Already on the fast track to success, Sam Travis is in his third year of studying fashion photography at London College of Fashion and making his presence known, with 5,000+ Instagram followers and a website full of his urban, edgy portrait work.
On top of this, he has photographed for the likes of urban wear brand Dope Chef and iconic female rapper Eve. Artefact sat down with Travis for a rapid-fire round of questions:
How long have you been interested in photography?
I got my first camera about five years ago, but started to take my interest in photography more seriously when I started university in 2012.
What’s your most notable work to date?
I photographed Vic Mensa last year; he’s a rapper from Chicago. That was pretty cool for me as I was actually a fan of his music before the shoot.
How would you describe your photography style?
Urban I guess, my style seems to go through phases but there’s always a youthful/urban undertone to my work.
How do you pick your subjects?
I’m not sure really what my thought process is when I’m selecting my subjects, it’s quite natural really.
What kind of tools do you use for post processing? Explain your work flow.
I upload the images to Adobe Lightroom, which is where 95% of the post processing is done. If I need to do any intricate editing I’ll move it over to Photoshop. I don’t really edit much to be honest!
What has been your biggest learning curve so far in photography?
That it doesn’t really matter how good you are at taking photos, if you know the right people you will move forward much quicker.
How useful is social media to your business?
Extremely, I use Instagram daily and I find a lot of my subjects and work through there too.
Who, or what, inspires you?
Is it cheesy to say myself? But I follow a lot of photographers on social media, and buy a lot of fashion magazines just to see the imagery. I guess it’s hard to pin point my inspiration but it’s all around me in London.
Will you be collaborating with anyone, or working on anything with London Fashion Week?
Well I’m in my final year at uni so I’m pretty tied up with that, but I’ll be there street snapping for a couple of websites. I prefer to go without a brief and just socialise. If I’m there to ‘work’ it’s not as fun.
What are your hopes for your photography career after you graduate?
To go worldwide.
Instagram: samxtrav
Website: www.samtravis.co.uk
Photography by: Sam Travis