Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Tate.
Hi Robert, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Well, it all started because I had always been into clothing. Back in the day, when blogging was on the newer side before Instagram was a big thing, you needed an actual blog to gain traction. I realized there weren’t too many blogs for men about clothes, especially based on the West Coast. So, always in pursuit of another project to dive into, and knowing it would probably score me some free clothes, I decided to launch mine.
For months I wrote about my favorite clothing brands, trends, products, etc. I would take images from other blogs or screenshot them off of the brands’ sites for imagery but after a while, me being the perfectionist I am, this wasn’t good enough. So I picked up a camera and decided to take my own photos. I would cover trends I saw or new pieces I obtained and shoot them on my friends. This introduced me to the world of photography that would take over my life.
Eventually, I fell in love with the art, and expanded to covering music and lifestyle on my blog, began to photograph concerts, photographed some of my favorite musicians on stage, began to photograph for brands for their content and eventually just focused on photography and stopped blogging all together.
Eventually, I caught a small streetwear brand and I was offered my first job in the menswear industry doing photography, merchandising and sales which led me to my next job purely as a fashion photographer for a rather notable company that I shopped at on a regular basis and the rest is history.
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?
Thats a tough question. I believe if you look at it as a means to an end you will always look at it as tough. But considering I love what I do, no matter the bumps in the road I still have the art that I love. Which I continued to do with the faith that it would lead me to where I needed to be. It led me to some of the best times of my life and some of the lowest, wondering if I should just give up,
I think I face the same challenges any other artists face; am I good enough, should I be doing this should I be doing that, should I switch my style, being uninspired, seeing people do bigger things than you, etc. But then realizing it was all I had so just keep doing what inspires me and stay true to my own and all the pieces will fall into place. It’s a marathon not a sprint.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Basically, I’m a photographer. I have shot everything from weddings to music, to portraits, to fashion to food. I have done it all, and I’ve taken it all as equally serious and any other. But if you ask me my specialty I would say fashion and portraiture. This is where I thrive and really get in my zone – and also what the strong majority of my work is.
It’s hard to say what sets me apart but I will say I don’t subscribe to fads when it comes to the art, and hopefully that will be what sets me apart in the years to come, the pop culture photographers will come and go and I will remain with classic work thats here to stay.
What are your plans for the future?
I just take things as they go, but some projects I would love to take on include opening a larger collaborative studio more central to Los Angeles, dropping a book one day and more unrelated, maybe pursuing my affinity for clothing in some manner.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@tate-photography.com
- Website: www.roberttatemedia.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tate.foto/
