Today we’d like to introduce you to Zach Cordner.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
I got an early start in photography while in high school. Growing up as a skateboarder, I was obsessed with magazines like Thrasher and TransWorld Skateboarding. I loved looking at the photos and seeing how skaters saw their world differently. It was enough motivation to pick up a 35mm camera and start documenting my teenage world of skateboarding and hardcore/punk music. As my skills progressed, I started shooting photos of skaters and bands for magazines, skate companies and record labels.
After high school, I attended Cal State Long Beach where I was a Photojournalism major. While going to Long Beach, I freelanced for local newspapers including the Riverside Press Enterprise, Long Beach Press Telegram, San Bernardino Sun, Los Angeles Times community editions and the Associated Press. As a photojournalist, I would shoot everything from protests to floods, fires, accidents, sports, live music and portraits. I think having to shoot so many different subjects under tight deadlines made me the photographer I am today.
The turning point in my young career came after my second year in college. I was accepted to be Vice President Al Gore’s intern photographer at the White House but then two days later, I was also offered a photo editor position at TransWorld media. It was a tough decision but I decided to move to Oceanside to work at TransWorld since it had been my life-long dream to work there. I initially worked at Warp, a skateboarding, surfing, snowboarding, and music magazine that eventually changed into Stance Magazine, a lifestyle mag for skaters and streetwear culture. During my time at Stance, I started specializing in fashion, portraits and lifestyle photography.
After building a sizeable portfolio of musicians, models, actors and athletes, I left TransWorld to shoot for national and international publications. My first freelance assignment was from Rolling Stone magazine. From then, I went on to shoot for clients like MTV Networks, Vans, Playboy, Simon & Schuster, McDonalds and Capitol Records, just to name a few.
With my experience working on magazines, I decided to help start up a local magazine for the city of Oceanside called The Osider in 2014. Along with other former TransWorld staff, we also started up Encinitas Magazine. Now I handle the photography for both magazines and it keeps me connected to my North County community.
While balancing duties for The Osider and Encinitas Magazines, I also shoot advertising campaigns locally for Harrah’s Resort Southern California. Its been a lot of fun working the last few years on their “Funner” campaign with actors David Hasselhoff and Rob Riggle. You can see my billboards all around So Cal.
As a community stakeholder, I also like to give back to my city of Oceanside. Since 2014 I’ve been teaching an after school photography program at Oceanside High called “Pirate Pics.” I’ve been able to mentor and inspire local youth to go out and document their community. I think it’s one of the most rewarding things I’ve done with my photography.
Has it been a smooth road?
As any full-time photographer will tell you, it’s always a bumpy road, no matter how big you are. There are times when you have more work and assignments than you can handle, then you go through dry spells where the work is few and far between. It’s the life of a freelancer, so you either adapt to the market or find another profession. For me, being able to do my photography and run local magazines has helped my career stabilize so the road has less twists and turns now.
Alright – so let’s talk business. What else should we know about you and your career so far?
I’m mostly known for photographing people – mainly musicians, celebrities and athletes. For the last 15 years, that’s been the main focus. One of my proudest pieces of work, and most recognizable would be the cover I shot for Chelsea Handler’s best selling book “Are You There Vodka, It’s Me, Chelsea”. I’ve also shot iconic images of many famous people over the years including Daft Punk, Elvis Costello and Travis Barker. I think my style of shooting portraits sets me apart from others with my lighting, composition and the ability to make the subject comfortable to interact with me.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
The photography industry has already gone through some dramatic changes in the last few years with the advancement of social media, cell phones and digital cameras. It’s made our industry more accessible and inclusive by opening the door to new photographers, which I think is good. With that though, comes changes. Now there are way more “pro” photographers that have flooded the industry, thus becoming more competitive to get work- especially for young photographers. So building your connections with clients is imperative to have any longevity in this business.
Contact Info:
- Website: zachcordner.com
- Instagram: @zachcordner
- Other: @theosidermag
Image Credit:
All images ©Zach Cordner 2020
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