Daily Inspiration: Meet Hunter Cohen

Today we’d like to introduce you to Hunter Cohen.

Hi Hunter, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up with both my parents (Lee and Gayle) and my older brother (Drew) in Voorhees, New Jersey. I went to school like everyone else but I knew something was much different about me vs some other kids. I loved to work and make money as a kid because I always saw how hard my parents had worked. I started like every other kid shoveling snow off of my neighbor’s driveways for some extra cash and then I became interested in learning how to DJ at the age of 12 years old. I started as a bedroom DJ but couldn’t figure out how to expand onto bigger and better things. I was in the process of trying to figure out how to start DJing weddings, bar-mitzvahs, etc. and one day I was in the car with my parents driving to CVS and I noticed a huge trailer in front of our car with a logo on it for an entertainment company. We pulled into CVS and the trailer in front of us did as well.

My dad parked the car and asked me to run into the store to get something for my Mom, and when I came back out the entertainment company’s trailer was still sitting in the parking lot. I ran up to my Dad’s driver side door and handed him the CVS bag and then asked him if I could go talk to the person sitting in the trailer. He said I could, so I grabbed my Vistaprint business card and went over to the trailer. I knocked on the window and introduced my 12 years old self and gave him my business card. I told him that if he ever needed help with any events, I would love to come help out one day. He took my card and then proceeded to tell me that he’s actually on his way to an event in a few hours and that it would be okay if I came and helped out for the night. Little did I know this was the start of an entire career for me! Later that night, my Dad dropped me off at the event and then ten more on other days. I ended up DJing a ton of events for him and then at 14 years old he handed me his Sony A7sII camera and asked me if I wanted to try to film a wedding video! I said that I would love to and that’s how I got started in this industry! You see, I always had cameras around me growing up. My Mommom was the avid picture-taker of my family and my parents always wanted to document my brother and I’s lives growing up. I was always interested in how cameras worked and fascinated with taking pictures of nature and everything else in the world.

This led to me getting handed a professional camera at the age of 14 and running with it! I started in the wedding industry and slowly made my way into other areas of photo and video! The same guy that I had met at 12 years old and I decided to start a wedding cinematography company and started shooting professional wedding videos. I filmed wedding videos until about 18 years old and we decided to part ways after six years. I knew this was my chance to take my camera knowledge and use it elsewhere. After making some money, I started to put it towards camera gear to buy my own camera. My parents helped me with about half of the cost of my camera and I reimbursed them after I continued to work. I was still in high school and all along, I knew that school wasn’t for me. I was never the greatest student but I was a hard worker and knew what I wanted to do. I ended up dropping out of my high school at the age of 17 years old. My parents have always wanted the best for me so they agreed that I could leave high school and pursue another way of getting my high school diploma. Shortly after, I ended up attending a program called The Work Group in Pennsauken, NJ. It took me three months at The Work Group to get my high school diploma and then go to college. I attended college at Camden County College as a film major. As I mentioned before, I was never the greatest student.

After three months there, I realized that college is not the path that I wanted to take and decided to take my own path instead. I dropped out of college three months after starting and hit the ground running. I continued to shoot music videos, portraits of people and enjoyed every single second of it. Long story short, I have always wanted to make Los Angeles, California my second home and I have finally done it after seven long years! I was living in Florida at the time and got on the app Clubhouse and asked a stranger if he would be interested in taking the cross country road trip with me and he said yes! I flew Kyle (the stranger) down to Florida from Chicago and we drove across the United States together. Prior to this, I was on the app Clubhouse one day and a wonderful lady named Tia offered her home for me to stay in while I got on my feet out here! I came out, spent a month with Tia and her wonderful family and then recently signed on an apartment in North Hollywood! Here, I will continue to pursue my career in taking photos and being a cinematographer! It has been the longest and bumpiest journey thus far, but I’m thankful to have the support of my family and friends that makes this that much easier!

I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has definitely not been a smooth road. I taught myself everything that I know from YouTube and just gaining the proper experience in the field. One of the biggest struggles I had to overcome was making huge decisions like leaving high school and then college shortly after at such a young age. The other struggle was getting people to take me seriously as a young professional. It has been road full of highs and lows but that’s all part of the growing process!

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a full-time professional photographer and cinematographer! I’ve worked with a lot of really cool people in the music industry and I am mostly known for my portrait work of artists, as well as every day people! I’m the most proud of myself for following my own path in life and not letting fear get in the way of pursuing my dream!

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iamhuntercohen/

Image Credits
Chase Epstein