Today we’d like to introduce you to Michael Whitmore.
Michael, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
Since I was a kid there had always been pointing and shoots around my mother used hers a lot nearly all the photos of our family have been taken on it. I guess I’ve been really infatuated with capturing a moment in time from a really young age. The hunger always fed with disposable cameras and running to CVS to get them developed none of the photos ever really amounting to anything in the artistic sense. Years went on and towards the end of high school I really struggled with my own personal social anxiety and depression. So, I turned towards photography as a sort of crutch a release for all the problems I was dealing with. I picked up my first none point and shoot right after graduation a canon A1 and I started shooting black and white film a lot.
I did attend Pratt institute for photography but had to leave because of the expensiveness of the school I couldn’t afford it, but my time there really had an impact of the way I think of photography and really pushed me to the fine art side of it rather quickly. After I returned I was going around Arlington/Cambridge by myself just shooting rather lonely photographs of the suburban environment I lived in. Just channeling my feelings about my situation into photography and that is a really prevalent theme in most of my work isolation/loneliness. Photography has really helped being my creative outlet for all my issues and has also helped me grow as a person.
Can you give our readers some background on your art?
As of right now I’m trying to make images using black and that have a sort of depressive nature to them whether it be very prevalent in the photograph or just subtle. I’ll add my own short stories and poems to these photographs making a vague description of what I feel about the image (all my work is shot on film none of it on digital). But more or less leaving it to the viewer to ultimately decide what the photograph means to them. The way I’ve been making my work is going out to places at odd times when no one should be around and finding subjects or compositions that resemble the feel that I’m looking for (the beach in the winter, going into the woods alone) sometimes I’ll use models to depict a depressive scene but it’s mostly just street photography scenes that I stumble upon. I hope that people take away some sense of awareness that everyone is isolated in a way sometimes lonely and depressed or under other circumstances but to know that they are not alone in their struggles. I hope to also notify people in some sense that mental health issues are real and should be acknowledged.
Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
Takes Your time think about what message or feel you’re trying to convey because that is absolutely crucial. You see to many people just going around doing everything half-hearted be passionate about your work. If ones passionate about their work then it does not go without meaning.
What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Mainly Instagram as of right now and I am in the process of making short project-based zines that will be available soon. Hit me up for prints also I make framed prints.
Contact Info:
- Phone: 7816867025
- Email: michaelwhitmore34@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/m.wh1t/
Image Credit:
Myself, Jay Lawson for modeling
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