Hand the Keys Over & Trust Luca Venter’s Photographic Instincts
WORKING NOT WORKING
WNW Member Luca Venter is a South African photographer and director currently based in New York. We love his aesthetic and approach, on display with companies like Nike, Google, The New York Times, GAP, and Billie, and musical acts like Tennis, Liam Benzvi, and MF Doom. Whether he’s toying with unexpected framing, bold shadows and contrasts, or soft-focused closeups, it’s clear he’s got a full arsenal of skills and the confidence to use them when it counts. Luca points to his upbringing when discussing his photographic instincts and resulting creative career. “I honestly just don’t know what else I could even be doing. Coming from a working-creative family, it’s just an intrinsic part of my existence; I’m really grateful to have been given the freedom and encouragement to create from a young age.”
Luca also sees his move to New York as a major turning point in his career. But no matter how far from home he is, Luca relishes the collaborations where he gets to explore an existing familiarity or establish a new one. “I’m most proud of the times I get to work closely with my friends, creating together and supporting each other’s ideas. My ongoing projects with the band Tennis have been some of the most rewarding because of the trust that exists between us.” More recently, working with friend and WNW Member Noemie Le Coz on the first two Billie campaigns in 2018 was an exciting anchor while tackling a a project built on firsts.
What’s next for Luca? More photography? More moving image? “Anything where there is a true sense of trust and value.” As he goes on to explain, “Without [trust], it doesn’t really feel possible to do your best in that moment. It’s a really rare thing to find.” Beyond trust, we asked Luca to share advice on developing professional connections and in the process a formidable portfolio and client list. He suggests keeping it simple. “Treat people with respect. I’ve continually seen people being treated poorly and it seems like such a waste of everyone’s time to not be cordial at the very least. Having a viable creative career can be a lot of hard work but it feel likes a huge privilege to be able to do this and what’s the point if you’re not positively affecting the people around you and uplifting others in what they’re trying to do?” We thank Luca for chatting with us and consistently uplifting us with beautiful work. Scroll down to see some of our favorite projects.
