Artist Spotlight: James L

“I’m a non-traditional creative photographer”

“I like to incorporate many different sub-cultures into my work and experiment with things that most would avoid.”

…

If you spend a significant amount of time with someone, you begin to notice their habits. I know that’s an obvious thing to point out, but I think it’s interesting because it always happens involuntarily. You probably didn’t want to know if your roommate is a leave-dishes-in-the-sink person or a straight-to-dishwasher type, you just realize it one afternoon.

I think we tend to engage with art and artists in a similar way. Once we notice a thread of consistency, whether intentionally or unintentionally, we are no longer participants in the artist’s creativity. Instead, our new expectations act as a barometers for how “good” the new stuff is when compared to the old, or even worse, how “good” the other person’s stuff is compared to my stuff. Engaging with any art at all then becomes an exercise in asset evaluation.

I wanted to feature James because he, in the best possible way, seems committed to making sure you have no idea what he’s going to do next. His ability to explore any possible angle, location, and style reminds you that you can still be surprised. When I first went through his submitted images, I had to remind myself that I was not looking at the work of five different people.

James was also the first person to provide multiple images of himself for his feature, as seen above. My favorite of these images is the shot of him with his model. He’s in same pose as they work out how to compose their next image. To me, this shows the difference between commitment and involvement. It’s obvious that James is committed to developing his technical abilities, but it’s his total involvement in the creative process that makes his images unique and unexpected.

James provided responses to the questions below. Enjoy.

How are you feeling today?

Where are you from?

What is your favorite color?

What do you do (or where do you go) to relax?

What scares you?

What does the future hold?

What matters the most?

Provide some bad advice.

Thank you for your time.

Follow James on Instagram (@superschoolnews) or on Pexels.

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