My cameras tell a snapshot of my growing imagery.

I wish I could tell you a story about how I picked up a camera when I was 5 years old but that’s not the case here. I can tell you how each shutter click on various cameras developed into my current photography work.

I didn’t pick up a camera until I was a senior in high school. I was on the yearbook staff and I decided to borrow my brother’s camera to capture more photographs for the yearbook. This is when I’d argue my "training" in photography began.

‘‘But who really listens to their older brother?? I just wanted to walk around with a cool camera!’’

My brother had a Nikon D3200 my uncle, RC, gave to him. Of course this was more than the disposable cameras I bought for school dances so my brother taught me about Aperture, Shutter Speeds and why I’d use film rated at 400. But who really listens to their older brother??!! I just wanted to walk around with a cool camera! Still, I learned enough to start intentionally adjusting camera settings and people liked what I was creating.

Despite a lingering interest, I had to return my brother's camera to him and didn't touch a camera the same way for a while. In 2008, I set out to travel the world with Up with People. After my first show in Denver, CO, the same brother gave me a point and shoot camera to have during my travels. During this time, I noticed places and people differently and found myself walking around and seeking out what I could shoot a little more purposefully. (See photo below of the ocean)

‘‘I had a camera in my pocket!’’

Later in 2011, I bought my first iPhone and like many I had a camera in my pocket! The iPhone really made me take pictures again. And since other friends had them too, I would “compete” with them to get “better” pictures. Also, I taught workshops at Apple during this time and found many customers wanted to know how to take better pictures on their iPhones too. They wanted to know how to be a photographer. So this pushed me to learn more about photography. Disclaimer: Yes! I take plenty of selfies too.

‘‘I wanted something for the times I might jump off a bridge or dive in the ocean.’’

Jumping ahead a few years again.  In 2014, I decided to buy a GoPro after I was accepted into my master’s program since I knew I'd travel to Europe and South America for school.  Because of my earlier travels in life, I wanted something diverse in its function. I wanted something for the times I might jump off a bridge or dive in the ocean - I did both of these. Plus I had my iPhone already so I figured an iPhone and a GoPro would complement each other.

Armed with both of these tools, I started my Vlog to document my travels. I looked into the settings of my GoPro to see how I could start to control what I was creating. Even though the GoPro had only a few settings I could adjust, these basic functions were enough to spark my creative soul. I quickly became the guy with the camera! I enjoyed capturing people's moments - video or still - and decided to invest in a camera body that had interchangeable lenses before I went to Ecuador, especially since I wanted to be able to zoom in better than I was able to with my iPhone and GoPro. This is when I started to learn how to edit my images and grow into my story telling too.

“I wanted a smaller profile camera to meet my needs of traveling”

With one year of traveling with my iPhone and GoPro behind me, I knew I was ready to get a camera like my brother loaned me in high school. Plus, I knew I wanted to do a portraiture project for my thesis so I wanted to embrace photoaghy more to tell stories of the people I was meeting while traveling. I researched a lot of camera options and decided on getting a Sony a6000 since I wanted a smaller profile camera to meet my needs of traveling around Ecuador. I shot with this camera for years and love it! I still use it. I’ve since upgraded to a Sony a7RII when a friend I met in NYC decided to sell me his. Full frame baby!

There is more to my journey of capturing people with my cameras and I’ll be adding soon. Also, I need to acknowledge a couple of people in my life who may not have taught me photography directly but they influenced me greatly as an artist and taught me much by being in my life. First, my grandfather, Carl N. Gorman. He was an incredible artist who trained at the Otis Art Institute and highly encouraged artists to be who they are and to master technique to fully express themselves through their craft. I have no doubt it is because of him I am now training at the Esper Studio for acting. The knoweldge to me at this studio mirrors the wisdom I grew up with from my grandfather. It is also why I believe you have to study your craft and why I’ve spent hours upon hours learning photography too. My uncle, RC Gorman, is another person who highly impacted my artistry. He too, expressed the importance of training and I see it in his work all of the time. His simplicity of line work is admirable and inspiring. Also, he was known to be picky about the models he worked with and I’m finding myself just as picky at times. But I don’t think it is a matter of feeling I have to be but more I notice the lines of people’s faces, or the flow of their “lines.” When I think about growing up with my uncle’s art work all around me, I can’t help but realize how his work has attributed to my eye.

Lastly, one influence in my photography I need to highlight is Kenji Kawano. Kenji is an amazing black and white photographer and I grew up with him constantly taking photographs of my grandfather, my family, the Navajo Code Talkers of World War II. The image on my speaker page where I’m a child and my grandfather is holding me and my brother was taken by Kenji. Still a family friend, it’s great to know him and his work. Even recently, he asked about my photography and made sure to encourage me to keep shooting everyday.

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