Interview: Todd Anthony Tyler

We had the amazing opportunity to interview one of today´s leading fashion photographers, Todd Anthony Tyler. He started out his career in the fashion industry as a model and after a decade he made the transition from model to fashion photographer. He has over 20 years of experience working both in front and behind the camera. His work has been featured in the Vogue Italia, Vogue China, Harper’s Bazaar China, Elle China and GQ.

Todd also starred in Asia’s Next Top Model, cycle 1 as a judge and resident photographer. Todd, who was born and raised in Canada, has since the last decade operated from his successful studio in Shanghai, China. He is well known for his artistic way of pushing boundaries and for his creative way of telling stories through photography. Here he gives us an insight into his career and he also shares with us one of his most valuable advice to people who wish to pursue a career in fashion.

You started out your career in the fashion industry as a model and then you switched over to become a fashion photographer. You have travelled the world and you are now based in Shanghai, China. How was it that you chose to stay in Asia?

I think part of the choice came from when I first started to explore photography as a full time career. I was shooting more so documentary, travel, reportage, life style kind of photos. I was more interested in this type of photography initially as it was more similar to what I photographed as amateur and also was more in line with my studies in Biology and Anthropology. I found Asia to be an endless supply of photographic subject matter with different cultures and environments all in relatively close proximity to each other. When I found from a business perspective that it would perhaps be a better approach to be doing fashion and advertisement photography I naturally began testing and shooting where I was at the time which was in Asia. I explored the Asian market for a period of time on where I would want to base as a fashion photographer and what market may best align with my own personal aesthetic and style as a photographer. I was finding in general my vision was more raw and edgy then what most of the Asian market appealed to at the time and was making the move to New York when I was invited by a friend to come up to Shanghai and check out the market as they had just opened one of the first model agencies in China. My time spent in Shanghai made me feel like Shanghai was a place of the future and that I could really apply all of the wild west type energy to my work. Shanghai remains exciting, but in those early years the feel of opportunity and positive energy flow towards the future was tangible. So I made the choice to base in Asia out of Shanghai and over all that was a good career move for me. For a western perspective there are a lot of challenges for sure producing the core of your work in Asia but I have found my way and my clients.

Photography has always been a lifelong interest for you but what was the turning point that made you decide to become a fashion photographer?

I guess I touched on this a bit already but for sure one of the main catalysts was looking at my photography business, looking where demand for imagery was, looking at where my personal strengths were. Having knowledge of the business from my models days was somewhat beneficial – I really wish now I would have paid much more attention on set! Ha ha – for sure having 10 years of standing on the other side of the camera brings a lot to my work. Initially though it is really hard to get the industry to take you seriously as a photographer – the standard thinking is that there is no way you can look like a model and also take good photos – it is like pick one buddy ! But on turning to fashion photography I quickly fell in love with the creative process and the story telling you can do – there is a touch of fantasy to fashion and as much as I enjoyed taking documentary style images the artist/creative in me dove into fashion photography head first and has never looked back

Coming from Ontario in Canada, I assume you must have experienced a lot of cultural differences living and working in Asia, what has been the greatest challenge and how have you as a person and fashion photographer developed and learned from these experiences?

By this point I pretty much experience reverse culture shock when I go back to my home in Canada ha ha – I am so use to Asian culture and Asian faces that when I am outside of that I now miss it. I think the greatest challenge – in particular with China, is the aesthetic sense – basically what people in general deem as looking good. Of course there is a very subjective nature to my work, but adjusting your work for the Asian audience took me some time to wrap my mind around. I now have in my portfolio of work images that sustain the business – the supply and demand part of any business and then images that I would say are more so who I am as a creative/photographer/artist person. Each Asian culture also has varying processes or mannerisms and this is something I am very keenly aware of working throughout Asia for all these years now. I suppose one of the greatest challenges also is in communication. Every language has different ways to explain ideas, different ways to try and convey to another person the vision you see in your mind and how you are going to translate that to an image. I have learned to take a good length of time to clearly communicate with clients or those that you are working with by using more than just one word to explain and by providing quite detailed briefs – even if myself personally likes to work a little more organically and spontaneously.

You also starred in the hit reality television show Asia’s Next Top Model as a judge and resident photographer in cycle 1, can you share with us your most memorable and funniest moments from the show?

Yes! That was a very interesting experience. Previous to Asia’s NTM I had TV experience in doing TV commercials but nothing to the level of 8 weeks of shooting and an entire TV series like that. I learned a lot! A lot of valuable information and process that have allowed me expand my platform. The whole experience has made me come back to thoughts of pursing more TV more and acting – there was always a part of me that wanted to act but at the same time didn’t want to starve to death in LA ha ha. I think for sure a memorable moment was working with Tyra Banks. Whatever way you want to look at it she is an icon on reality TV and for sure the global figure head for the whole Top Model franchise. I had good conversations with her in the green room about the show and exchanging thoughts on how to integrate TV entertainment with the actual fashion industry. Funniest moments always happened behind the scenes! The direction of the show had us more so taking stoic roles as a judge – my role in particular was a little more direct and not super smiley or anything which is somewhat the antithesis of who I really am as I like to joke around all the time.

What does fashion mean to you?

Fashion to me is no doubt all about personal expression and creativity. The entire idea of first impression comes down to fashion and style. How we dress or choose to dress says a lot about us as individuals and/or hides a lot about ourselves. People in general might not think about it but fashion is an integral part of our every day whether we are just throwing on a pair of old jeans and a favorite t-shirt or selecting what we are going to wear for an important life moment. It doesn’t take much to think about how people have responded or interacted with us entirely based on what we were wearing. Your fashion sense and style sends strong signals to others. Furthermore, I think fashion is something that can be used as a positive not only as an industry in providing jobs, in seeking out sustainable ways to produce garments, but just simply in making people feel good. When you feel good about how you look on the outside it has a powerful effect on how you feel on the inside which translates entirely into how you travel on your life journey. Fashion and style defines us, defines eras, and defines even chapters in an individual’s life.

Every photographer has a certain unique approach and personal style in his way of photographing. What would you say yours is?

I think some key factors in my work are that I tend to prefer to not have all of the humanity photoshopped out of an image – though this is becoming increasingly difficult to truly do as now we have a whole generation with a skewed idea of reality since they have grown up on photoshopped images. I strive to have a vibration to my work, either through movement and expression or simply aiming to capture the moment that is not entirely static. I also like to explore in my work a lot – sometimes with varying success but I really don’t have the mind to do the same thing over and over again with lighting and style – I like to create different images, take risks and have a body of work that represents the eclectic nature of who I am. I think no matter what pressures put on you by clients or society the essence of your work stills reflects who you are and how you see the world. Also I think with the fast turnaround time with imagery now and the overall shelf life of relevancy in images being judge in hours if not minutes due to internet access and social medias, I think a sustainable career is found in invention as opposed to replication.

Ultimately if you could give one piece of advice to people who wish to pursue a career in the fashion world what would that be?

One piece of advice would be to realize from the beginning that to succeed requires initially unrestrained passion that is tempered with a strong work ethic. Contrary to some views of the industry it is not all espresso’s and magazine page flipping. It is not even a 9 to 5 thing – it is an all-encompassing way of life that becomes reflected in essentially your every action.