In our new ‘Natural Born Influencers’ series, we interview young creative talents who are taking the world by storm, presented by Oakley. Donslens wears the Oakley Latch, available at Oakley O stores, online and at Hype DC.

Over the past few years, Donslens has become one of dance music’s most prominent photographers, thanks to his relentless work ethic and nomadic lifestyle.

Hailing from Philadelphia, Donslens now lives in Los Angeles, but spends most of his time on the road shooting gigs, festivals and backstage antics. Moreover, he’s found a second home of sorts in Australia – accompanying artists on their tours Down Under and also taking snaps alongside LWA’s own photographer Jack Bennett.

With a wealth of experience under his belt and hard drives on hard drives of memorable images, we speak to Donslens about his craft and the unusual lifestyle that comes with it.

How did you build such a strong reputation within the dance community?

By working very hard, being consistent and trying to be a good person. It’s always good to have a lot of value outside of clicking buttons. I think mine can be attributed to a few things – mainly ‘Straya. But seriously, I have dabbled in audio engineering, rigging, I used to play drums and I also DJ at a semi legitimate level which is funny. But really, it’s just about being able to understand people and being a photographer that helps a lot.

How important has Instagram and social media been to your business and brand?

I’ve never thought about it too hard, I think I’ve always just been good at it. A lot of kids are focusing on having a lot of followers now before having their own actual business up and running, and I think that’s a little backwards. Focus on the stuff that pays your rent first and you can get followers later. I never really thought about it until they just started coming around.

What’s the best thing you’ve received in your DMs?

I actually hate DMs, they freak me out. One time this person said they had a joint for me after the show. We had to leave right away so I’ll never know.

Imagine that you got asked to shoot Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign. Would you say yes and if so, how would you approach it?

I would say yes, multiply my rate by 900, and then secretly sabotage the entire operation. I would also get a lot of photos of his hands.

Did you have a ‘holy fuck’ moment when you knew you had made it?

Kind of recently, we were in São Paulo, Brazil on a helipad about 40 floors up on top of a hotel for the OWSLA Beats 1 Radio show with Skrillex, Flosstradamus, Halsey, and Diplo. They ordered roof service, not room service. I took a lot of photos, and looking at them in my camera standing there I was like “Damn, this is cool as shit!”

What are the dynamics of the music photography industry? Are there cliques and crews? Where does Jack Bennett fit into this?

The dynamics are interesting. The people that will shine are business-minded, open-minded and also really fuckin’ good. Jack may possess all or none of those qualities, I don’t care what everyone says about him, he’s a good lad. I think sticking close to a crew is important but it’s also important to be open and spread your wings.

Which artists would you like to work with in the future?

To be honest I just want to keep doing what I’m doing now with all the artists I am working with. I love all of them, and wouldn’t imagine it any other way. I bet I’ll add a couple sneaky more people into the mix, but I’ll let those happen naturally.

What’s your key to staying sane on the road?

The key to staying sane on the road is having clean underwear. I also walk a lot when we get to different cities, I think a lot of walking does the body good, plus sightseeing is chill. And just be positive literally all of the time, it rubs off on people. Don’t be negative, ain’t nobody got time for that.

What’s your craziest tour story to date?

It’s really weird when you’re in a different country you’ve never been to, and some little human at a show comes up to you and asks “Are you Donslens?” My heart always skips a beat. In English or what little English they know, they say that they love my photos and it’s one of the coolest things and feelings ever.

What’s the process after you shoot a show? Party time or straight to editing?

I’m really fast at editing photos. Sometimes I’ll literally walk off stage dump the photos and just dive right in. Sometimes I get a little trigger happy and click 1000 times so it can take a bit to sort through them. But yes, a beer during editing is required.

What’s your all-time favourite flick you’ve taken?

I’m so bad with favorites. As of late I think my favorite one that I shot recently was of Halsey and Ninja from Die Antwoord as they were coming off stage with Jack Ü in Argentina at Lollapalooza. They were both having so much fun and Ninja has his arm around her and you can see their huge smiles. The massive heaving crowd for Jack Ü is behind them, and it goes as far as the eye can see.

How hard is it to balance your work/fun ratio, especially in a fun job surrounded by friends?

It’s always interesting figuring that part out. I’m always learning about ways to better balance on that tight rope, waiting until after the show to have a beer is always a good rule.

What’s the craziest thing you’ve done for a shot?

I climbed a speaker stack one time in Europe and getting down took much longer than expected… It was worth it though.

Which artist that you’ve toured with has the most insane fans?

Halsey definitely has the most passionate fans. They come to the gig like a day early to wait. In Sweden it was so cold so she sent out 100 hot chocolates to them – The love goes both ways!