Half Hawaiian, Half Swedish, Willy Branlund emerged on the photography scene after spending six years as a assistant/lighting tech for Michael Thompson and Michael Muller.

“Growing up surfing and working my family’s land in Hawai’i has a lot to do with my photography.

Like my childhood, my process is simple. I ask questions of my sitters. I get answers. And the answers are photographed.”

It takes Willy Branlund — literally — seconds to get a shot. He doesn’t close his eyes, hold down the button, and pray; there’s a purpose behind each photograph he makes. Every clip reveals a beautiful nuance of reality.

Ultimately, like his close Hawaiian family ties, the intimacy he has with his subjects is the thread that holds everything together.

Willy Branlund’s photography represents who he is as a son, a dad, a friend and an artist — no touch-ups, no Photoshop, unabashedly truthful, untethered.