Meet Andrew Antwi | Marketing Analyst and Photographer

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

Hi Andrew, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
When I first began photography, I never had the intention of “starting a business”. It was just supposed to be my personal creative outlet. Back in high school and middle school I always had an art class which allowed me to do more creative work but during my first year in college I only had math, English, business, and science classes which didn’t allow too much personal artistic freedom. After my first year (summer 2018) I started posting various photos I’d taken throughout that school year on my photography Instagram page, @drewspective. A few months later people started reaching out to me to take photos for them but at that time I only had my phone and no camera, so I only took free gigs with friends. Eventually, the inquiries started growing as I posted more content, so I decided to invest in a good camera in the summer of 2020 and the rest was history.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

The first inspiration for my art and photography is a celebration of blackness. I want to always highlight this area which is mostly shunned or diluted in popular media. I think what sets me apart is that I don’t aim to have a perfect looking picture. Meaning I go for a more natural editing approach whilst putting a lot of creative input in the planning process before I shoot. Some people say they recognize my work by the warmth and color I bring out in my subjects which I’m happy about.

Sometimes it’s hard being both a professional and a creative. When I’m doing personal projects, I have complete creative control over the whole process, and I work with my own set deadlines. However, with client shoots you sometimes get a collaborative approach and other times they have a very particular idea in mind. One thing I advise is that don’t promise and underdeliver. Always set realistic expectations with clients before confirming final bookings so you maintain your creative integrity. Respect throughout the whole process is very important to me so I make sure my clients have a comfortable and welcoming experience before, during and after the shoot. This helps you maintain a solid brand and I can attest to it because 70% of my clients in the last two years have been through referrals.

I want the world to know that the Drewspective brand will always evolve but never lose its integrity. I want my brand to tell more stories and bring light to hidden and overlooked gems around us.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.

I’m based in Philly so this will be a Philly based recommendation.

I’ll take them to Green Eggs Cafe for brunch, grab a cheesesteak from Jim’s on South St. and have a nice dinner at Han Dynasty.

For fun, we can visit the Art Museum during the day, then head to center city for shopping or city tours, then Penn’s Landing for the night.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?

I would like to give a huge shout out to my college friends who saw my potential before I even did. They motivated me to start posting my work, they were always the first to comment, like and share and most of them were my first paying clients. Having a support system like this is very important in making sure your craft and business evolves to its highest potential. I can’t mention all of you individually, but you know yourselves and I’m forever grateful to you.

I also want to give a shout out to @Kofmotivation and @Tayojr. These two creatives’ work really gave me the needed inspiration to achieve higher in the industry. Kofi’s editing style always stood out to me and Tayo’s creative process and balancing a corporate job with photography was also very encouraging to me. Thank you both!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drewspective/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-a-38586a105/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrew_antwi21