Daily Inspiration: Meet Nathan Gurvitch

Today we’d like to introduce you to Nathan Gurvitch.

Hi Nathan, 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?
The captured moment has been a fascination of mine since childhood. Every visit to a relative included me sitting with their family photo album or staring at the framed moments on the walls or staircases. I loved studying the faces, the smiles, the grimaces, the blank stares. Thinking of what must have led up to and followed the moment captured. And I’ve always had a camera in hand. Trying to capture moments to last forever. Perhaps I’ve always been a sentimentalist.

Professionally, I began in Mar Vista as an art documentation specialist, photographing paintings and sculptures for art school friends. They needed shots of their works to submit to galleries, competition entries, and their websites and I needed the money. It was a good setup. Since art stands still, this naturally led to me exploring product photography which is where I learned most of my lighting skills. I would also regularly assist a fashion photographer in LA to experience a different side of the craft.

Then I moved home for several years to Brooklyn. There I managed to grab up a good book of product photography clients which was fun and challenging and proved lucrative. Long story short I moved back out to LA with my wife to begin a family and the product photography scene wasn’t quite the same. Then the pandemic hit and lockdowns had me rethinking everything, all while making ridiculous amounts of sourdough boules. I realized what I would want when lockdowns ended was to engage with people in front of the camera instead of inanimate objects. I wanted what we all missed. Connection. And I wanted that connection to be personal and intimate. The portrait of a growing family that will be cherished for generations. A celebratory body portrait for someone who overcame and got into the best shape of their life. Someone’s portfolio or professional headshot to break into a new career. All of these sessions gave me a sense of pride and purpose.

That is what motivates my work today. To create a stunning portrait for an individual or a family empowers them in the moment and in the future where they will look to their past for meaning, nostalgia, and a sense of a life well lived. To help them chase a dream and a purpose. We are the protagonists of our life adventure, and I see my portrait work as your narrator in the chapter of life you share with me and my camera.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I don’t really feel there’s anything in my way. I only see green lights and opportunities for growth.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I create portraits that empower individuals and honor their personal dedications. You will see a variety of ballerinas, fighters, bodybuilders, yogis, expecting mothers, and more in my work. The more we as a species are learning about the mind/body relationship, the more profound we find that connection. When a bodybuilder hits the peak of a pose and all of his muscles are contracting in the way only years of practice and inner work can elicit, it is as if his entire soul is shining through the figure he is striking. All of his challenges overcome, all of the repeated effort, the learned discipline, the sacrifice, it’s all written on his musculature. When a pregnant mother poses with her future literally growing within, it is as if all the hopes and dreams of herself and her ancestors are filling my camera frame.

And though on my site, I separate the empowerment portraiture from heirloom photography, in my heart, the family portraits are the same. Because a family portrait is a continuum of the mind-body connection — but multiplied by new bodies to honor and commemorate. The discipline of creating, nurturing, and raising a human life is as demanding of sacrifice, effort and passion as any physical discipline. And like a martial artist whose form gets cleaner and more personal through repetition, it is beautiful to mark a family’s progress and growth through time.

We are the heroes of our own epic adventure. Portraits mark the chapters of our stories. They record who we are for those who will one day wonder who we were.

What does success mean to you?
Success is pretty simple and usually, only I get to witness it. It is an email or a text back from clients gushing over the proofs the first time they view them. These images are meant to hold meaning for the client long after my time. The client is my audience. The work is performed for them. Their typed ‘applause’ feels like a standing ovation and I save each one.

Pricing:

• Empowerment Portraits from $750
• Heirloom Photography from $525
• Business Headshots start at $500

Contact Info:

• Website: gurvitchimages.com
• Instagram: @gurvitchimages

Image Credits
Lauren Kupis, Mareo Mukes, Laetitia Bouffard-Roupe, Becca Buccalew, Liv Chapman, (others prefer not to be credited)