Words With Woody Gooch

Dec 01, 2025

There’s a calmness to photographer Woody Gooch’s work. Some might even call it a quiet pulse that hums somewhere between intuition and serendipity, unfolding with a kind of ease. For Woody, the art lies not in control but in recognition, in knowing when a scene has found its own rhythm, and being present to catch it before it slips away.

Your photos feel like they’ve been meditating for three days straight and just achieved minor enlightenment. How do you approach capturing that feeling when shooting?

I like to approach my subjects with complete spontaneity, letting intuition take the lead rather than overthinking the process. I thrive on entering each shoot without fixed plans or expectations - it keeps the experience raw, alive, and unpredictable for me. There’s a certain energy that comes from trusting the moment, and somehow, that beautiful chaos always finds its rhythm. More often than not, the results surprise me in the best way possible

How do you balance divine chaos with meticulous control when you’re behind the lens... especially if the elements are improvising and your subject's (not Eddy, obviously) mood could swing with the tide?

I think the trick is to let chaos do most of the talking, I just decide when to listen. I’m not really interested in controlling the moment - I’m more interested in recognizing when it’s already perfect. If the elements are improvising and the subject’s mood shifts, that’s usually when something real starts to happen. My job is just to stay present enough to catch it before it disappears.

We like to think Deus is fairly fluid when it comes to briefing a project, however, how do you balance your own creative rhythm when shooting content for a brand?

I feel that most clients I work with give me a fair bit of room to just be myself - to come back with a creative and genuine approach that reflects the trust they placed in me from the start. For me, that trust is everything. It’s the backbone of any good collaboration and the foundation for finding the rhythm that makes the work truly come to life.