Today we’d like to introduce you to Erick Dent.
Hi Erick, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised on the water in Florida where I started taking pictures for fun around the age of 14. I’d take an old canon camera my dad had to school and just take pics around during and after school hanging with friends. I wasn’t good but I enjoyed it, and when you do something for long enough you start to get better at it. Wanting to achieve certain looks or effects required a deeper knowledge of photography so I just started YouTubing how to videos.
Fast forward a few years to my freshman year at a local college, still taking pictures, I was failing all of my classes. I never did well in school. All while I was getting job offers to shoot here and there but I had to turn them down because of my schooling. Eventually I convinced my parents that I had another opportunity outside of these failed college classes I was taking.
About 9 months after that I was a photo intern at a brand called Kiel James Patrick. A couple of years later I was hired as a full time photographer and content creator or Vineyard Vines up in Connecticut where I lived and worked for about 6 years. December 2023 I decided to end my time at VV to branch out creatively and forward my career on my own. I wanted to move back down south but all the ay back to my sleepy hometown in FL so I decided that CHS was a good middle ground where I can still grow professionally but get back to a similar vibe to where I grew up.
Now I am a full time freelance photographer here in Mt. Pleasant!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
yes and no
I realize I have it easier than most being a white male in the US but as an uneducated and underfunded creative, of course I’ve met many struggles throughout the 15 years shooting.
Moving away from family and finding a way without real guidance. Making a lot of mistakes before understanding what they were and why they happened. Deals, Contracts, Taxes, over promising, underdelivering, losing files, breaking equipment. Nobody to tell me what to avoid and how to avoid them has been a huge struggle just because each wrong turn feels like it’s magnified when you don’t know how or where you went wrong. Trial and error.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’m a professional photographer specializing in active outdoor lifestyle.
I think I’m known for my fishing type of photography. Underwater and tiny in between moments that sort of fly by in the moment but live forever once I get a lens on them.
I am most proud of sticking to a specific creative lane and making a career out of it.
I believe I’m different because I approach these otherwise grungy, dirty, crusty outdoor pursuits and photograph them with a young, clean, relaxed feel that is somehow still respectable and aspirational.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I am self taught. I have never taken a class or got a degree in photography.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://erickdent.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/erickdent/?hl=en
