You’ve probably seen photographer Michael Muller’s movie posters, but perhaps you haven’t heard about the adventure that brought him into photography in the first place.

Muller was born in Northern California, where he lived with his family before moving to Saudi Arabia. He lived overseas until he was fifteen, visiting more than fifty countries. Compelled by his travels, Muller picked up a camera. Back in the United States, teenager Muller began capturing professional snowboarding.

By the time he turned 22, Muller’s passion grew into becoming a leading entertainment and fashion photographer. He has celebrity portraits of Joaquin Phoenix, Brad Pitt, and Scarlett Johansson under his belt among so many others, as well as pages and covers for Vanity Fair, Elle, and Rolling Stone. He is also the cameraman behind the iconic movie posters for The Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Iron Man trilogy. Most recently, Muller has focused on underwater shark photography. He has worked on a studio lighting system which he takes underwater to light ocean life.

You can check out more of Muller’s work here on Creatively and @hellocreatively on Instagram.

What is the first creative project you remember?

I was 15-16 years old traveling all over Europe shooting for Vertical Addiction, the first-ever snowboarding calendar ever made.

Describe your aesthetic in three words.

Organic Hyper Realism.

What was the most fulfilling collaboration you’ve worked on?

The most fulfilling collaboration so far would be the shark project which took about 17 years to complete. I’m doing something to help the ocean, and animals, not helping a company with their image. I’m just doing it for the love of it. That’s the most fulfilling type of work. It’s like we always say, people protect what they love.

What’s one creative project that taught you something fundamental about yourself?

Every project teaches me something about myself. Only over time and experience, you can go from hope to faith to complete trust, which is where I’m at and have been out for about a decade now. Any shoot I show up to, I know I’ll get it done, no matter what the situation is.

Do you think creativity is something you’re born with or something you’re taught?

I think creativity is something you’re born with but it definitely takes nurturing. You need to work at it just like an athlete needs to work on their muscles. You have to be shooting every day to work that creative muscle. One of the challenges I see today with digital, people just shoot continuously and hope for that one photo they were lucky on. I learned on film (where every photo cost me two dollars), so I made every shot count.

What’s the last dream you had?

The last dream I had would be the app I created. A dream that started small and has grown into a massive novel of dreams. It requires a lot of footwork and asking for help from people who know a lot more than me.

One hundred years from now, what do you hope people write about your work?

That I cared deeply.

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