Meet Mickkail Cain | Architectural Photographer

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

Hi Mickkail, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
When I was 13, my grandma let me shoot her professional camera for the first time and immediately I fell in love. Later that week, I went to a local pawn shop and bought myself a 3-megapixel camera that I took everywhere with me. When I got to high school, I signed up for every photography class that was offered, I joined yearbook, I shot a ton of school events, and even started assisting my photography teacher on his professional work. When I found out that my work was accepted in a county-wide student arts competition and would be displayed at the Palm Springs Art Museum, I knew what I wanted to do when I graduated.

I was fortunate enough to get into every arts program that I applied to, but when push came to shove, I ended up going to school for business. Coming from a low-income background, the fear of not being able to make it ate away at me.

For the next 4 years, my cameras gathered dust while I grinded away going to school and working full-time. After lots and lots of work, I landed a competitive role at an investment firm. Around that same time, my good friend Omar Quiroz reintroduced me to photography, but through the lens of an analog camera. My creative fire was reignited. To feed my side, I started a film photography community called Street Honey, where I would host photography meetups and photo swaps.

While I grinded for 6 years at that firm, I felt that my colorful creative side was slowly dying. My senior title ate away at my free time, which ultimately resulted in me dropping Street Honey and photography altogether. I felt that I was losing myself. After much planning and discussion, I quit the job, sold most of my belongings, and hit the road with my partner.

After a year-long hiatus of travel, I decided the time had finally come to revisit my passions and original dreams of working as a photographer.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I would classify my personal work as street photography, falling under the umbrellas of neighborhood, architecture, abstract, and decay. Coming from a film photography background, I spent countless hours chasing light. If it wasn’t golden hour, my camera stayed in the bag. When I had the time and found a place I wanted to shoot, I would return during golden hour. When I discovered that people make a living photographing buildings and places, it seemed like a natural fit. My goal is to present projects in a different light—one that is both more abstract and very natural.

Giving up a well-paying job and a stable career to pursue my dreams as a photographer came with several hurdles. Besides forgoing dining out, trips with friends, and disposable income, I faced significant pushback and confusion from friends and family about my choices. However, I have a lot of confidence in myself, and I knew that if I didn’t make this leap, I would always have the regretful feeling of “what if.” I love photography; it runs in my blood. Having a supportive partner who recognizes this and encourages me to pursue it means the world to me.

A lesson I’ve learned from my previous role and this journey is that communities are much smaller than you might think. If you do an outstanding job or completely fail and leave a bad impression, word gets around. You don’t need the best equipment to create a great photograph. Building a photography business is less about the actual shooting and more about who you know and whether they enjoy working with you as a person.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Without the love and support of my partner, these dreams wouldn’t be possible. I am and will be forever grateful for her support along this journey. I am also thankful for my parent’s moral support in derailing a promising career path to chase my passion. They were fully supportive and never once gave me any pushback – so a big shoutout to them! With any major change, you will always get a flood of doubters, so to the friends who truly understood where I was coming from and supported my career switch, I truly appreciate each and every one of you.

Website: https://mickkail.com

Instagram: https://mickkail.photo

Image Credits
Mickkail Cain