Living The Life - Elia Locardi

Travel photographer, videographer, writer, public speaker, educator

- Demai Sunio-Granali

If you don’t take the first step to reach your dream, you’re basically losing yourself in your own dawdling.

When American visual effects and motion graphics artist Elia Locardi decided he wanted to see the world, he got out of his desk job and told his wife to pack up so they can become ‘location independent.’ That was in March 2012. Armed with a clear vision of what he wants to do and a clever strategy to back it up, he marched his way to the top of the mountains to become one of today’s esteemed travel photographers, an educator, and a brand ambassador for Fujifilm.

What inspired you to get into photography?

To be honest, photography was kind of accidental. I just wanted to travel. The first time I visited Italy with my wife in 2008, is when I fell in love with taking photos. I left my professional career in visual effects and motion graphics because I felt burned out and I didn’t enjoy it anymore. I wanted to find a way where I could travel, visit all the places that I want to visit, see the world, and make a career out of it— but at that time it was just a dream. After a while, we started visiting destinations and sharing the images I captured on social media, and that’s when I was able to sort of create an audience for my style of work.

What’s the best part of being ‘location independent’?