From a Costco miscue to in-demand photog maverick
Ryan Ouellette never dreamt of being a photographer – let alone Windsor’s Next Top Photographer. By his own admission, it all happened by chance.
“I got into it by accident,” admits Ouellette. “It was Black Friday, I had about $450 to buy presents for my kids, and I ended up buying a camera for $388 on a whim. I went out to the car and started crying, like, ‘What did I just do?’ But my wife told me to figure out how to use it—and that’s where it all started.”
It began with that Black Friday special and grew into a passion, a passion that he develops everyday.
“I always say I’ll be better than I was yesterday—that’s what drives me,” he explains. “My daughter (Anya) is the same way, she’ll work until she’s the best at something, and I’m not going to be outworked by my own kid. So, anything I learn, I push it as far as I can.” He says that Anya, who has autism and ADHD, is great a motivator in his life, deeply impacting his perspective. Through his daughter, he discovered he shares similar traits.
Ouellette says that he struggles internally when accepting praise but sees winning Windsor’s Next Top Photographer as validation rather than a personal ego boost. The competition pushed him, requiring pre-planning, where he tends to be more spontaneous. However, he showed his strength through his adaptability and creative flow.
One of his favourite mottos: “We’re going to have a lot of fun and great pictures will just happen,” exemplifies his thought process. “I don’t force anything or tell people to act a certain way – I just create an environment where real emotions come out, and that’s what I capture.”
Next, Ouellette plans to attend the upcoming Olympia Bodybuilding World Championships in Las Vegas, the North American Championships in Pittsburgh, and the Toronto Pro Super Show. Following his win, he’s also excited to begin working with the Canadian Mental Health Association, contributing photography to their upcoming book and capturing Windsor-Essex through his lens as part of the “Winning” project.
“There are so many good photographers out there, I don’t ever believe the hype,” he states. “If I start believing it, that’s when I stop growing. Winning means a lot, but it really just feels like validation for the people who believed in me.”
