Picture this. Traffic is halted in downtown Los Angeles; streets are closed and cameras are rolling. In the centre of it all stands David Guenther (Communication Arts – Print Journalism 2006), quietly realizing just how far he’s come – from a hobbyist photographer to directing large-scale commercials for major automotive brands in North America. But even amidst the chaos of the city streets, Guenther hasn’t lost sight of why he started.
From his early days in the Communication Arts program, his passion was simple: telling stories about people and experiences – a focus that still guides every shot he takes.
“I wanted to be a writer, I just wanted to tell stories,” he recalls of his decision to switch to the polytechnic from a fine arts degree at the University of Lethbridge. At the time, he was keeping a personal travel blog, and the Print Journalism program appealed to his passion for storytelling. “It just seemed like the right fit for me and could lead me to where I wanted to go. As soon as I got into it, I fell in love with what we were doing and what we were learning about.”
But it was when the program dove into photojournalism (as one of the first classes to have access to digital cameras) that Guenther discovered a new way to tell stories.
“I realized I could combine the visual arts with my desire to be able to tell a story and convey the way I saw the world,” he says.
After graduating in 2006, Guenther moved to South Korea for a year, where photography became central to documenting his daily life and soon evolved into his full-time profession.
With the rise of social media, he was able to share his stories with a larger audience while also monetizing his work. He began reaching out to travel and lifestyle brands for work until he found his sweet spot in the automotive industry.
“I kind of dipped my toes in that world, and it was a really good fit,” he says. “It’s not like I always told myself I want to shoot car ads or direct car commercials. But this idea of storytelling, that I had always been interested in, developed itself.”
Leaning on his journalism lessons from his time at the polytechnic, Guenther approaches commercial photography the same way he would a news story – by staying concise, trusting his instincts and understanding his audience. Even when the subject is a vehicle, Guenther is thinking about how it fits into the world around it and how the composition and angles will affect the way people feel when they look at the image. He knows even a few centimetres can make a difference. But he also knows to trust his gut above all else.
“A lot of times it’s just a feeling that I get when something is right,” he says.
As the commercial landscape shifts across platforms, Guenther continues building what’s next alongside his agent and production team in Los Angeles. Though he travels internationally for his shoots, he remains based in Lethbridge with his wife and kids.
“You don’t necessarily know what’s around the corner and you just trust that if you stay true to who you are as an artist and as a storyteller, the work will keep coming.”
Whether he’s battling dust storms in the 40 °C Arizona heat or lining up the perfect shot atop a mountain in -30 °C, his goal today is the same as his first day as a student: tell the story. The medium may have changed, but the storyteller remains.
