Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Michael DK @suahuatica

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

I’m currently finding a balance between my life as a graphic designer and underwater art/model photographer. It’s my dream to be able to live full-time from my photography – I’ve studied art/documentary photography on the Royal Academy of Arts in the Hague for that reason. I found the study highly interesting and rejuvenating, as it gave me a lot of metaphorical and conceptual knowledge. However I noticed two things : I only invested every cent I had (And didn’t have ha!) in my projects, without seeing much come back. And although I loved doing documentary/art photography, I found it hard to mate my photographic subjects with my personal desires and passions. My current Suahuatica undertaking changed all that – I grew up on a sailing ship in the Mediterranean, which gave me a deep love for (clear) seas and oceans. To be able to produce photographic art underwater is a dream come true!

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

I love traveling, active sports like hiking, free diving, surfing (although I am just a beginner) and ‘deep water soloing’ which means climbing rocks above water, without ropes/security. My instagram however is dedicated to free diving and in general, underwater model photography. I have gathered a very loyal following of art lovers, water-lovers and free divers and I noticed that my above the water photography wasn’t as much appreciated. You win some you lose some! 🙂

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

I started my first little baby steps of my underwater photography with an underwater housing for my Galaxy S3 camera (that I managed to drown within a month!). I lived in Las Palmas (Canary Islands, Spain) at the time and in the local dialect “subaquatica” sounded like “suahuatica”. The rest of the world can barely pronounce it, so sometimes I regret picking the name. There are upsides – domains and usernames are never taken!

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

Underwater photography is an extremely finicky line of business if it comes to editing. If the water is of mineral spring water clarity things are easy, but it’s rarely like that – there’s always dust, algae. Also the moment you go deeper than the first few meters the colors change radically. So, I usually start with the RAW converter where I correct the white balance, add more contrast and try to compensate for the diffuse underwater light. Later on I will do manual removal of floating particles, compensate for flare and do more work on the colors and contrast. In general I don’t do much retouching, except for some floppy skin or bulging bellies that are the consequence of my the poses I expect from my generally fit models ;-).

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

Of all artists that I’ve been inspired by, I’d say that the older, more unique work of @27mm_photo (Enric Gener) is among my favorites and left the most substantial mark on my style. I think it also has something to do with that we both have done art studies prior to becoming underwater photographers – my early experiments looked like crude test versions of his work. I was always searching for what he so perfectly managed to execute, it just clicked. Also highly inspiring is the brilliant work of @meaghan_ogilvie, who has a more spiritual influence on my work.

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

Winter dives! There is nothing better for your mind & body than swimming in chilly seas. Just to prevent someone getting hypothermia : I mean 13C / 55F and up kind of waters. It’s so rejuvenating, and takes a lot of self control to get it done. After a while it will be easier, and you notice that after each 5-10 minute swim in those colder waters you feel like you’re reborn. Stress is gone, muscle pains less, your immune system stronger than ever. Not only that, but you learn to control your urges and fears. It’s the ultimate yoga for people who can’t do yoga 😉

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

The two most important things are that I can share my passion for the sea and art photography with the world. I hope that my photography will motivate people to pick up free diving, or a camera 🙂 Instagram allows me to interact with soon to be 10,000 individuals -. it’s such an honor to be able to share my two great passions with that huge audience. An audience that consists of people that are often influencers themselves – fellow free divers, fellow art photographers, painters, scuba divers, high end clothing labels etc. It has enabled me to connect to a whole new world of fascinating people, for which I am eternally grateful.

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

Looking at what makes me follow a brand (rather than an artist or individual) it’s pretty obvious : Be be pure, honest and above all _always_ prioritize great imagery above anything else. Nobody wants Instagram to become a commercial mess like other platforms, like the internet in general. But it’s fine if you want to sell your product or service to the world, just do it with photos that appeal. So even if we don’t want to buy something from you, even if we don’t have a particular interest in your products that we will keep following you. That we will keep interacting. That way the brands still profit – interaction is key – even if they don’t sell anything to many customers. Brands have become small galleries, curators of imagery that is often only loosely related to their core business but attracts large audiences. I feel that kind of “soft commercialism” or “commerciart” is the future of corporate instagram.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

I guess I already covered some of that in the previous answer – but to extend on that, original high quality content is crucial. And that goes beyond recycling those images from famous people and key instagram celebrities. It’s about contacting talented photographers and asking them to shoot work for your IG campaigns. Or if you’re on a tight budget at least to look for unique, undiscovered art that can brighten up your campaigns. Using & tagging means it’s free, and the tagged photographer or artist benefits from the exposure. Win-win!

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

I think it’s great that both sides can benefit equally. Instagram is ideally suited and optimized for tagging content. When I do product placements I will tag the brand, and likewise when they use my work they’ll do the same. It’s a very simple thing but it’s the lifeblood of Instagram. Also I enjoy bringing my followers in contact with truly quality brands who’s philosophy and products I truly support. And above all, in a way that the artistic side of my work is never compromised. Product placement done elegantly is perfect for that!

Topics:

• Art
• Nature & Outdoors
• Photography

Country:

Cyprus