Soul, Guts, and The Human Condition

Photography by Billy Henry

Los Angeles, California, USA

All great stories have memorable characters; they are the driving force in every tale. For Los Angeles film photographer Billy Henry, the subjects in his photographs are the fundamental characters in his story. “My entire life has been an obsession for storytelling,” he says.

When picking his characters, Billy finds their story just as important as his. “I like interesting people that have stories I want to tell and that are comfortable melting themselves into characters and stories I create,” Billy discloses. “People that understand that they, just like me, can inject a project's narrative with one's own individual story, and nurture an authentic balance and stay loyal to a concept.“

Billy appreciates the imaginative worlds that photography can produce and seeks out others who appreciate imagination the same way. “Photography is spiritual for me. Supernatural,” he explains. “Narrative and energy are critical so it's all about shooting with someone that is committed to creating a believable portal, a world, and having as much fun as possible doing it.” Simply, Billy desires to work with “awakened humans that want to make rad photos.”

Because of the dramatic roles his characters play, the subjects must have more than just a pretty face. “There's a variety of physical beauty out there, a lot of photogenic people,” he says. “But to me beauty, and life, are wild, paradoxical, chaotic, electric, contradictory, flawed. It has to go much deeper than any surface appearance. I need soul and guts and the human condition.”

He stresses that this his own criteria when he has power over casting. “I'm hoping that I'm working with some enlightened creatures,” he says, commenting on when he doesn’t have the power of casting. “If not, then I’m really pushing to pull things out of people they didn't know they had in them. But that's something I always want to do anyway, no matter who I'm shooting with; show them a side of themselves they didn't know existed.”

In the end, Billy loves his characters because he can connect with them. “Connectivity is a very powerful thing,” he states. “In a photoshoot, in life, in the universe. It's a rad thing to connect with people through creative work. To look around on set, on location, wherever, and see in the eyes of these humans that they're there because they love it, because they believe the work must be done, that the vision must come to life. That inspires me exponentially.”