Meet Camilo Buitrago Gil | Director of Photography and Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Camilo Buitrago Gil and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Camilo, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
After graduating college in Colombia, I was faced with a challenge. I had so many things that I wanted to say but I did not have the right medium to say them. In studying Sociology, the way that we would express ourselves was through scientific writing but I was aware of the limitations of scientific literature to transmit effectively in popular culture. So, even if what you had to say was very valuable, its reception would be poor because it isn’t very accessible. It was at that moment that I realized that I wanted to create powerful narratives through audiovisuals and the arts.

It has been 8 years since I made that decision and I have had the opportunity of undertaking many roles within the audiovisual field. It has been 6 years since I have been making a living as a cinematographer and photographer. Now that I am living in the states, I most recently co-founded a creative multimedia production company called FURIOSA Productions. Our approach is a human-centric solution for our client’s storytelling needs. Our services include photography, videography, marketing, and producing theatrical/multimedia experiences.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Through FURIOSA, we seek to make work at the intersection of art, creative technology and environmental justice with high social impact. We are scholars, we are business entrepreneurs and we are storytellers. Research and innovation are at the core of our practice and how we want to run our business. Our current services include photography, videography, film production, marketing, and theatrical/multimedia experiences.

Making a living off of your own business is incredibly challenging especially when it simultaneously straddles the arts and marketing. The questions always are: How do we tell stories that draw people’s attention? How do you know if the message you wanted to convey was the one you conveyed? How do we ever really know for certain if something is going to have the necessary impact on my client’s clients? It’s an investment in uncertainty, a shot in the dark. And who would want to take that kind of risk with you? Well, I think that’s also the secret of this business: having the patience to create enough credibility where clients are willing to take that leap of faith with you and trust you enough to translate their messages into powerful images.

I feel that patience and tolerance for failure should be the most valuable assets in everyone’s journey. Achieving what you dream of is a long road and shortcuts tend to be double-edged swords. It is important to live each process with a benevolent attitude towards yourself and others.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
As soon as I pick them up from the airport I would take them to eat a Venezuelan arepa at Pepitos Arepa Bar in Doral, and we would go to watch the sunset at the Haulover marina. The next day we would go on a three-day tour of the keys to explore as many local businesses as we could while on the way to the southernmost point of the United States. Once in Key West, we would go to Ernest Hemingway’s house as well as other museums, like the lighthouse, that tell us a little about life in the Caribbean. What I love about Key West is that the food is quite good and the ocean view bars are really beautiful. The next day we would take a boat to Isla Tortuga which seems like one of the most interesting and exotic places I can think of.
Upon our return to Miami we would arrive by dinner time and stop by my favorite local pizzeria, ‘O Munaciello.
The fifth day would be perfect for a beach day, probably somewhere quiet like Dr. Von D Mizell-Eula Johnson Park in Dania Beach or Hugh Taylor Birch State Park in Fort Lauderdale.
On the sixth day we would go out on a motorcycle adventure to the Everglades to learn a little about local fauna and flora and on the way back spend a night listening to live music and great food at Zey Zey.
On the last day I would take them to visit the local farms and nurseries in Homestead, have lunch at Apocalypse BBQ, and then head over to the airport.

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?
I do not feel that there is only one person to thank. I believe that life is responsible for placing all the little signs in your path that point you in the right direction. In this way I have to thank the knowledge of my sociology professors, my mother’s patience, the support of my friends, the inspiration of authors like Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick, and the love of my partner.

Website: https://www.furiosaproductions.com

Instagram: @fishinthemountains

Facebook: Camilo Buitrago Gil

Youtube: https://youtu.be/gyrZKl0BOJY

Other: https://www.fishinthemountains.com

Image Credits
Photos taken By Furiosa Productions