Garrett Martin Spotlight
Garrett Martin
Written by Nor Osborne, January 2026
Garrett Martin vividly remembers the first roll of film he ever shot. While visiting Mexico with his grandparents, he stopped at a photo hut on the side of the road, excitedly picking out a 110 Mickey Mouse instamatic camera. Running through a cactus patch, he snapped photos of the plants blindly, before his grandma ran over, slowing his roll. It was there, on the side of the road in Mexico, that his grandma taught him how to steady his hands, find a perfect moment, focus, and click.
His first time developing a roll of film didn’t come until years later, a high schooler squirreled away in the back of his high school’s dark room. He’d taken all of the available art classes and was still hungry for more, so his art teacher worked with him one on one, mentoring him on the intricacies of photography.
“I still remember that moment, pulling the film out into the light… It was magic. I was hooked. I got the bug,” Garrett says.
After graduating high school, Garrett jumped to open his own photography studio, partnered with his brother-in-law. Centered in an office on E. Broadway St in Granville, he got his start, shooting weddings and senior portraits. That is until his brother-in-law had to move on, find a more stable career to support his growing family.
“It was then I realized that I need a much more realistic plan,” Garrett says.
Garrett enrolled in Central Ohio Technical College program "Digital Media Design Program" studying photography to bolster his marketing and design skills for his personal photography business, Martin Digital.
By chance, Garrett ended up being hired to photograph the provost’s daughter’s wedding. The provost, blown away by Garrett’s professionalism and talent, offered him a part-time teaching position after graduation.
“Through the time that I spent in the classroom as a student, I never learned as much as I did in the five years that I was teaching,” Garret says. “I had so many students that asked me what would be rudimentary questions, but they would approach it in so many different ways. I learned to approach a topic from multiple avenues, and came to understand those ‘basic concepts’ in new, mind- blowing ways.”
Garrett moved on from his teaching position, launching a new company with some of the best technical designers he’d met at the school. His company, Stand Alone Media House, merged elements of design, marketing, and advertising with their digital expertise. They were commissioned for marketing and branding for a wide variety of groups including Explore Licking County, Canal Market District in Newark, and Park National Bank.
“It kind of chokes me up thinking about it,” Garrett says. “It was such, like an inspiring time in my life, to be surrounded by so many creative, resourceful people.”
But Garrett was ready to become a father.
“That was kind of a poignant turning point for me. I was no longer willing to be the starving artist because it wasn’t just me relying on income.”
He was offered a stable position working remotely for Explore Licking County, creatively reimagining tourism marketing for the county.
“I hit a really fun point in my career. I was able to stop taking wedding contracts and other bookings, something that had started to kill the joy of the art. It opened so many opportunities to me, but with my nose to the grindstone, I hadn’t been able to explore photography how I wanted.”
He no longer had to focus on editing, strict guidelines, or perfection. It shifted the meaning of the work, he was no longer photoshopping, but capturing the essence of a moment in time.
“Theres a sense of pride in knowing the work we do is something longstanding, it leaves our mark on the community,” Garrett says. “Art is so much more than paint on a canvas, it’s about leaving a legacy.”