“…Make sure that you love doing it because it's not easy. It's not just about having a camera and just being able to take pictures. Anybody could do that, but if you really want to make captivating work, then you need to know how to develop a story behind what you shoot. Have a purpose for what you shoot and love what you shoot.”

How has your photography evolved over the years?

I would say I finally have found my style. I finally mastered my look to the point where if someone see a picture, they can tell that I took that picture just by the way I shoot or my subject matter. As well as me actually going through a more film photography direction, being able to actually master the art of film photography and mastering the use of a film camera, especially medium format. So I feel like now my work is kind of like, I finally found my style. I found who I am as a photographer. Now I'm kind of just sharpening my tools now.

Does ATL & NYC play a part in your creative thought process in shooting?

Oh, definitely. I tend to find whenever I'm down in Atlanta, I tend to more so go back to my roots and kind of shoot personal projects when I'm down there. Just because, I mean, it's home and being the scenery down there so much more different. I don't know, when I'm down there, I just feel like I'm not in work mode.

Versus when I'm hear in New York, I'm more so shooting fashion projects or editorials and things like that. I don't really get time to shoot personal work because I mean, I'm still meeting people. I don't know. It's totally different up here in New York. So up here it's work, back home in Atlanta it's like, okay, I'm at home. I can really create what I want to create, you know?

Can you walk us through how you get subjects comfortable?

When I'm photographing someone, especially if I want to shoot a very intimate portrait, I kind of like to approach the photo shoot as it's a photo shoot, but it's not a photo shoot. Just think it's you're just being yourself and I'm just here taking a picture of you.

So kind of break that facade down because I tend to find whenever you tell someone, "Hey, I want to do a photo shoot with you." They have this mindset, of, "Okay, I got to be perfect. I got to get my poses right. I got to do this. Got to do that." I'm like, no, that's the total opposite of what I want to do.

Say I photograph someone in their home, I find that's where they're most comfortable, that's where they're most intimate. I'm kind of just there and give very little direction. I tell them, "Just do what you would normally do and I'm going to just capture that." I find that's where I create some of my favorite portraits.If I'm kind of photographing someone that's not in their home, I do this thing where I give very little direction on like, can you just stand there and just maybe do this? Do that? Just look very at peace and comfortable, even if you're not. But I just want to bring that comfortability out, just break down the walls.

I tend to be very personal with my subjects. I'm like, "Hey, do you want to play some music that you're comfortable with?" I want to create a very intimate setting so that when I'm taking that photograph, it reads through in the photo.

You were recently involved in an exhibition called Tracking Down Intimacy that was featured in Fotografiska: can you tell us about the images you hand selected to be apart of this exhibition?

The exhibition, it was brought to me on behalf of the Black Artist Fund. They actually gave me a grant before I moved to New York and a couple of months later, that's when Maria, the curator of the show, she reached out to me. She was like, "Hey, we're partnering with the Black Artist Fund. You're one of the three selected photographers that we want to have on exhibition here at Fotografiska."

When I researched the museum and what they were standing for, I really took the opportunity and the chance because knowing it's a newer museum here in New York, but it's such a prestigious museum at the same time. But the images that they selected for the show, I think they did, ... It was really perfect and I love how they curated the show.

It was four images. One of Sasha, another one of Amadou and Kareem. One of my friend Olivia and another of Amadou just by himself. Then it was a fifth image, but it was a smaller one of Nadine and Sasha as well. But all of them just a really read to the sense of intimacy, whether it's with personal intimacy, or whether it's intimacy between a sibling. Intimacy between two friends. So I really loved how that came together.

The shoots you did at Arabia Mountain are very captivating and almost biblical or prophetic. Can you tell us about these and why you chose to shoot there?

My favorite place. Oh, I get chills. So all right. No, it was really emotional for me sometimes because I grew up in Stone Mountain, but my auntie, she actually didn't live far from Arabia Mountain. So we actually had to pass by Arabia Mountain to get to her house. Arabia Mountain, there's three parts, there's a mountain, a lake, and then there's a farm near it, a big pasture.

My whole childhood, I would always pass by this area. I seen when it was nothing there, when it was just cows and just wild animals, to now where it's trails and things like that. So I seen it come up. I actually went to a Arabia Mountain high school. So it has always been a part of my life literally.

When I go there, I feel a real sense of home and peace because it's so peaceful, it's so scenic, and it's so beautiful. So I find when I go there, I've literally been shooting at Arabia Mountain since I first started taking pictures. So it's kind of like, I developed my skills from shooting at Arabia Mountain, if that makes sense.

I always go back there to just find peace. I always find when I go back, I create some of my most poetic work. I'm actually, when I come to Atlanta next month, I'm shooting there again. I have an idea that I want to shoot with my nephew. But it's probably the place where I'm most at peace, literally.

Do you feel like you have more creative freedom as a photographer or a creative director?

As a creative director, definitely. I tend to find whenever I get hired for a job as just a photographer, they come with a previous idea already. If I'm shooting for say a publication or a project that I'm hired on, they already have an idea of what they want to photograph or what they need to capture. So it doesn't really give me much wiggle room to change some things around.

Now sometimes I do. Be like, hey, what if we do this instead of this? That's where I put on my creative director hat. I'm like, okay, so I want to do this instead of this. Then they'll always be like, "Okay, I can see that." So I love that they're open to my ideas. But when I'm brought on as a creative director, which I'm actually working on a project right now with a brand. I came up with this project and I'm bringing it to them so that I can shoot it as well. But I have total creative freedom with that.

I find that when I am a creative director on a project, it has to be something that I'm really interested in, because if I'm not, I can't do my best work. So right now, I'm kind of finding that out about myself because some clients do come to me like, "Hey, we want you to creative direct this shoot for us." I'm like, "How do y'all expect me to creative direct something for y'all, but y'all aren't giving me any information or things like that?"

If you don't already have opinions for yourself, how do you expect me to come up with ideas for you? It has to be authentic to you. But I love creative directing. I don't know if I love it more than photography. I don't know. I kind of put them on the same level.

Are you a self taught photographer? Any advice you would give to beginners? 

I am mainly self-taught. Coming up in Atlanta, I did have a mentor for a couple of months. But I didn't really learn what I learned from photography from teaching myself. I learned more by teaching myself the art or photography.

Then when I was in college, I came in as a business major, changed to political science. I did all of this while teaching myself photography. Then finally I was like, why the fuck am I trying to be a lawyer? So I just changed it to photography.When I was in my photography classes, they were basically reteaching things that I had already taught myself. So it was kind of just, I don't know. I kind of just wasn't really in tune with things. I'm like, oh, I already learned this. Or it's not that I thought I knew more, but it's just like, oh.

Then one thing I didn't like about college is that I felt like they was trying to put me in a box of what they wanted me to photograph and things like that. I'm just like, no, you're not going to put me in a box. So I came to the decision that I was going to drop out and move to New York. I did that.

YouTube university has definitely taught me a lot. Make sure that you love doing it because it's not easy. It's not just about having a camera and just being able to take pictures. Anybody could do that, but if you really want to make captivating work, then you need to know how to develop a story behind what you shoot. Have a purpose for what you shoot and love what you shoot.

On Set…

What camera would you want to be your last?

I shoot from a rb67 now, and it's like my baby. I always say that camera changed my life. So it's either another RB or an RZ. The reason I haven't got a RZ yet is because it has electrical components in it and if they fail, then it's just like the whole camera, you might as well just buy a new one instead of getting it fixed.

But the RB, it's totally mechanical. So there's no electric parts to it. That's the camera that I learned medium format and film on. So it would probably be a RB. That's like my baby.

Assistant or solo?

See, if you would have asked me a couple of months ago, I would've said solo. But now I'm like, I need an assistant. I need an assistant because a lot of things go on at shoots, even outside of shoots. Just dealing with clients and books and bookings and things like that, I need an assistant. But I don't know. Yeah, probably assistant now to make it easier.

When shooting analog on set, do you also shoot digital and/or vice versa?

My first big gig when I shot for Teen Vogue... well, that wasn't my first big gig. But when I shot for Teen Vogue, I was kind of nervous because it was such a big publication and it was always a dream of mine to shoot for Teen Vogue. So I was like, okay, I have to make sure nothing goes wrong.

So I relied mainly on my digital camera when I shot that and I wish I didn't because when I look back at the pictures, I'm like, this is fire, but it would have been 10,000 times more fire if it was on film. So I said from now on when I do go to a shoot or I shoot for Vogue, or if I shoot Beyonce hopefully, or Solange hopefully, speaking that into existence, I will shoot film.

I always get scared because I'm like that's my peers, my peers that shoot the big covers and the big campaigns. I'm like, are they shooting film for all of this? I'm like yeah, they will literally have a bag with like 50, 70 film rolls. I'm like, y'all are insane, but I get it. So definitely from now on, I'm shooting film.

Candid or posed? Why?

This is hard because I love the moment shots, but I also love really statuesque, regal poses. Probably posed really. But a very regal, strong pose.

Flash or no flash? Why? No flash, natural light only.

Go to song on set and why? Almeda by Solange, that's like my song.

What would you like people to take away from your work?

I want people to feel empowered and confident and at peace, and joyous and beautiful when they look at my work.

Interview by 35s & 45s

07.2.21