Today we’d like to introduce you to Laidric Stevenson.
Hi Laidric, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hi, I’m Laidric and I’ve been a photographer since I was 15. I needed an elective for high school, and I had always thought cameras were cool, so I signed up for a photography class. That class led me to joining my school’s newspaper and yearbook staff. I had a career path in mind that one day I would be a photojournalist, but that didn’t pan out like I thought it would. But the love for photography has endured! Nowadays I photograph what I find interesting, things that make me curious and I sell prints and self-publish photozines of my work.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s been fairly smooth, sometimes I do wish I would have spent more time in my 20s taking more photographs instead of working so much, but you grow and learn to appreciate the place where you are now. What helped is me in realizing that as I lived and experienced more in my life, that my work would change. Looking back, yes I would have had more free time, but I wouldn’t make the kinds of photographs I do now.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a photographer. Growing up, my family moved around a bit before settling in Oklahoma, then moving to Texas when I was 14. I never really felt that I had “roots” in one area so to say, that reflects in my photography as I search for scenes that describe a sense of place.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
Starting photography is really easy, you don’t need an expensive camera, nor do you need to do things like getting film developed (like when I started out). Cameras that are built into phones these days are amazing, you take them everywhere, and you can get them into places that you can’t some cameras into (without permits or permission). Then all you need to do is just start taking pictures, look at them, then go take more. After you have a lot of them, go back through them, you’ll see things that you didn’t see before. Print them, give them to people you love. Make zines, photographs look really good when they’re printed in zines!
Join up with your local photography community, photography is fun, and it’s even more fun with friends!
I wish I knew starting out that photography (and being a photographer) is a marathon, not a sprint. We all move at different speeds, some of us faster than others, but we’re all in it for the long haul, and if you do it right at the end you’ve seen a lot things, had some fun, and you have lots of photos to pass on.
Contact Info:
- Website: laidricstevenson.format.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/photographyisadeadmedium
