Meet Patrick Bryant

Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Bryant.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Patrick. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
My love of photography started in 2014 when my friend Matt stopped to crash on my couch. I was a Junior at the University of Oregon, and adventuring with friends every weekend. He was doing the same in Canada but was documenting them with his old 35mm camera.

I was obsessed, and got an old Canon A-1 shortly thereafter. The uptake was slow, but my passion was relentless, just four months later I found myself in Spain on study abroad. This was where my love of travel and photography began to coincide into one. I was shooting every day all day, and it just felt like my truest form of self.

A few months later my photo of a quintessential European Sunday won first prize in an international study abroad competition. Fast forward to now and I’ve been a photography intern at Saturday Night Live, worked in the freelance market, and traveled to more places than I ever thought possible.

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?
It’s hard for me to categorize my career as a struggle, I wake up every morning to pursue the one passion I care about most. I liken it to the Jim Croce song Time in a Bottle where he says, “there never seems to be enough time, to do the things you want to do, once you find them.”

Most importantly, I have an incredible family, group of friends and girlfriend. When I take a step back and look at it that way who really cares if my photos are crap to someone else, or if I’m broken down on a motorcycle in the middle of nowhere Vietnam.

As a creative, I’m of the mindset that most of the setbacks or difficulties in a career are self-imposed, but those left out of the realm of control can often lead to instrumental learning for future preparation. I’ve become accustomed to rolling with the punches, it’s the only way when traveling.

We’d love to hear more about what you do.
Simply put, I go a lot of places, and if something compels me, beautiful or heinous, I want to capture it. My travel portfolio is what I’m most proud of. It’s the greatest culmination of my idea about photography.

Additionally, behind the scenes, there’s a lot of family, real estate, drone, product, and local photography.

Any predictions for the industry over the next few years?
In the world we live in, sometimes the most important part of a photo is the personality behind it. It seems antagonistic to the entirety of photography, but with Instagram and social media people don’t just want the photo, they want to feel a part of the experience.

It’s like when chefs became famous and the face of a kitchen 10-15 years ago… well look at the restaurant industry now. It has already started, but I see a growth in vlogs and podcasts in which photographers take people along for the experience of their shoots with video and commentary.

Of course, cell phone photography is just going to continue to grow and grow. It’s the most important part of the industry right now because everyone that reads this interview has one within arms reach, or in their hand. I love it personally, why should each person with an interest in photography have to buy some camera for hundreds of dollars, if not thousands.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.patricktbryant.com/
• Email: p.t.bryant@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickthomasbryant/?hl=en

Getting in touch: VoyagePhoenix is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.