There is a difference between a photographer who takes a photo and an artist who brings life to an image. Meet Erick Urgiles, better known as Erick Hercules to his 68.3K Instagram followers, an artist, entrepreneur and most importantly, inspiration to young artists. Social media has gathered unsurmountable attention within the past decade, today platforms such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook have become society’s go-to source of information for just about anything and everything. Young talents within the realm of the arts thus use the exposure that the internet provides to showcase their work and progress in hopes of gathering attention in their field of expertise.
I had the privilege of interviewing Erick “Hercules” Urgiles, 25, opera singer turned photographer, changing the Instagram game one puddlegram and levitation shot at a time. Coming from an artistic family, Urgiles has innately had a knack for the arts. At age eight, Urgiles began his singing career by auditioning to be part of the Young People’s Chorus of New York City, with whom he sang professionally until age 18. Urgiles graced the stages of Madison Square Garden, Lincoln Center, Radio City and Carnegie Hall throughout his professional singing career, one that still holds a big part in his life today.
It wasn’t until 2012 that Urgiles picked up a camera. “My friend and I started a small t-shirt brand, I needed a lookbook,” says Urgiles, “But after the shots, I decided to give up the brand and focus on music and photography.” It was then that Urgiles started posting to Instagram and began receiving good feedback, after a while people became more and more interested in his work and Urgiles found that, “photography was even replacing music.”
“I realized that photography was my forte when brands started emailing me about wanting to work with me,” says Urgiles, “My following growth rate also took me by surprise, it went from 50 new followers a day and is currently up to 100 to 150 new followers daily, now it’s a serious thing.”
“When I became a part of the Instagram community, I found it to be a place where many photographers met and supported each other. Slowly each person grows from looking at each other's work in a friendly competitive way,” says Urgiles.
“It’s about not being scared of a challenge, this community really pushes you to be a better artist,” says Urgiles, “I have done some pretty risky things just to get the perfect shot, including climbing to the top of the Brooklyn Bridge and breaking into abandoned subway tunnels among other questionable photo-adventures.”
“I want to ultimately be a freelance photographer for brands and magazines. Ranging from photography for editorials as well as product photography. I enjoy making art out of all that. I don't mind landscapes, but I have found that my most meaningful images contain a subject such as a human or a product; brand marketing,” says Urgiles.
Urgiles, originally from Ecuador, didn’t realize until about two years ago that his photography was gathering attention. Social media and specifically Instagram became his biggest platform, now @erickhercules has reached almost 70 thousand Instagram followers.
What makes Instagram unique is the creative community that has been created through its’ means. Many are unaware that there is a secret society that has come into fruition within the past couple years. Every month or so Instagrammers come together from all over the world at what they call “Insta-meets”, which are usually hosted in major cities, New York City being one of the most visited due to the overabundance of creativity that walks its’ streets. At these events Instagrammers have the opportunity to praise their fellow artist’s and photographer’s work in person, thus creating a more close-knit artistic community.
What Instagram has enabled is a way for individuals to come together and mutually benefit from each other’s talents. With an interim so wide there are limitless opportunities presented to the virtual artistic community.
“After a while this community has become an integral part of my growth as a photographer because I get inspired on the daily by all the amazing photographers I follow that truly make me take MY art to the next level,” says Urgiles, “I'm sure this works both ways. We tend to keep each other on our toes, seeing what each of us has to offer, and then learning from that and applying it to our art.”
What poses a challenge to aspiring photographers and artists attempting to get noticed on social media is the immense amount of competition that is already out there. Urgiles has managed to set himself apart and has created his own small community of Instagrammers through creating and coining the hashtags #thepuddlegames, #puddlegram, #iphoneonly, #bringthephoneback and #welevitate, through which he has been noticed by Humans of New York and websites such as; Buzzfeed.com, Risingabovethenoise.com, PE.greats.com, Scoge.co and Cyclonelife.net
Instagram has provided thousands of aspiring artists and photographers to expose their work in hopes of becoming successful, Urgiles has already been contacted by the likes of Mercedes Benz, Marc Ecko, Palladium Boots and Stutterheim Raincoats, just to name a few, to represent their brands through his unique photography style.
@erickhercules on #welevitate: “What inspires me the most is the transient feeling of ‘supernatural’ that one can capture in an elevated portrait.” says Urgiles, “I also realized that if my subject is captured midair, the viewer is pulled into an image that holds a moment in motion that has not yet reached its conclusion — hence, defying gravity, even if only for a momentary pause. To me, that definitely tells a captivating story of unpredictability since we don’t yet know what will follow.”
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