PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER | JULY 2019
main problem?” Wallace asked. “That’s how I
approached this—as business. Being a good
photographer is not enough. I have to solve a
problem. I don’t just talk about the images you
want; I ask what are you trying to get across.
What’s your message? What’s your problem?”
Aston Martin’s problem was custom-
ers disputing monthly invoices for ongoing
work on their cars and delaying payments.
Two engineers were tied up providing de-
tailed responses. Wallace proposed making
weekly visits to each restoration bay photo-
graphing the work being done. He had the
images loaded on a private website for each
car, accessed by a reference number tied to
the chassis to hide the owners’ identities.
In ve months, Wallace says, all customers
were paying on time. “I solved his customer
problem. If I’m saving him that amount of
money, I don’t become a cost, I become an
asset. That’s good business.”
Photographing each car through its res-
toration to a nal “brochure” shoot, he con-
vinced the company to compile the images
into one-per-vehicle books bearing only the
chassis number on the cover. The car own-
ers gladly paid a premium for these books
because they exponentially raised the val-
ue of their investment-worthy automobiles.
Wallace’s own value was increasing expo-
nentially, too, as Aston Martin assigned him
to shoot the company’s 100th anniversary
commemoration book, and Wallace’s geog-
raphy and customer base expanded. “Five or
six years after I started my business, I had
clients calling in from around the world,” he
says. The AmbientLife brand now includes
yachts and private jets.
“My ball is rolling on its own now. It’s got
its own self-momentum, as long as I keep an
eye on it.” He’s still planting seeds. •ambientlife.co.ukEric Minton is a writer and editor in
Washington, D.C.Tim Wallace’s business wisdom
ppmag.com/wallace-wisdomOn ppmag.com