For the last few weeks, I've been working on a few projects with my partners Taj and Rashid, under the auspices of our collective creative agency, WJS Creative. One of our ongoing projects is a photo/interview-based profile series we’re calling Short Journeys.
With Short Journeys, we interview really dope and interesting people about their life and experiences through the lens of travel. It’s been a really fun adventure so far, hitting the ground guerrilla style and getting up close and personal with some awesome individuals, figuring out workarounds for the different locations we’re working in, and having a great time along the way. It’s put me in the position to be shooting pretty regularly, and I’ve tried to make the most of it - I’m primarily shooting medium format film, and I’ve shot every negative size I have in my possession, 6x4.5, 6x6, and 6x7.
(Maybe this year I’ll get my hands on a big old 4x5 and really get crazy. That would be epic.)
This project has really tested my abilities as a film photographer. As of the writing of this post, all of the cameras I’ve been shooting with are big, clunky, manually focusing cameras, only one of them with an actually TTL meter that works - shooting run-and-gun is a substantial task. It’s also a task I brought upon myself, of course - but for the most part I’m enjoying the challenge. I’m hoping that I ultimately get comfortable in these situations; it can only make me a better photographer.
I’m really excited to see this project hit the airwaves; we’ve been producing some pretty fantastic content, and I think it highlights the team's abilities as storytellers, which is what we’re trying to perfect with every move we make. We want that to be our claim to fame, our distinction, our excellence.
Be sure to check out our first Short Journeys post on the awesome photo story platform, Exposure. We’ll be updating pretty regularly - drop us a line to let us know what you think.
*behind the scenes photo by Taj Reid.