Meet Can Ahtam: Professional Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Can Ahtam and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Can, what was your thought process behind starting your own business?
When I was studying to earn my Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration (Marketing and Management dual focuses) in Istanbul, Turkey, I wanted to understand and learn marketing from various disciplines and perspectives that fed into the concept of marketing. I took courses in psychology to understand human behavior decision making process and took courses in sociology to understand collective human thought process and behavior, and took photography as a visual communications tool. Taking photography classes was an easy decision as I was doing photography as a hobby during my day-to-day routine and travels but wanted to get a deeper understanding for a professional experience and practice. Throughout my internships, I’ve noticed that it is crucial to communicate brand briefs to photographers and videographers and felt like it would be of strategic advantage if i knew that side of the business for efficiency. Once I got to Boston, Massachusetts, to earn my MBA in a Marketing concentration my approach the photography grew deeper as I began taking photos professionally for brands and began selling a few pieces of my work. It was around then, when I got introduced to Instagram and I became a “Suggested User” by Instagram multiple times and began receiving features and social media related projects. As the demand increased, I decided to devote a part of my life to focusing on content creation for social media/web/print platforms for brands. The business truly found its place in Los Angeles, CA, once I made the move here about 3-4 years ago. In comparison to my life in Boston, my life in Los Angeles introduced me to more creative individuals and an industry that demanded more of this creative practice of photography with headshots, fashion/editorial, and social content. This gradual increase helped me better position my brand and plan a strategic outreach to local and global brands as well as creatives. The most interesting thing, however, in this process is that I never thought I would be making money from photography directly and that I would become an actual professional photographer. The deep dive to photography began as an add on tool to my skills in marketing, not to become a professional photographer. Life guides you for sure! 

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My photography is easy to digest. Nothing in this world should be complicated and looking at my photos should not exhaust people, instead it should give joy and pleasure to them. Whether it is a portrait or a landscape, my photos depict simplicity. What you see is what you get! It took me a long amount of time to get to where I am today and it wasn’t because I had the most expensive camera gear which most people think how you get successful in photography. Wrong! It actually takes discipline, networking, and practice as well as allowing yourself the time to grow with an actionable plan. That time will allow you to build a strong portfolio and network of individuals and brands to expand upon. I am still learning new things on a daily basis as technology develops, interests change, and most importantly people change. You have to be open minded to grow and not let anyone discourage you to take the next step. If you don’t, you will always say “What if?” or “I wish”. You have so many tools to learn from and practice these days so there are far better and more opportunities than before. Take advantage of this and recognize your time when it comes.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If my friend were to visit Los Angeles, California, for 7 days: Day 1: I would be around my local neighborhood and show around Santa Monica first. Hitting up the iconic Santa Monica Pier and enjoying the Pacific Ocean there would be our first item on the agenda followed by going to the Third Street Promenade for lunch. For an afternoon and sunset time, I would take my friend over to Venice Beach via bike ride and enjoy the skate park, the beach, and the street performers along the strip. Day 2: I would take my friend over to Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, for brunch and shopping. Afterwards, we would go to Culver City and go around some art related shops and go to Kenneth Hahn State Park for sunset as we would appreciate the view of DTLA and other parts of the city. Day 3: The third day would be devoted to the South Bay area, starting with Manhattan Beach. From the iconic pier to the active beaches, we would enjoy a day of bike riding, shooting photos, and enjoying fine food/beverages in town. The nightlife time would be spent in Hermosa Beach. Day 4: I would take my friend hiking in Griffith Park / Observatory area and enjoy another beautiful view of the city from there. Day 5: I would take my friend to Melrose Avenue to enjoy the life of influencers as we would sit at Alfred’s Coffee and watch all the creative individuals practicing their work on the streets. Day 6: Taking it easy and enjoying a day at LACMA Day 7: Grab In-N-Out by LAX and farewell

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who took an active role of support in my life and my passion of photography. From family, friends, and colleagues; I’ve been fortunate to get a ton of support but there is one person who do not belong to any of these 3 categories and he is an idol/mentor who has truly set me on a path that I almost steered away from. I would like to dedicate this Shoutout to Mr. Ara Guler, an Armenian-Turkish photojournalist who has photographed the history of Istanbul from his creative eye as well as shot photos of many renowned international names. Back in my Bachelor’s Degree years of my college life, as I was taking photography as an elective to add on to my marketing skills, I didn’t have the most supportive professor. In fact, she would heavily criticize my work in front of the class and even had the audacity to say “You should not practice photography!” to me. I was discouraged, there is no denying it. Photography has been that one hobby I could hold on to at the time year-round and this professor was going to “take it away” from me with her words. I took my photography portfolio at the time to Mr. Guler who at the time hung out at the Ara Cafe in the Taksim district of Istanbul, Turkey. He took the time to take interest in me, my work, and after hearing my story just told me to “Forget my teacher!” and “Keep on doing what makes you happy!” Mr. Guler sadly passed away back in 2018 but the impact he has created on me as well as that precious memory will live on with me so thank you Mr. Guler for inspiring me and empowering me to pursue what makes me happy!

Website: www.canahtam.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/canahtam

Image Credits
All Photos Captured by Can Ahtam