Today we’d like to introduce you to Rafael Avcioglu.
Rafael, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I got my first smartphone when I was 18. I never had a phone with a “quality camera”. I started taking pictures of things I saw on the streets of Chicago where I grew up. If I was taking out the garbage after working the dish pit and saw the sun setting, I would take a picture, edit it on a phone app, maybe manipulate it or add text over and post it to social media. It enjoyed it and had always been into the arts.
I decided to go to school for Graphic Design and Michigan State University. I did not really know what that meant “graphic design” but it seemed like an art medium that was employable. During my second year, I was required to take photography 101 and it was advised by each student to purchase a camera. I was hooked right away. It was exciting to have a more advanced camera with detachable lenses. I very quickly felt like a pro. The started setting up shoots right away with college students. Some of them complete strangers.
Each project was a new life experience. I realized that people shoot photographs for a living. At first, becoming a better photographer was something I felt would benefit my Graphic Design career. Soon it switched. My graphic design knowledge would play into how I approached photography and a professional photographer is what I wanted to be. I knew pretty early on that this was not a joke. The world does not have time for artists who “kind of” want to be artists. You have to be fully committed.
Photography became my life. I slept, ate, drank, exercised, breathed photography. I never left the art center working day and night for the last two years of school. I took every single photography class Michigan State offered. Worked internships, and set up shoots outside of school all week every week. I took up every opportunity for a road trip to a new place to capture and got obsessed. There was little time for sleep.
After graduation, I moved out to Southern California to an Island called Catalina. I worked there as a zip-line guide and traveled to LA on my days off to the network. I continued to spread my name, set up shoots, work and discover. I spent the better half of 2017 there and a little bit of 2018. At the end of May, I moved out of Boston in search of a new scene for my photography.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
No. Not at all. Anyone that has truly had to put the hours in should know the answer to that question is “no.” There has never been a more difficult time to be a photographer. It is not uncommon in the beginning to work for free and a lot of the work you do in the beginning will be work for free.
Gear, transportation, social media updates, networking, meetups. You have to be skilled at your craft, extremely good at marketing and business, a web expert, social media, blogger, a self-made entrepreneur, and unfailingly professional all while facing continual critique and rejection.
My opinion? Your mind is your strongest tool and if I have learned anything from the 5 days no sleep benders and the late nights of whisky and photoshop its that you need to take care of yourself. I have spent a long time cutting out things from my life, and practicing good habits like meditation, yoga, diet exercise, proper sleep schedule, in order to handle a life that I want to be my life.
Everyone expects you to fail, and when you don’t everyone says they knew you would succeed all along. I have struggled with patients, going from extrovert to introvert at times, isolation, addiction, ADHD, and basically being able to handle and juggle it all. I have had to take steps back to take steps forward and have learned quite a bit this past year about myself.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Rafael Avcioglu Photography – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Well, I started freelancing seriously about a year ago. I work alone for now, and I am known for my portraiture. I am able to shoot on a low budget but achieve looks that would normally be on a high budget set. I am able to improvise.
My communication with strangers has always been my strong suit. I pride myself on my ability to make the subject feel extremely comfortable and many tend to open up to me about there lives and there struggles which I find fascinating. If the studio walls could talk. I am proud that I am able to deliver something different in a world filled with so much of the same thing.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I plan for the future involve mass expansion. I want to physically travel to spread my name. I am an independent photographer who is currently not represented by any agency. I want to travel via van across North America, shooting and networking as much as possible.
From there I have plans to possibly head to Asia and see what opportunities are there. The best thing about this business is the freedom.
Pricing:
- 100- Headshots or personal portraits
- 200- Couples photography
- 500- base package weddings
Contact Info:
- Website: www.rafaelavciogluphotography.com
- Email: rafaelavcioglu@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rafael.avcioglu/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rafael.avcioglu/?ref=bookmarks
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/rafaelavcioglu
Image Credit:
Grace Jolicoeur, Dylan Milkins, Samantha Tringali, Alyssa Dearest, Mary Love, Zoe Krueger
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