Biography:
Pending
Awards:
POYi’s Community Awareness Award
The Magenta Foundation’s Bright Spark Award
Finalist for the W. Eugene Smith Grant
Selected for the 16th World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass,
2010 Juried Fellowship at the Houston Center For Photography
2nd place in POYi 67
One of PDN’s 30 Emerging Photographers to Watch
Clients: Newsweek, Mother Jones, TIME, The FADER, Smithsonian, More, The New York Times, US News and World Report, The Wall Street Journal, Apple, The Canadian Opera Company and others.
Web site:
Blog:
How did you start photography?
I guess when I was about ten I went on a road trip with my grandfather… He and I were driving through the mountains in North Carolina and he gave me this little point and shoot camera. I took some snapshots, but I had no idea what I was doing. But I remember getting the pictures back in particular and it triggered this emotional response and captured a little bit of what it was like to be there.
How did you find your personal vision or your style of photography?
Style is kind of a fickle thing; it changes here and there. I definitely can’t say I found a style, but I can tell you what I like to photograph and what interests me. I think that style adapts to the subject matter a lot of the time. It’s a little more nuanced, I feel like I’m not at the age where I feel like I have a style, I’m still very happy to be evolving and not really know who I am is rather exciting.
In the recent Joop Master Class, would you be able to explain what your vision was for this particular assignment?
The theme they gave this year was Touch. I wanted to find something that really embodied the topic, and I thought about photographing a lot of families out in Ohio, and I actually started working at a strip club in Florida.
What’s your one best piece of advice for how a college photographer can prepare now for success in the photography marketplace after graduation?
I can tell you all the things I wish I knew. I technically left Athens last year in June, and I haven’t been out a full ear yet. I knew I didn’t understand the business sides of things enough, and I wasn’t thinking in more broad terms about the body of my work. I wasn’t thinking about the very limited editorial market as opposed to tapping into other various resources out there like the art world. And photojournalism sometimes is definitely where my roots are, but sometimes it’s very self-reflective as far as the dialogue it puts forth, and that was what we were taught to communicate through—that there is this one avenue but there’s others out there. In short, I’d say don’t limit yourself and find places for your work that are non-conventional.
Could you expand on the business side of the photojournalism world after you graduated?
The opportunities for staff jobs are just not going to be there. So coming out of college with that, some people follow fall into the trap of, well, if I’m not going to work at a newspaper, then I can freelance for magazines. But magazines are cutting back, and folding, and even if they weren’t, it’s still hard to support yourself at that small rate of pay. So people need to think outside of the box, film their projects around weddings that they’re hired for, I know some people who went down to Mexico and after they shot a documentary around the culture. People have to be creative in ways to find funding. And get ready to write grants.
What technical photography/videography skills will be valued in the next few years?
I’ve actually been going backwards. I shot digital all throughout college and since I’ve left, I started buying film cameras and shooting more and more films. I shoot a little bit of video but it’s mostly just family stuff. I’m just gathering, so I’m definitely not a technological guru, but I figure I’ll try and get better at that once I feel like I’m comfortable with my photograph.
You emphasize how documenting your family is extremely important?
I had a conversation with a friend who had a professor say to him that your life is uniquely yours, and nobody else has the access that you do. So I got to thinking that, yeah, I have no excuse to shoot my family, and if I can’t turn my camera on them, how can I expect anyone else to open up to me. Photography is all about relationships and trust.
What are the names of two or three photographers whose work you presently admire?
The guy who helped me edit my work at the Masterclass was a roommate of mine from school. His name is Peter McCollough. And his work is really fascinating to me; he takes that personal stuff to a whole other level. He’s really pushed back against journalism, most of his work out there is art, but is really fascinating in my mind.
I interned at the Oregonian in 2007 and one of the editors there, Mike Davis, had been really good to know and pushed me on projects and gave me a lot of perspective on things.
Any good photography books out there we should be looking for?
I started reading a book called The Photograph As Contemporary Art, by Charlotte Cotton, and that’s been rocking my little world.
I’d say that you need to study photography, read about it, be a student of it, even out of college. Buy business books, and savvy up. I think one thing that people don’t think of is that if your work isn’t out there; it’s not going to get seen. Rejection hurts, but for every line on my resume, there’s at least three rejections. You just have to keep pushing and be persistent—don’t give up and learn how you work best.
Interviewed By: David Cumming
