Ten years ago Travys knocked on the doors of the acclaimed Cape Town design studio The President. He had one simple goal in mind: to work with his idol; performance artist Peet Pienaar. But unlike Peet, the world had never (or at least not yet) heard of Travys Owen. Even at 22, the aspiring Designer refused to budge on his dream and simply wouldn’t be trained by anyone but the best. His tenacious drive earned him a 6 month internship, after which he had proven himself enough to land his dream job with his mentor. Pienaar ended up having a profound impact on Travys’s career.

Travys: “That was the most pivotal time in my life. Peet taught me how to think, even today, in a certain way. He taught me how to look at design totally differently and trust my vision and instincts.”

The experience Travys gained as a Designer at The President was invaluable in shaping his aesthetic and affording him the ability to look at things differently. His work was cool and always beautiful and in a way fashion photography found him. But his ultimate goal was to become a filmmaker and fashion photography seemed like as good a way as any to get behind the lens and one step closer to directing. It’s during this period in fashion that Travys started becoming fastidious about lighting and colour. His design eye served him well too and his photography was bold and textured with a unique approach. Over the years he started making quite a name for himself and his work was featured in Fader Magazine, Hunger, Honore, Vogue Italia, FGUK and many others.

Slowly but surely Travys started moving more into the world of directing, first with some fashion shorts for the likes of Nike and Adidas and eventually working on some music videos. His direction on the Petite Noir music video made those keeping a watchful eye on him, sit up and pay attention.

Travys: “There are many things that define my aesthetic. Firstly colour – a lot of my work is very colour-heavy and almost pushed to the point where it’s too much. It’s always on the edge. Then the way I grade my footage – it’s very graphic and quite dark. I like to lift the highlights so it’s very pushed. My background in animation and design means I like to be quite post-heavy, whether it’s adding 3D elements or special effects. I do that in my stills a lot, where I push it with deep edge stuff and drop in backgrounds and really mess with it. I treat my images or footage almost as a designer would rather than a purist photographer. I also sometimes love layering images or mixing two or three images together. I light all my own stuff so all my assistants hate me because I’m hands-on and finicky about lighting. Lighting is so important to me, whether it’s natural or in studio, I’m so specific about that. And that’s how I’ve been able to retain a certain look in my work.”

Now that Travys is focusing on his filmmaking, his attention is less on refining his photographic aesthetic and more on discovering how it will translate into the medium of film. He is determined to retain the beautiful imagery he has come to be known for, but he is now ready to use his experience and craft to start telling authentic stories with real meaning rather than just donning the covers of international fashion magazines and we’ve never been more ready.

It doesn’t matter how much beautiful work Travys showed us, it was time to go Barbara Walters on him and find the man behind the lens. The rules of Quickfire: Answer immediately, first thing that comes to your mind. And go!

1. If you were a sculpture what would you be?

“A gargoyle.”

2. Name two trends you are sick of seeing?

“Instagram and Facebook.”

3. What is your colour forecast for 2019?

“Yellow.”

4. What is the best advice you ever received?

“Stay humble and be nice.”

5. What is on your ‘Continue Watching’ list on Netflix right now?

“It’s not Netflix, it’s Showmax, but it’s called… Um, it’s set in the 70’s and it’s shot super old school… ah, I remember, The Dukes!”
iDidTht: What’s the first job you ever did?
Travys: “An Editorial for Elle.”
iDidTht: The first job you EVER did in your life?
Travys: “Oh, haha! Working with Peet Pienaar at The President design company.”
iDidTht: Oh shut up! That’s the first time you got paid money? Waiter? No?
Travys: “Haha, no sorry.”

6. Hang on, show us that mug you were holding up…

8. What’s your favourite face-filter on insta?

“I don’t even know the face-filters on insta, how does that work?”
iDidTht: OMG you’re a millennial Travys! Ugh, go to insta-stories and click on the face thing. Now choose one, screenshot, send to us.
Travys: “How do I? Oh, okay there. It’s not reading my face…oh okay. I found it. Now how do I send it…okay got it.”
iDidTht: You seem to be struggling with technology Trav?
Travys: “Look I know graphics, computers etc. that’s my thing, but this, no.”
iDidTht: Travys! You have 10 000 followers on Instagram and you can’t face-filter?!  Did you even know that when you have 10 000 followers you can do ‘Swipe up’ on insta-stories?
Travys: “Really? I didn’t know that.”
iDidTht: Instagram fame is so wasted on you.
Travys: “Haha, did you get the photo?”

Produced by the iDidTht Content Studio
Credits: Anne Hirsch (Writer) / Julie Maunder

*This content may not be reproduced or used in any part without the prior written consent of iDidTht. Reprints must credit iDidTht (iDidTht.com) as the original publisher of this editorial piece and include a link to this site.

This Editorial is paid for by Gentlemen Films. Want our studio to create content that puts your agency/company/kickass ad you made in bright lights for the whole industry to see? View or editorial packages or contact julie@ididtht.com and we’ll make it happen! #Boom