Hi, I'm Carson!
Do you remember the first time you went to the movies? I do. In 2002, I was taken to see Spider-Man, the newest film to come out that summer. It changed my life. My three-year-old brain was overloaded with new ideas and concepts I could barely comprehend. Never in my wildest dreams had I ever conceived what I had experienced that day. It was my first time to see a narrative put onto a screen in front of me in such a fashion. Ever since then, this mode of art has had a persistent grip on me.
I learned that day that I have a passion for stories. I think that the uniquely human ability to share these stories and tales with each other is one of the greatest treats we have in this life. We’ve done it since the beginning of time and the medium has grown as we have. These stories have floated from cave walls to the screens in our pockets. This art form can be used to do so many things, such as bring a call to action to important issues around the world, express new philosophical and cultural ideas, teach people new things, or maybe just to escape from the real world for a little while.
In my time at college, I have come to learn that this sort of art doesn’t have to be exclusive to the feature film. There can be a very similar process in photography. You may have heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” and while I have always appreciated photography, I feel like I never truly understood that until then. This realization came when one of my favorite professors told me that what separates a good from a great one is the story it tells. A picture might be worth a thousand words, but those words are wasted if they don’t have meaning.
Meaning is important. Without a sense of it, most of us would feel rather lost. What makes a story meaningful? More often than not, in a movie, we find significance through our ability to connect to a main character. By feeling what they feel, we can empathize with what they think or are going through. That is where I found what I want to do with my life. I want to capture that meaning.
There is great value to be found in the ability to tell and capture the stories and events of life of the average person. Everyone has achievements, events, and landmarks of life that they will remember for the rest of their life. To you, some of these events may be no different than anything else, but to the person who is experiencing these things, it means the world. This might be a wedding, a graduation, a birthday, a cultural event, or even just a celebration of family or love. Given the right knowledge and experience, one can capture these moments and give a priceless memory to individuals to hold on to forever. That’s what I want to do with my life. I want to use my skills and experiences to be the storyteller of other’s lives.
My name is Carson Leatherwood and I’m a photographer and videographer.