Stephen Butkus is a creative director working across visual identity, campaigns, and imagery.

He began photographing at a young age, moving through subcultures, music scenes, and nightlife before fashion became the framework. That early work shaped how he sees — instinct first, structure later.

Over the last 25 years, his career has spanned fashion, swim, portraiture, and editorial work. Not as categories, but as environments to understand people, taste, and how images actually live in the world. His work has appeared in publications such as Vogue, Elle, Dazed, Wallpaper, VICE, and Harper’s Bazaar.

What sits underneath all of it is direction.

Long before titles and decks, Stephen was already doing the work most brands struggle to name: deciding tone, editing noise, choosing what not to shoot, and building visual language that holds over time. On set, he’s known for being precise without being rigid — instinctive, but intentional.

Today, he works with brands and artists who care about authorship. Sometimes that leads into full campaign execution. Sometimes it stops at direction. The form changes, but the focus stays the same: work that feels considered, human, and honest.

Stephen is based in Bali and works globally.