not. So if you’re in it for the money, then you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. Or if you’re in it to become famous, then you’re still doing it for the wrong reasons.

I also think you need persistence. Having a photography career is definitely a marathon and not a sprint. It takes time to develop and grow your portfolio and your brand as a photographer. You’re not always going to get the clients you want right away, or the money you want to earn, or the opportunities you thought would open up to you, so you have to be persistent in your goals and your vision as an artist and don’t give up when things aren’t going the way you anticipated.

Lastly, I think consistency is key. But that’s kind of key with everything, right? The more consistent your quality of work is, the more respected and reputable it becomes. By being consistent not just in the quality of work you produce but by the way you communicate, how you provide a service, and maintaining a high level of professionalism, you create a strong foundation for your business to thrive and survive.

Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?

I’ve been incredibly blessed and fortunate to have a host of people in my life, from the very beginning of my career, that have shared with me their knowledge and wisdom, advice, encouragement and support. I’ve had a professional career since I was 21 years old, which started with my first job at the Philadelphia Tribune as an entertainment writer. While my journalism education and degree played a hand in getting me the job, my editor and first real boss, Shonda McClain taught me the ins-and-outs of being a real journalist. She taught me things you don’t get taught in school and that played out well in the years to come after I started my own publication, SUAVV Magazine. I have family and friends who have all contributed something to my success, whether it was just positive reinforcement and encouragement to keep going and not to give up, even when things got hard; or advice about business practices, creative ideas, and marketing tactics. I’ve been very blessed. I think the biggest influence of all would be my Grandmother, who taught me strength, and to have faith, and to always be kind to others, even when that kindness isn’t reciprocated. She was, and still is, a great example of working hard and being determined even in the face of adversity, while also being a good person for yourself and to others.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.michaelletterlough.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michaelletterloughjr
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michael.letterlough/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelletterloughjr