Corporate Recruiter by Day, Master Photographer by Night

Neil Genel, who serves the People & Culture team as a corporate recruiter, meets potential job candidates at career fairs and through other channels to fill open positions at M&R’s managed hotels and corporate office. Outside of work, he is an accomplished photographer, having traveled widely around the world, his camera close at hand, photographing people, historic sites and landscapes that catch his eye. 

“Everyone has a story,” Neil said when asked about a possible connection between his work as a recruiter and his photography, specifically portraits of people. “When I meet possible job candidates, I’m getting a sense of that person, their personality and whether they would be a good fit for the available position. In the same way, when I am photographing subjects in Europe or Asia, I’m trying to put them at ease, while getting a feel for who they are and what their life is like.”

A native of Turkey who emigrated to the United States in his early twenties, Neil has been interested in photography and travel since he was a youngster. The two interests developed hand-in-hand. He photographs in both color and black-and-white. “I don’t really favor one over the other, much depends on the subject and the light,” he said.

Given the advances in technology, Neil – like most photographers today – uses digital equipment and displays his work on a website, www.chasingtheunusual.com. He estimated he has visited 40 U.S. states and plans to take his camera soon to Alaska, Japan and Vietnam.

See a sample of Neil’s portfolio below: