Doug Menuez is an award-winning documentary photographer based in New York City. His more than 25 years in the business has varied from photojournalism to commissioned work and personal fine art book projects. He’s fascinated with finding the balance between art and commerce, evidenced in a post about a commercial campaign for Emirates Airline that allowed him to “get paid to shoot what [he] love[s] and would be shooting anyway”. He also shares his sources of inspiration and people who’ve influenced his career, but it was his post on the Zen of Film vs. Digital Gratification that really got me hooked.

Mulling it over, I couldn’t articulate it fully but definitely, I knew I had become lazy, really lazy. A spectacular sloth by the standards of shooting film. Film is hard. Film is a stone cold unforgiving killing bastard. Film is once in a lifetime, no excuses. F8 and really, really be there: ready, steady, in focus, correct exposure, and pressing the shutter in sync with life.

If you’re trying to make money and do what you love (shoot photos, tell stories, whatever you call it), Doug Menuez 2.0 is definitely a resource for inspiration. Check out the latest posts (updated automatically):

• La Lettre Features “Fearless Genius” Project