Today we’d like to introduce you to Keith-Alan DeFranca.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I fell in love with photography through old motion pictures actually. Loved how they were lit and relied a lot on minimal lighting and creative shadow work. I was fortunate enough to move from upstate New York halfway through my senior year of high school to NH and as a result of the different state subject requirements, I only had two classes to attend in order to graduate and spent the rest of my time in the photo department dark room and began to court photography and quickly fall in love. I started my first photography business right out of high school doing simple family portraits and the occasional wedding. I quickly fell in love with landscape photography because I love the outdoors as well as I was not very comfortable photographing people and nature, only requires you to travel to her to photograph and therein was an adventure. I did odd work off and on for a number of years and then around 2008, I realized I wanted to really give photography a chance and eventually in 2010, I enrolled at The New Hampshire Institute of Art, in Manchester, NH. They have a heavy studio-based curriculum and have an emphasis on fine art over commercial work.
I graduated in 2013 with a bachelor’s in fine art with a concentration in Photography. I worked for a production company almost right out of school for almost a year but had little to no inspiration to shoot or create and then left there to Work for Herrington Catalog as a product photographer. When I was in school, I became significantly more comfortable photographing people and grew to love it but was also still not sure how to go about it. I saw a lot of objectification and generic portrait work being done, especially when photographing women and it made me hesitant to dive in and feel pressured to do the same. I came to a realization that I wanted to provide a space for people to be themselves and express themselves through portraiture and started while I was working at the catalog to reach out and photograph and create with people all over New England.
I would shoot sunrise and evenings before work and weekends and realized the more I did it the more I enjoyed it and loved meeting so many diverse and creative people and loved how much I learned from them and about myself in the process. At that point, my company was called Earth Work Studios and remains that today. I wanted a name that had the potential to embrace the love I share for nature and having a foundation in art as well as not be tied specifically to my own name, so I could let it grow into something larger and involve more creatives over the years. Currently, Earth Work Studios is my full-time job and I work off and on 7 days a week photographing a combination of paid commercial portraits, products, and company branding lifestyle work as well as my more fine art portraiture and abstract projects for galleries and publications. I am based in Southern, NH but travel all over the northeast and have plans to travel more widely around the united states as well as internally in the next couple of years. Photography is something that I see not only as a commercial way for me to make my living, but more importantly, is an art form that can allow someone to have a non-verbal voice and express and process feelings or life in a way that is raw, lovely, unfiltered, and personal. Those images are the ones that mean the most to me. The ones where myself and the individual in the image were affected and left changed a little for the better.
Please tell us about your art.
I photograph portraits of people, products, abstract art. I have a very commercial side to my photograph which is how I can support myself, but my true passion and drive is the artwork I create through photography. I use digital as well as analog to photograph people. 35mm, medium format, large format film as well as a process called Wet Plate photography are some of the ways I use photography to capture individuals.
When I work with someone, I always make sure that they know the images are for them before anything else. I don’t photograph in order to post to social media or to share. First and foremost, I photograph to create something real and genuine with that individual. They are our images and we decide what to do with them after. I have many shots that will never see the light of day because they are personal, and those people want them for themselves and that is always something I take as a compliment and am honored to create images that someone sees such a true version of themselves in. I love to create and photograph images that, if shared, will allow someone to stop and think or be moved by the person, the emotion, the way the image was captured. I photograph mostly women and love to be able to allow someone to be themselves and see their beauty as unique and individual not just another image or number on social media or in society. I was raised with two older sisters and a whole lot of female aunts and cousins and saw that every woman struggles with insecurities and doubt about themselves physically and in other ways and I want to be able to provide that space as an artist for them to express and create in an environment of non-judgment and safety. Every person should be able to feel self-love and if I am able to help affirm that inner confidence or emotion, then I have done my job properly.
What do you think about conditions for artists today? Has life become easier or harder for artists in recent years? What can cities like ours do to encourage and help art and artists thrive?
I am an artist which means that it goes beyond punching a clock or just a job. Art is my life in one form or another. Art is always going to be something you will need to sacrifice for and have rough patches. When it comes to being a professional or commercial artist and making a sustainable income to comes down to giving your talent and abilities a monetary value and not backing down. The clients and the income will come if the talent and the drive are there. It just takes a leap of faith as well as surrounding yourself with supportive and loving people, and I would define success: it’s not about how much money or influence you have but being truly and genuinely able to love others and be loved in return. If you live this life without experiencing love, then it’s not much of a life at all. Stay humble, work hard, always remember where you have been when thinking about where you are going and the rest will take care of itself.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
AWAKENINGS: TATA MAGAZINE: (Issue 5 – August 5th, 2017)
GRATITUDE: TATA MAGAZINE (Issue 4 – February 4th, 2017)
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earthworkstudios
- Website: www.earthworkstudios.com
- Phone: 6032648698
- Email: clients@earthworkstudios.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/earthworkstudios
Image Credit:
Ellen Jenkins – @ellenmari, Emma Jesman – @niorquipster, Brandi Clark – @treatherwell, Julia Wirth – @counteractbooze, Kate Rooney – @_katjo, Lexi Harriman – lc_harriman, Katria Davis – @beokiastudios
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
