Maximilian Hetherington Photography
Maximilian.
Maximilian Hetherington shoots clothing brands, musicians, model agencies and creatives — with a love of film photography that started with his grandfather's Nikon and never really stopped. Represented by Adrenalin Photographic.
How did you get your start in photography?
It all started with my Grandad's old Nikon film camera. I loved that thing. Being fully manual, it taught me aperture, shutter speed, focus — everything from scratch. I was hooked on the magic of that little box.
Many moons later I moved to London with no clue what I was doing — still don't — but most of my friends were musicians, designers, artists and models, so I figured I could photograph them. Applied for a million jobs. Eventually got work as an assistant at a photobooth company that only hired photographers, filmmakers and photo assistants. For the following years I asked every question I could about everything. Started assisting a few of the guys there, and like magic, started getting my own jobs through mates for small brands and unsigned musicians. Tested with as many agency models as I could. Soon found a knack for taking pretty pictures of pretty people.
Most interesting shoot so far — and your dream project?
The most inspiring shoot I've done was for a brand called Skinny Dip. We travelled to Spain for a week — shot the campaign across boiling hot days on the beach and in La Muralla Roja. Everyone was so on it, we nailed the brief, the client was happy, and most importantly we had the best time together.
I came back to London realising that's exactly what I want from my career: to travel the world with it, make people happy, enjoy taking photographs — and attempt to create something iconic along the way without looking back for a second.
"Half naked smutt, beautiful girls, posing with bags over their heads — looks like a Pirelli calendar from the 80's."
Most interesting response to your work?
I briefly moved to Margate and joined a local creatives Facebook group. Shared some work. The response was overwhelming — but my favourite came from someone trying to slate me: "half naked smutt, beautiful girls, posing with bags over their heads, looks like a Pirelli calendar from the 80's." Anyone who knows me or my work would know exactly how happy that made me. This guy was trying to have a go and he just got it so right. I wish I could've bought him a virtual beer.
Antakly Projects / Ninu Nina
All photography courtesy Maximilian Hetherington