When you're trying to make it in the world of photography it takes a strong character to tell the man at the top of the food chain to chill. When Bruce Weber barked at his assistant Scotty Soens to deliver him a camera that wasn't on set - NOW! - Scotty did something rare in a land of quivering man bitches.
"Dude, hang on for a second," he told Weber,
"Like, the camera's coming."
Scott reckons Weber went batshit crazy. Scotty calmly told Weber he was no better or different , to anyone else in the world and that he wasn't going to kiss his ass and that he didn't actually want to work for him anymore. Scotty packed his bags and flew from the shoot in Norway and dived straight into a two-week surf trip in Costa Rica.
Sweet as! But let's back things up a little. It's 1998, Scotty's studying film and photography at the University of Miami in Florida when a few hot girls strike up a conversation with him at a trade show. Read: they're frothing. They're models and they want Scotty to shoot photos for their agency. Read: they spot his good looks and want him to model for their agency. The modelling game isn't Scotty's deal so he tells em he's over it, shoots some photos for the agency until they ask him if he's keen to assist a big-name photographer. He assists the big name part time, finishes his degree and dives straight in full-time with superstar fashion photog, Weber.
For the next 18 months he learns from the best and shoots the upper echelon of the fashion world: Viggo Mortensen, Courtney Love ("she was such a bitch"), Patricia Arquette, Giselle. Oh, and pro three surfers from Ventura for an Abercrombie and Fitch shoot. The Malloys. Scotty surfs, they surf, the group click and in-between shooting Chris Malloy tells Scotty about his film, and book project Thicker Than Water. The project lights a fire in Scotty and soon he's shooting stills for the Thicker Than Water book and working closely with the Malloy's company The Moonshine Conspiracy. As well as working with the Malloys, Scott continued to build his skills assisting photographers around LA. Then the Malloys introduced Scott to Paul Gomez and Bob Hurley of Hurley, their sponsor at the time. "They liked my stuff and from there and the past six or seven years I've worked on their campaigns."
You'd know Scotty's work. Remember the Hunter S. Thompson-themed ads of Yadin Nicol that Hurley have run recently? Or, the shots of Pat O'Connell dressed.as a coach? Or, the recent album covers of G.Love and Special Sauce, Jack Johnson and Donnie Frankenreiter? His work with 16mm is just as impressive. In the surf world at least, he's worked heavily in the films A Brokedown Melody, Fair Bits, Sprout, Shelter and. his own skate film, Hallowed Ground. And out of the surf game, he's worked on shooting clips for Metallica, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson and Avril Lavigne. When Stab interviewed Scotty, he was working with Globe in Aceh in northern Indonesia for their upcoming surf film. In between shooting from between trees and working new angles he was running behind creeks and water buffalo to capture the surfers loading onto boats in the background.
And, what's the future for the likeable vegetarian? "I'm working on budgets to make Hurley's first surf film next year," he says. "I think we can make something real special."
SCOTTY'S FIVE TIPS FOR SUCCESS
Lose the ego. Your personality has to click with a lot of people. A lot of photographers come and go because of ego. Look outward. If you're working in surf, look beyond the surfing bubble for inspiration. Trawl different books and magazines. Lightingwise. I look at a lot of fashion stuff. It's not about the money. Get your foot in the door first. In the surf industry never be forceful with money. It's the bro industry Look toward the bigger picture. Leave a positive change in the world. When you receive an email about your work, about how it inspired it has made someone you'll know what I'm talking about. Get on Myspace. And not for creepy reasons. My website hits have gone up exponentially. Seventy-five per cent of em come from myspace. Look at any band and the size of that thing. Get your name out there. It's not about you. Don't strive to be the star through what you're doing. It's not about notoriety. It'll slow you down,
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