Hunter Holder

“We create our own reality. Find what excites you and do that.”

Intercru: Where are you from?

Hunter: I was born in Texas, but New Orleans has been home for 20 years now.

Where do you live and work now?

Currently in Honolulu for a little over a year now. I plan to be back to my nomad life come this summer.

How did you get started in photography?

I had a little plastic point and shoot as a kid and remember the excitement of getting the film back from the drugstore. I moved to Europe in my early 20s and bought a canon AE-1 and shot everything I saw.

I was working in the film industry at the time so I was already fairly tuned into a camera, but I only shot for fun outside of work. On a particular project, the director would encourage me to snap stills on his Leica whenever he wasn’t using it. Those images were the first press images from the film and it got me really excited. I was a bit burnt out on being on set for large film productions, so I decided to give photography a go. I shot everything I could until I realized my niche: Sexy. Water. Color.

Where do you find creative inspiration?

Films, the passing world around me, and moments as they happen.

What are some of your favorite accounts on Instagram right now?

Bryan Liston @inkaliston

Aesthetic Division @aesthetic__division

Haris Farsarakis @harisfarsarakis

Palm Heights @palmheightsgc

Where would your dream photoshoot be like?

I have the Mediterranean on the brain at the moment. Something around the pool at Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc maybe?

What’s your favorite movie of all time?

This is an impossible question for me.

Here are some that have had huge impact throughout my life:

Kids. City of God. Y Tú Mama También. La Haine. A Clockwork Orange. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. The Great Beauty. Waves.

What’s your biggest fear?

Not creating.

What is the best gift you’ve ever been given?

A one-way plane ticket to Europe right after I lost everything in Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

What’s your favorite season of the year?

I’m trying to live an eternal summer.

What’s your proudest accomplishment?

Continuing to overcome depression.

What’s the best advice anyone has ever given you about photography?

We create our own reality. Find what excites you and do that.

Hunter Holder is a portrait and lifestyle photographer currently based out of Honolulu. To see more of his photography, you can check out his website hunterholder.com or follow his work on Instagram @hunterholder.