Today we’d like to introduce you to Lourenso Ramautar.
Hi Lourenso, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started photography in 1996 and graduated from Parsons School of Design, class of 2000. My first major job in the photography business was to shoot for Macy’s catalogue from 2000 to 2004. While I was at Macy’s catalogue, I was working on a book documenting the West Indian American carnival in the US. The book, entitled Mask: the West Indian American Carnival, was published in 2004, and I sold a lot to local libraries and bookstores. The book opened the door for me to become more of an established fashion photographer. I started freelancing for a few magazines at the time. By around 2008, I started shooting billboards, marketing campaigns, and advertising for luxury high-end jewelry companies. I started shooting for DKNY, Lacoste, Baby Phat, Rocawear, and a lot of fashion brands in New York City. I also ended up shooting for Playboy for four years for their catalog starting in 2012. I was approached by Amazon, Net-a-Porter, and Gilt Group to be their senior photographer. I decided not to pursue those opportunities and instead started my own photo studio called Out Of New York Studio. My first client was Lacoste, followed by Reebok and a lot of other major brands, which I still have as clients to this day.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No, it had not been a smooth road. The first couple of years of the business were great, then in 2008, when the market crashed, a lot of people were not buying in-store, and e-commerce was coming of age. I pivoted to the e-commerce world in 2008. There are a lot of challenges being a minority in this business. I once was taken off a photo shoot set because the editor for 16 magazine and eBay Fashion Vault was doing a collaboration, shooting a Designer. I was booked for the Shoot by the studio I was working at. The editor.thought I was Italian due to my name. When she got on set and realized I was not Italian and I was West Indian, she asked the head of the studio for me to be replaced by a different photographer, who, at the time, was an assistant also challenged with technology. After 2012, a lot of digital cameras came on the market. People with no formal school or photography training, all of a sudden becoming photographers and starting to lower the price of photography, so clients started going to cheaper places and not worrying about the quality. That started lowering the quality of photography, and people started accepting bad quality as the standard, so I had to compete with a lot of people who are not real photographers. They were doing the job for a lot cheaper. Eventually the business picked back up until the pandemic, and then the market tanked again because we could not shoot in person. It finally started picking up, but now AI is taking away a lot of photography business
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a fashion and product photographer. I am also known for my fine art photography and book I have published. I am more proud of my work being a museum and gallery shows my first book I published was in 2004, called Mask West Indian American CARNIVAL. (Mask the West Indian American Carnival) I am now working on a book on Burning Man. In 2025, I won the individual photography grant from the state of New Jersey. A lot of my work were featuring Magazine and catalogs; in fact, the JCK Diamond standard is still using my image from when I used to shoot Jewelry. What sets me apart from other Photographer I’ve been doing this for 30 years. I have worked with a lot of major brands, and I am consistent. I have not had one cancellation in 30 years and have not had a reshoot. One of my favorite moments is when I walk into a store and I see my image displayed on a big banner. I love showing it to my kids and saying, ” That’s my work. Also, I am also proud of my Photo studio that I opened up, and now that I’m branched out into two photo studio one in New Jersey and one in Denver.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
Collaboration is very important once a month I try to do a test shoot or collaborate with a brand model or someone who could use my help. I love to help local business or people who are from local community who could benefit from having a professional photographer and a professional studio space.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.outofny.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outofnystudio/
