Intro (It’s all gonna be OK)

Hello all, and thanks for reading (or rather, thanks for reading in the future, as this is just my first post and nobody knows about this blog yet). The About Us page will tell you some quick biographical information about Caleb and I, but I wanted to make another kind of introduction as well, letting you know where I’m at in my photographic career and why the desire to blog about it.

Well, I’m at the very beginning, career-wise. While I’ve been studying photography off and on since high school, and maintained my first photo website from 2001-2003 (photos I took while participating in various protests and campaigns as a social justice activist), I never tried to make a living off of it until now. Back in 2003, ColorLines magazine contacted me because they were writing an article on a friend of mine, and I had taken a photo of him they wanted to use. Seeing it in print was the jolt I needed to realize I might actually be able to do this for work one day. Of course it took another 4 years at my 9-5 job to save some money and enroll in the professional photography program at NESOP.

Now that I’ve graduated with a few portfolios under my arm, I’m venturing into my new career at an interesting and challenging time. While newspapers cut pages and layoff staff, magazines fold and/or budgets decrease, somehow gossip magazines can still manage to enter multi-million dollar bidding wars just for photos of Brad and Angelina’s new babies (I think this says a lot more about our society’s collective priorities today than the world of print media, but that’s a whole other discussion). I know there are more photographers out there than jobs, by far. I also know that I’m just one of many new talents trying to squeeze into a field already wracked with competition. It seems that everyone wants to remind me of this on a regular basis. My replies have boiled down to the usual “I know, it’s tough, I have some ideas, we’ll see what happens, I want to focus on making some more work and getting it out there, no I don’t mind having a day job for now, blah blah blah”. I try not to be delusional and at the same time be optimistic and believe in my work. I go back and forth between reaching for large goals and focusing on small victories. Currently, life is ping-pong, but I don’t expect otherwise.

Right now I’m assisting a couple fine art photographers/artists. I’m sharing a one-room studio apartment with my little sister. I don’t have nearly enough paid work yet, but am submitting to as many contests and participating in as many portfolio reviews as I can afford. My first show will be this fall (details to come). I’m painting my dad’s barn next week to make some extra cash. I’m printing and planning for my first Open Studios experience in September. I’ve decided to view this era of my life as a time to collect interesting stories to tell when I’m a successful photographer, about the amusing things I had to do to pay the bills until I was able to make a living off my work. Growing that list and remaining positive about it seems like the best way to get through right now. And of course, making photos every chance I get.

So the desire to create a blog came from a few needs. First, people say having a blog is a great way to promote your work and drive traffic to your website. I have some ideas about whether this is true or not, but I’ll save them. For now I’m testing the waters. More importantly to me is the second reason, which is that I miss the photographic community that was freely available to me while I was a student, and although I’m working to keep that going with friends, former instructors, etc, I want more ways to connect and start communicating with folks I don’t know yet. Third, I just have a lot to say.

I hope you enjoy what’s to come. Caleb and I have a lot of ideas for Existing Light, and some perspectives that we feel aren’t necessarily represented yet in the photo blog world. I’m excited to be sharing this blog with Caleb, not only because he’s a great photographer who’s work I really enjoy and admire, but also a friend and an overall smart and thoughtful person. While many other blogs have slowed down for the summer, this is our time to kick it up and really produce an interesting and critical blog worth reading, so please subscribe and/or check back often!