WHAT DRIVES YOU?

INTERVIEW W/ PHOTOGRAPHER MICHAEL CARROLL

He's been featured on Stay Driven before in my top Automotive Photographers series, and he even got a mention in Daniel's 'What Drives You?' feature... Michael Carroll AKA @itsmehmike is one talented, young photographer from Brisbane, Australia.

And if there is one thing I love doing at Stay Driven, it's collaborating with other creatives, and featuring their work. To me, collaborating with others allows you to learn, to improve your own skills, and to stay inspired, and I cannot recommend it enough to others. It is so important to remember that being in the same field does not mean that you are automatically in competition with one another.

DON'T COMPETE, COLLABORATE.

While many of us feel that photography and artistic creation are solitary actions, we should be careful not to isolate ourselves in this vast industry. By collaborating with fellow photographers, the opportunity to grow, both personally and professionally, is limitless. So don't be shy in reaching out to others to see if they want to collab with you. Having other inspiring and creative people around you will bring forth a whole new game. It gives you an excuse to share your ideas while giving you space to bounce ideas around. In addition, collaborating with other artists means your ideas can be elaborated on, taking them to a whole new level you would not have come up with on your own.

Since I wasn't able to collaborate with Michael in person as he lives in Brisbane, I sent him a bunch of my merch and told him to get creative.

When Michael messaged me a Dropbox link to all the content he created from a photoshoot he did with Matty Holme's R34 GTR, I was blown away by his talent and couldn't wait to share his work with you all! I was so impressed and inspired by his aesthetically pleasing work, that I wanted to find out what motivates him, and who he draws inspiration from. So I asked him to be a part of my ' What Drives You?' series...

1 | WHAT Motivates YOU?

"I am motivated by results, challenges and goals. Doing and achieving the desired result is my primary motivation. It gives me a sense of accomplishment and it’s something I can look back on and say “I achieved that”. While I enjoy working on my own projects, I’m particularly motivated in working with others. I find it rewarding to work closely with like-minded people who share the same common goal..."

"Since I started taking photos, I’ve been very fortunate to meet many talented people. Which brings me to my next motivation. Part of that has actually motivated me to start my own community with my partner, Alex. It’s been in the works for a while now, and we’ve only just launched. We called it Errands, and made it into a visuals/family brand evolving around cars, lifestyle and fashion...."

"I’m so glad to have managed to be alongside with a collective of talented content creators. This will be our year. I’ve actually found myself completing a good amount of goals in the past year and I feel like I’ve came a long way since. Often times I think my work is enough at where its at, but am always driven by the fact that there's never enough. In fact, Daniel (love this dudes work!) in the previous interview said this and I’m going to say it again – it’s important to never get too comfortable in a spot for a long time, there will always be something else to be done or improved on...."

2 | WHO INSPIRES YOU?

"There are actually plenty of photographers who inspire me, and there’s only a handful of them that make me work in different ways. Lately I’ve been keeping a close eye towards some photographers that go by the names of Ted Gusche, Daniel Bronshteyn, Jennifer Bin, and Mathew Hughes. And they all stay true to their own unique style..."

"You may have not seen a lot of saturated/bright work in my photos but Ted Gusche, who really executes this style well, has gotten me to experiment to one of my recent shoots. You will notice it as I change my feed soon, if that ever happens lol...."

"Daniel Bronshteyn honestly just shoots the craziest cars I reckon, and his constant flow of content is so good. His shots are really crispy clean with a film style to it too, people like him make me want to shoot some radical Ferraris, bmws and cool builds – I need to up my content game!..."

"Then there's Jennifer Bin, she’s a different shooter. She mainly shoots a lot of create/explore stuff through her city, as well as fashion in a really futuristic style. Hopefully soon I will be able to try some cool, future shooter work!..."

"Mathew Hughes, a very underrated photographer whose work gets out there rarely. His photos really do speak for itself and is the only guy I know in Australia who does real feely work well. Definitely deserves more attention than he knows...."

"One thing I like about the photographers above is that they’re all very distinctive towards their style of editing and ways of shooting. Which really inspires me to shoot more and more. Getting a little off topic here but I even find listening to music to inspire me. It really inspires me to create and produce. Sometimes to help me get through times, like hard times or just to get through the day. Simply put, it really puts me in the mood to produce what I produce of course that depends on the photos and what I listen to. For those wondering, I usually listen to soul, hip-hop/rap, wave, and electronic music..."