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

Hi Darin, what is the most important factor behind your success?
The most important factor behind my photography success is being consistent with my brand. I always use my hand-painted background for all of my black and white portraits. I’ve entered contests and won twice this year. That really helped my brand because 7 million people entered these contests, so it opened up opportunities for me to work.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think what sets me apart from others is the simplicity of the work. I shoot with natural light and my canvas 4ft wide background. I’m excited to be publishing a book this fall. I got to where I am because of very artistic work, I change it all the time. Nothing in life is easy, it’s always hard, that’s the best part of the journey. I’ve learned that you will always be rejected for jobs, that’s the nature of this business; I just learned to be consistent with each of my clients. I always kept my name out there. I want people to love black and white images as much as I love creating them.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to the beach. My condo is on the beach, I have a private beach out back of my place. I would take them to the Cocoa Beach pier; there are 3 restaurants to hang out, eat, watch the surfers, it’s a normal thing to do for visitors. Cocoa Beach is home to 11-time Surfing’s World Champ Kelly Slater. He has a statue in downtown Cocoa Beach. The seafood is incredible, places like Nosh, Thai Thai, offer unreal sushi, The Surfinista is an organic breakfast and lunch cafe in downtown Cocoa Beach as well. Lots of good eats here.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Yes, my biggest influence was Richard Avedon’s, The American West book of portraits. I also credit working with photographer Annie Leibovitz.

Website: www.darinbackphoto.com

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Linkedin: darinbackphoto

Twitter: dback42

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Youtube: darin back videos

Nominate Someone: ShoutoutLA is built on recommendations and shoutouts from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.