Trey Ratcliff and Stuck
In Customs
Media Kit 2023
Meet Trey Ratcliff
Trey Ratcliff, a visionary artist and trailblazer, passionately endeavors to promote consciousness and mindfulness globally through the captivating power of photography and creativity. As the guy behind StuckInCustoms.com, the world’s premier travel photography blog, Ratcliff has traversed all seven continents, capturing awe-inspiring images that have garnered an astounding 140 billion views on Google and attracted a loyal following of over 7 million on social media.
Trey Ratcliff is a Smithsonian exhibited, Sotheby’s auctioned, National Geographic featured, photographer, artist, writer and adventurer
His fine art is collected by people all around the world including from knights to professional sports stars to celebrities like Edward Norton and Leonardo DiCaprio. Trey’s images examine the tension between this reality and another. He is driven to help spread consciousness and love around the world.
In 2021 Trey launched a series of NFTs ranging from more traditional landscapes and cityscapes as well as Burning Man to others which explore AI based art. In 2022 he continued the success of the previous drops with a series of 1000 stories from 1000 places which sold out in 1 hour. Combined his NFT series have exceeded 1500ETH in sales putting Trey at the forefront of the Photography NFT market.
Each day, Trey posts a new photo to his website, Stuck In Customs, the world’s #1 Travel Photography blog, which receives over one million monthly page views. During travels, Trey often has live events where he gives art talks that are full of crazy stories from everything from Burning Man to being arrested in China. The talks are inspirational and help encourage people to find themselves and presence through creativity.
His photos have been viewed over 140 billion times and he currently has over 7 million social media followers. He uses these platforms to help inspire the world to be a better place.
Brief Bio
Hello! I’m quite a humble person, really, but I know people visit this page want to know more about me. I’m actually egoless, which I think is the greatest creative gift any artist can give to one’s self. A few quick highlights before you read the rest of the story.
Bio written by my Publicist in the 3rd Person
Trey Ratcliff is an artist on a somewhat quixotic mission to help spread consciousness and mindfulness to the world through photography and creativity. Running the #1 travel photography blog in the world, StuckInCustoms.com, has taken him to all seven continents over the past decade, and Google has tracked more than 140 billion views of his photos, all while building a social media presence with over 7 million followers.
Chris Anderson from TED called him a “pioneer” of the genre of High Dynamic Range photography. Ratcliff had the first HDR photograph to hang in the Smithsonian Museum and, sales of his large-format limited edition prints to fine art collectors worldwide have grown into a multimillion-dollar business. In 2012, he moved to Queenstown, New Zealand, before it became a trendy doomsday contingency plan.
Trey has collectors of his fine art from all around the world. These include everyone from knights to professional football players to celebrities like Edward Norton and Leonardo DiCaprio.
A more quirky and personal Bio in brief bullet points
- I was born blind in one eye and still only see out of my left. I call it “The Gift.”
- My degree was Computer Science and Math and I did that for 25 years before finally diving full-time into my creative side.
- I started the blog StuckInCustoms.com immediately after getting a camera. I began sharing one photo per day, plus stories and free tutorials to help everyone enjoy this strange world of HDR Photography that I was discovering for myself.
- I’m really into meditation and yoga. I also go to the Burning Man festival every single year and love it.
- I sell large format, limited edition, prints to collectors around the world. In 2017 we passed the $1 million mark in total sales. All fine art information is available at TreyRatcliff.com.
- In 2021 the fine art business expanded into NFTs where they quickly surpassed millions of dollars in sales (1500ETH). You can view my NFTs on OpenSea, Foundation and MakersPlace. For something a little different, check out my AI NFT project over here …or my new photography drop here.
- In 2022 in collaboration with Diageo/Brora one of Trey’s fine art prints was auctioned at Sotheby’s in London with a closing price of over $1million USD.
- What’s the core reason I do all of this? I want to help spread consciousness and presence to the world. It’s hard to teach billions to meditate, but you can help teach them photography and creativity. I believe when people are being creative they are being fully present and conscious, and that’s the best thing we all can do for the world.
Fine Art Portfolio
NFT Portfolio
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
JJ Abrams
Director & Writer – Star Trek, Lost, Mission: Impossible III, Fringe, Super 8, some Star Warses
Trey’s images are other-worldly, mind-blowing creations that, at first glance, appear to be some digital trompe l’oeil; a Photoshop trickery post production creation. But no, Ratcliff’s photographs — through techniques he freely shares — are inspiring and real. Something which makes them all the more incredible.
Hans Zimmer
Composer – The Lion King, Gladiator, Batman, Inception, Sherlock Holmes, Pirates of the Caribbean, Interstellar, Dune
Trey’s pictures are a daily source of inspiration for me. I can’t count the times that I’ve gotten stuck in my writing and, as I sit there staring at my computer screen desperately trying to think of the next idea, the screensaver kicks in with one of Trey’s images, and the shapes and colors triggered something in me that got me to the next note…
Steve Wozniak
Co-founder, Apple Computer Inc. Philanthropist, Silicon Valley Icon and “The Woz”
“To me, it’s great art.”
Patrick Rothfuss
Author – The Name of the Wind, The Wise Man’s Fear, The Doors of Stone
Someone once told me that a photographer is an artist that paints with light. I never understood what that meant until I saw Trey’s work.
Burning Man, Nevada
Social Reach
Trey is in a unique and influential position with over 7 million online followers. He is the #1 most followed male on Pinterest and is in the top 1% of followed individuals on Instagram.
Social Media
Photo Views
Google tracks Total Views of Trey’s photos. In 2017, total views surpassed 140 billion and continues to grow rapidly.
Some of Trey’s photos go viral, amassing millions, and sometimes billions, of views.
Trey also gets over 35+ million impressions on his Pinterest per month.
Trey’s verified Facebook fan page is growing every week.
Audience
Trey’s audience largely consists of people with disposable income seeking inspiration and adventure. They span all ages across more than 110 countries, and are passionate about travel, high-tech gadgets, the environment, camera equipment, and learning photography. They follow Trey for his art, stories, product reviews and tutorials.
Trey’s YouTube channel, now with 10+ Million video views, has a variety of content from inspirational to educational, funny to reflective, and spanning America to Zimbabwe.
Newsletter
Sent monthly to over 90,000 subscribers with an open rate 75% higher than the industry average.
Dry Valleys, Antarctica
Stuck In Customs
Website Reach
Here are some examples of the reach of the website and the audience interaction with reviews and tutorials…
- #1 Travel Photography Blog
- Monthly Page Views – 1M+
- Monthly Visitors – 300K+
- Monthly Unique – 200K+
- Free HDR Tutorial – 6M+ views
- Nikon reviews – 2M+ views
- Sony reviews – 1.5M + views
- DJI Quadcopter reviews – 350K+ views
- DJI Quadcopter Giveaway – 2,800 comments
South Island, New Zealand
Stuck In Customs Store
Trey Ratcliff has developed his own unique style of teaching. It’s based on an artist’s natural instincts of curiosity. Trey’s tutorials have helped millions take their first few steps on the path to creating their own kind of art.
- 10+ million YouTube Views
- More than 30 products available in Trey’s store
- Millions of dollars in online sales
- His products are sold in countless stores around the world
Mandapa, Bali
Design Partnerships
Peak Design
The Everyday Messenger, Backpack, Tote and Sling
Trey, in a partnership with Peak Design, designed four beautiful and functional camera and “everyday” bags. They became the #2 most-funded project in Kickstarter history behind the Pebble Watch, raising more than $10 million during the two Kickstarters.
“I was sick of all my camera bags. There was always something lacking! So one day I called up my friends at Peak Design and we started a year-long project to design the ultimate bag. I can’t believe how well it was received around the world!”
- #1 most funded bag products in Kickstarter history
- #1 most funded camera product in Kickstarter history
- Helped Peak Design to reach the 2nd most crowd-funded company
Skylum
Aurora HDR
Trey partnered with Skylum to develop the world’s most advanced HDR software. With Trey’s promotional help Aurora HDR has been downloaded over 3 million times!
The idea that after 10 years I finally got to create my own HDR photography software and jam-pack it with all my favorite tricks was absolutely intoxicating!
Venice, Italy
Brand Partnerships
#80 Stays Around the World, Japan
My team and I recently visited four great cities in Japan as part of our ongoing 80 Stays around the World tour. Check out this short video with highlights from Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and Okinawa!
#80 Stays Around the World, Europe
During our #80Stays European tour we hosted a series of free photo walks across 10 major cities. Trey’s fans came out in force in Lisbon, Barcelona, Milan, Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Vienna, Budapest and Moscow. We were fortunate to work with some great sponsors including, The Ritz-Carlton, Air New Zealand, Flixbus and SmugMug. Look below for a full recap of our trip.
Trey’s Photo Walk Across the USA
During August and September of 2015 we traveled from New York to Los Angeles on a coach bus stopping in 13 cities across the USA. We held huge photo walks with legions of fans in each location. Sponsors included Google, The Ritz-Carlton Hotels, DJI, DxO, Skylum and many more. The campaign was a tremendous success. Click below for a deep dive into the marketing results.
Facebook + DJI LIVE Streaming
In early 2016 Facebook and DJI, the leading drone manufacturer, approached Trey to help test, launch and promote the first live video streams from an airborne drone onto the Facebook Live platform. The pivotal moment was broadcast in real-time during Facebook’s F8 conference.
FT lauderdale, FLORIDA
Published Author
Under the Influence – How to Fake Your Way into Getting Rich on Instagram
Influencer Fraud, Selfies, Anxiety, Ego, and Mass Delusional Behavior
In 2019 Trey wrote and published a book which exposes the cunning tricks Social Media Influencers use to buy their way into the lucrative, multi-billion dollar world of social media brand sponsorship, world travel, and free merchandise.
In the book you’ll discover the Instagram black market, hidden in plain sight. Meet these fake “Influencers” – with seemingly glamorous lives, but no real sway on social media – who are fraudulently cheating the system by buying likes, comments, and followers. You’ll find out how little the social networks and agencies are actually doing to protect major brands across every industry, who these Influencers are defrauding to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
This widespread deception has side effects that are more than just monetary. The seemingly perfect, glamorous lives of these Influencers, combined with social media algorithms engineered to get you to keep clicking, cause many of us to feel anxious and unsettled after using social media.
You’ll learn how to spot fake accounts, and discover how it’s possible to stay zen on the Internet – without needing to unplug completely.
“You can often learn how something works by how it breaks. The thing I really like about the book is way Trey shines x-ray beams into a broken system and thereby illuminates how it works. Once one understands how the system works, the reader can then optimize it for good. While Trey educates us on how to fake influence, this book is really about how to create genuine positive influence — and why it is more powerful and sustainable. This is also a tremendous resource for those who employ Influencers, because it gives you different smell tests to discern the genuine from the imposters, protecting your own reputation and money. I’d go so far to say the discernment and media skills entailed in this book should be a required literacy in every high schooler’s education. You’ve heard of critical media skills? This is critical Influencing skills.”
Kevin Kelly, Founder of WIRED and Author of The Inevitable and What Technology Wants
Dubai, Uae
Speaking Engagements
Trey is an engaging and inspirational public speaker. He has given speeches at Google, Facebook, Pinterest, TEDx and various universities and conferences around the world.
TEDx
Google Zeitgeist
Queenstown, New Zealand
Photography Workshops
Thousands of people fly from around the globe to participate in Trey’s Photography Adventure Workshops. These are transformative experiences far beyond what people have come to know as photography workshops. Locations have included Portugal, France, New Zealand, Australia, Namibia, the United Kingdom and many more.
Patagonia, Argentina
Collectable Fine Art
Trey’s art is available as large format prints in sizes from 1 – 3 meters wide, ranging from $15,000 to $95,000 based on availability. Sales to fine-art collectors worldwide have grown into a multimillion-dollar business.
Printing Process at Grieger
All prints have been produced by Grieger in Dusseldorf, Germany. Grieger is the foremost printer and fabricator of photography in the world and has a long history with some of the world’s great photographers – Andreas Gursky, Thomas Ruff, and Thomas Struth amongst them.
Series 1 – Classic Works
The original 21 works span the wonder around the world. By “wonder,” this is an exploration of the delicate tension between what is real and what is a creation of the mind. Certainly, there is a truth, but it is a relative truth that only makes sense on an individual level. Each of these 21 works is in a Limited Edition of only three prints.
Series 2 – Exploring Man’s Natural Metagrowth
There is a natural complexity that grows out of the earth. Insofar as the Earth grows humans, humans, in turn, create organic, living structures. The same forces that create forests create villages, cities, and mega-cities. This series explores that complexity and spirals into where man finds himself amidst complexity, and ultimately to a world with no human existence. Each of these 21 works is in a Limited Edition of 5 prints.
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