Meet Koury Angelo

Today we’d like to introduce you to Koury Angelo.

Koury, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I have always loved art and music. I spent hours as a kid drawing in my room and passed the time in grade school by sketching in class. As I got older, I dreamt of being a painter like Picasso or Dali. Photography was very intimidating and seemed so technical with all of the numbers and settings you had to know. I never really gave it much thought until I got to college.

My first camera was a 35mm film camera. Back in those days, we didn’t have iPhones and digital cameras weren’t readily available. I needed something I could take photos with after my freshman year when I left to study abroad in Alicante, Spain. I took about 20 rolls of film that summer. When I returned to the States, I was so excited to get my prints back and see all the photos I took. Some were decent, but many of them were blurry, underexposed and technically pretty bad. I thought putting the camera on auto mode was supposed to do all the work for me. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and it was frustrating – exactly the reason I didn’t want to do photography in the first place. But the seed had been planted and I became determined to learn everything I could about photography so that I could use the camera as a tool to take photos of the way my eye saw things.

I got my first real hands-on training as a staff photographer at The Daily Texan college newspaper during my sophomore year at the University of Texas in Austin. After learning the basics, I focused more on photography as an art form. I soon began basing my painting assignments on my photographs. I realized that instead of spending hours painting the photographs I was taking, I could concentrate on honing my skills as a photographer. I loved that photography was so immediate, and from that point, I brought a camera with me wherever I went.

I’ve always loved music and a lot of my friends were musicians. I would shoot their shows on 6th street, hang out backstage and then head to the after parties. My camera became my all-access pass. It gave me a sense of purpose and opened up doors for me in ways that other forms of studio art could not. In hindsight, it seems natural for me to be still doing this, except now it’s on a bigger and a more public platform.

After I graduated, I moved to Paris, France for a year to study photography. My dad gave me his prized Hasselblad 500cm camera that I had wanted for so long during college. His love for photography, combined with my mom having a throw-away camera glued to her hand my whole childhood, played a major role in me becoming a photographer. Being in Paris was amazing and very influential in my artistic growth. I received my post graduate degree from Speos Photography Institute in Paris, France – but not speaking French fluently and running out of student loan money decided to move to NYC a no brainer.

Soon after the move, I landed my first job in the photo industry working at Milk Studios. I remember seeing all of my favorite photographers shooting at the studio. I was working alongside the best creatives and most well known people in the world. Every day was a new surprise. There were celebrities, designers, models, musicians, runway shows, after-parties the list goes on. It was inspiring to be around AND my hopes and dreams of “Making It Big” as a young photographer in NYC seemed like it was just one business card away from happening. I was naive. I thought it was easy to quickly become an overnight success in the art and photography world – but life isn’t always as easy as it seems. My life in NYC wasn’t exactly as glamorous as it appeared on my Blogger and Myspace profiles ;). There was a lot of “grunt” work, bleary-eyed early mornings and late nights, and unpaid gigs.

Eventually, after struggling to get on my feet, hard work and perseverance paid off and helped move me up the ranks. I went from scrubbing bathroom floors to doing Starbucks runs, to making my living as a photo assistant for ten years to finally becoming an award-winning Rock & Roll and celebrity portrait photographer in Los Angeles, California.

Currently, I am working primarily in the music and entertainment world. My work has been featured on the covers of Billboard, People, The Hollywood Reporter and more. Some of my other clients include Apple, Rolling Stone, Red Bull, Netflix and Hilton to name a few. I feel blessed to be making a living as a full-time professional photographer. When I am not traveling or on a shoot, you can probably find me hanging with my wife and our three amazing kids.

Has it been a smooth road?
There were many failures and low points at the beginning of my career. When my wife and I moved from Paris to NYC, we couldn’t afford to live in the city. We moved into my aunt and uncle’s house in Long Island the first few months so we could save up money for an apartment. It was a huge blessing, but I remember the commute was brutal. I was working night shifts, pulling all nighters, cleaning dirty photo studios and sleeping in basements, couches and on trains. There were times I would be hungry on my walk to work and not even have enough money in my pocket to buy a street dog or a bagel. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I am not sure that I was mentally prepared for the level of exhaustion I felt at the end of some of those days. Even though there are millions of people jam packed into this tiny city, it can be very lonely at times. Looking back on my time living in NYC, I now realize, all the struggles and challenges helped make me stronger and more prepared me for my next chapter of life as a photographer in Los Angeles.

Working in NYC as a photographer helped me get gigs when I arrived in LA. Many photographers I knew were bi-coastal, so I was able to pick up assisting jobs fairly quickly. I was always shooting my own personal projects, but the majority of my income came from being a photo assistant. That was my bread and butter for so long – almost ten years! Assisting helped me learn so many things about being a professional photographer. You have to be organized, technical and proficient with lighting and cameras because you are working with a big team of creatives and talent that are depending on your expertise. The big challenge for me was transitioning from being an in demand first assistant to becoming a full-time photographer. I eventually landed a few big music clients and was booked out shooting jobs for over a month. I remember being nervous about turning down all my assisting gigs, but took a leap of faith and made the jump. Looking back, I am thankful for my time as a photo assistant and all the challenges and obstacles that I had to overcome. It made me stronger and I feel blessed to be doing what I love now. Work hard. Stay Humble. Shoot what you love!

Please tell us about your work.
My wife and I incorporated and started our business over five years ago. Koury Angelo Photography, Inc is one of the top image makers in the music and entertainment world. We specialize in high-end professional photography and video for many of the industry’s biggest brands and publications. With over 15 years of experience, we have built strong relationships working with many of the industries most high profile clients and agencies. We strive for excellence, value integrity, hard work and humility. What sets us apart is that we love what we do and truly care about the people we work and collaborate with. We go the extra mile to deliver the highest quality assets for our customers in an efficient manner. We understand the importance of deadlines and quick turnarounds are what we do best. We know what it takes to produce a full scale, week long advertising shoot and we also know how to get an incredible celebrity portrait shot in less than 2 minutes. Whatever curve balls may come our way, we are prepared to adapt and still perform at the highest level.

Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the quality of life in LA. You can’t beat the beautiful nature that surrounds us. We have beaches, mountains, sunshine and warm weather all within minutes. I love the community of creatives here in LA. There are so many opportunities for artists here. The music and art scenes are amazing. I honestly don’t even mind the traffic. I enjoy driving and listening to music and podcasts. I guess the hardest part about living in LA is that I am so far from my family and friends that don’t live here. Fortunately, I get to travel a lot for work and also make sure to visit my parents in Texas as often as possible.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.kouryangelo.com
• Email: koury@kouryangelo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kouryangelo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KouryAngeloPhotography

Image Credit:
Brandon Dowling (My Personal Photo)
Koury Angelo (All the other 8 portfolio images)

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