We recently connected with Rob Hammer and have shared our conversation below.
Rob , we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
The photography industry is a crazy place filled with a lot of amazing and generous people. There are also a high percentage of people/business’ that just want to bleed as much out of you for as cheap as possible. Dealing with that for any amount of time will force you to reevaluate what it is you want out of your career. Do you just want to be rich and famous or do you want to collaborate on projects that are genuinely meaningful with other like minded people? If money is all you seek, then there are a million ways to get it while selling your soul day after day. For me there has to be more than a paycheck. The project has to be emotionally rewarding and beneficial to something other than a corporation. And the best way I found to do that is seeking out people/projects that directly align with my life interests. I want to connect with companies that I was a fan of or user of their product, before they became a client. As a photographer and as a person, I care about things like niche pieces ofAmerican culture, fly fishing/adventure, the sport and culture of basketball, travel, etc. So my goal is to find others who share those interests.
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?
As a photographer, working on personal projects has always seemed more important than the commercial work. For the past 3 years I’ve been documenting real working cowboys in the American West. It’s a beautiful part of this country’s history and culture as well as a widely misunderstood profession. Most people have no idea what it takes to put beef on their tables. So I’ll be publishing a few photography books on this subject as well as continuing to show the work in galleries. The project itself has been rewarding on so many levels. I’m proud to call someone of the cowboys/cowgirls friends and sharing the work has led to a number of organic relationships with brands and magazines based on our shared interests.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The most important thing, in my opinion, is to always be growing. As a photographer, person, and businessman/woman because you’ll never get anywhere without constant growth. It’s too competitive of an industry to just coast on autopilot.
Being genuine – in other words, don’t try to use people so you and only you can get ahead. We’re all in this thing together, so do what you do while also trying to lift other people up. Create genuine relationships from mutual interests. Like Seth Godin says – find your tribe.
Focus on things that you truly care about. If you don’t, it shows in the work.
Best advice would be to learn business/marketing. Being a great photographer, unfortunately, is a very small piece of the puzzle. If you’re an extraordinary marketer, you can make a ton of money as shitty photographer, but it doesn’t work the other way around. I’ve always sucked at marketing, so it’s something I’m trying to learn more about every day.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
Exercise, meditate, go fly fishing, snowboarding, focus on breathing, look through photography books , take a road trip.
I think the natural inclination for most people (myself included) when they feel overwhelmed is to just bulldoze your way through it. Maybe that works occasionally, but it’s not sustainable, and that tactic rarely leads to your best work. Slowing down or doing any activity that allows you to get out of your head always seems to work for me. Get away from the problem and return to it with a different outlook. Sometimes even a ten minute break will do the trick.
I wish it would be feasible to throw my phone in the garbage. Scrolling social media never helps anything. It just makes us dumber.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.robhammerphotography.com
- Instagram: @robhammerphoto
