A self-taught entrepreneur and intuitive creative talent, Tom Hollow is still innovating his photography and video business, which turns 10 this year.
His latest extension is all about capturing fantastic social content without interrupting the flow of the event.
Let’s throw it back to 2009. Barack Obama is sworn in as the first African-American president. Avatar becomes the highest-grossing film of all time. And at Tawa College near Wellington, a young Tom Hollow fails his photography course. But it clearly didn’t deter Tom, who went on to become one of New Zealand’s most successful and entrepreneurial fine art photographers and filmmakers. This year, Tom’s company, Hollow & Co, a boutique Auckland-based wedding photography and video business, turns 10. Since 2014, Tom has photographed around 500 nuptials in both Aotearoa and Australia, many of them for Kiwis who live overseas and are returning home to get married. Tom regularly fields around 3,000 enquiries a year for his services, far in excess of the 50-60 weddings he can accommodate.
Not bad for someone who started out by googling ‘how to start a business’. “I was 22 when I started Hollow & Co and I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! But I had confidence in my ability as a photographer and a desire to work with people.”
Ask Tom why he decided to specialise in wedding photography and he’ll smile. “Because it brings together my two loves – photography and people. I enjoy being able to interact with brides and grooms on the most special day of their lives. When you work with a couple to gain their trust and then deliver on that trust, the satisfaction is amazing.”
Today, Hollow & Co, which has a staff of four, offers both photography and videography services that align with a client’s vision. “As a photographer, you have a certain kind of authority to direct a wedding day, which clients rely on. That’s why we work closely with clients to draw up a schedule and timeline so that they and the wedding vendors are clear on what’s happening and when.” Spend any time with Tom and you’ll realise that he’s not the kind of person to sit still. Along with Hollow & Co, in 2018 Tom started Black on Black, a business that focuses on photo and video production for events such as awards dinners and brand launches. To date, Tom has worked with brands from Louis Vuitton, Cartier and Nike to Coca-Cola, Crocs and Costco, along with black tie events such as the Rolling Stones Music Awards.
Meanwhile his commercial arm, simply entitled Tom Hollow, focuses on corporate and agency-style clients, including for the film and television industry. ‘It’s all about growing confidence, capturing joy, celebrating artistry and creative collaboration, seeing beauty and empowering individuals, while growing a team and finding enjoyment alongside others every day. “It’s a lot of hats to wear, but I’m driven to leverage my photography skills in a very unique and successful way and bring a lot of photographers along with me. Besides, I get bored quite quickly!”
It’s no surprise to hear that Tom has recently launched another branch of the Hollow tree — Social Lover. Focusing on content creation, Social Lover was born out of some of the issues that Tom was experiencing at weddings and events. “There might be as many as four content creators at some events, trying to capture more personal behind-the-scenes content on their phones, which is fine but they can get in the way of the official photographer and videographer,” he explains. “There’s a particular etiquette around photographing weddings and it can be broken if all the players don’t understand the flow of a wedding or things such as where to stand or how not to interrupt proceedings. We’ve decided to address the issue by creating Social Lover, where we will train our own content creators on what to do so that they can capture great content but don’t encroach on the photographer or videographer.” Those content creators can be hired by couples for their big day.
“It’s a win-win for wedding photographers and clients because we get to do our job seamlessly and clients get more behind-the-scenes footage of their day.” Tom, who describes his photographic style as classic, authentic and relaxed (“I want the photos to still look great in 25 years time”) has noticed a trend for couples seeking more editorial-style images of their special day. “They’re after a more fashion magazine look, which is relatively easy to do. But in all honesty, when our clients see the photo of Grandma looking at the bride’s ring or the shot of Dad’s face when he sees his daughter for the time, those are the images that are the most memorable.” It’s a matter of “embracing trends to a degree, but not to the point of defining our style,” he adds. “My overriding objective is for the photos to stand the test of time and still look cool years from now. That’s why I’m such a fan of the relaxed, candid, classic style of photography.” As he looks towards the next 10 years, Tom says he relishes the idea of building on what he’s achieved so far.
“It’s all about growing confidence, capturing joy, celebrating artistry and creative collaboration, seeing beauty and empowering individuals while growing a team and finding enjoyment alongside others every day. That’s my ‘why’.”
For more, visit Hollow & Co’s website HERE; Social Lover’s website HERE; Black on Black’s website HERE; and Tom Hollow’s website HERE.
