[MAGAZINE] PHOTO RETROSPECTIVE: RAYS CORRUPTED MIND

You should be familiar with his work if you’ve been lurking on Travis Scott’s Instagram, but in case you’re yet to discover RAYSCORRUPTEDMIND, meet the photographer that’s shot your favourite rapper and WCW. From humble beginnings, he’s built an ever-growing cult-following with his work.
 
While working with Scott, RAYSCORRUPTEDMIND’s network has spread throughout music and social scenes. Typical photos show him hanging with everyone from Winnie Harlow to Bloody Osiris. His subjects are diverse, but always can’t-sit-with-us levels of iconic.
 
Take a look at his portfolio in these very pages, with appearances from Yung Lean, Kendrick Lamar, and – naturally – an unpublished photo of Metro Boomin throwing a stack of cash on a stripper’s ass. Because, let’s be real, nothing says Get Money like blowing a rack at the strip club… We caught up with the gram’s most cult shooter to hear the stories behind his best known images…
 
How did you get into photography?
Before I moved to New York, this kid Josh I used to know had a camera. One day, it was probably like two in the morning and we were hanging out in front of my ex-girlfriend’s house; he had the camera in his car, I just grabbed the camera and started shooting with it. Then I was looking at the images and I was like, “wow this is actually fun to do,” so I started picking up a camera and shooting with it. Then I moved to New York, probably like a month after that and I still had no idea how to use a camera, so I just used to be in New York by myself practising, shooting different objects and stuff, to learn lighting until I felt confident enough to shoot people. I eventually went out and started shooting my friends.
 
As a creative artist, is there anyone we’d be surprised to know you’re influenced by?
My idols are Andy Warhol and Michael Jackson but I try not to focus on other people’s stuff because I’m so focused on what I’m doing. I like my stuff to be perfect, I don’t really look at other people’s work, I just try to think how can I make mine even better.
 
With photography becoming more accessible to everyone, do you think it’s a good or bad thing?
I think it’s a good thing because kids love getting to see what their favourite artist is doing besides what the media shows them. There’s kids getting to see behind the scenes, it’s way better for them because they get to see more of what their favourite artists are doing nowadays, not just what the magazines are putting out there, you can see their actual lifestyle. It keeps the kids happy and inspired.
 
This is an extract from Issue 9, The Get Money Issue of Viper Magazine. Read more from the magazine here. Buy physical and digital copies here.
 
@rayscorruptedmind