@strictlysam Emulation

The photographer that I chose to emulate for my final project is Sam Burns (@strictlysam on instagram). Sam photographs anything from rooftop cityscapes, abandoned buildings, to underground subway tunnels, as long as it is a place that any normal person wouldn't be able to access. Everytime I look at one of Sam's photos I am left with the thoughts of “how?” and “wow”. To get a better understanding of Sam’s work and his shooting process, I messaged him saying that I was doing an emulation project on him for a class and asked if I could ask him some questions. Sam was very appreciative that I chose to do my final on him and he happily answered my questions.

            When I asked Sam who his inspirations were in photography, he said Will West (willwestphoto.format.com) as well as all of his friends who he shoots with, “who are always pushing limits”. I wondered what Sam's overall message  he tries to show in his photos and he said, “I want people to look at my photos and be curious, inspired, and even shocked at what is in front of them. The amount of energy and risk involved with getting many of these photos is not always apparent, but I would hope that people question how I went about getting the photographs.” This message is one of my favorite parts of Sam’s photos. It is so easy to see the urge to explore further and further as well as going to more and more difficult locations in all of his photos. Every photo that he posts I am left with a handful of questions. To Sam, “the process (the exploration) is the best part, the photographs are just a bonus!” While the adventures and places he goes can be awesome, there are many risks involved. Both physical and legal are always on his mind when he is out shooting, and his own safety is something he takes very seriously.

            Aside from the stories and messages behind each photo, the photos are all beautiful and amazingly taken. Sam likes to think of his style as “unique, but also quite simple.”  Many of Sam’s photos are filled with leading lines that take you deep into the scene of the picture. The photos bring out all of the amazing shapes and designs in architecture and are so visually pleasing to look at. Sam also explains his style by saying “I have always had a love for symmetry, but more recently I have been trying to get more creative with the angels I am taking.” In addition to having great composition, the colors in Sam’s photos are always spot on. In post production, Sam tries to keep his photos “realistic, not over-edited like many other people that are posting similar photographs”. I value this part of Sam’s style because it shows how these places would really look from the human eye, making you feel like you are there. When it comes to actually taking the photo, Sam says that he doesn't usually have a plan for a photo, he just shoots what catches his eye at the time.

            Since I chose a photographer from Instagram, I also asked Sam about his thoughts and opinions on Instagram’s effects on photography. Sam states that, “when it comes to exploration photography Instagram has been both terrible and wonderful.” One of Instagram's effects on photography that Sam loves is, “the ability to meet people all over the world” as well as being able to easily share his work with these people and “build relationships with them.” I appreciate what Instagram is doing to the photography world in terms of artists being able to get their work out to so many people. I get so much motivation and inspiration from the artists, Sam specifically, that I follow.

            A famous photographer who shares a similar style to Sam is Naoya Hatakeyama.  Naoya is,  “regarded in Japan as one of the leading photo artists of his generation” (Hatje 7). Naoya focuses on the relationship between nature and civilization. Similar to Sam, Naoya has a project called, “Underground”, where he photographs hard to get to tunnels under the ground. Naoya describes these tunnels by saying, “this place is unimaginably far away from ‘humans’ even if hundreds of thousands of people are living their life right above it” (Hatje, 71).  This idea of being in a place so close to so many humans yet so far at the same time relates a lot to the places that Sam goes. Whether it is underground in the tunnels, in an abandoned church, or on a rooftop overlooking New York City, when Sam is taking his pictures he is close to so many humans who will never see the things that he photographs with their own eyes.

            I have been enjoying and will continue to enjoy shooting my photos for my final emulating Sam’s photos. When taking my photos, I am trying to make an adventure and mission for each picture as well as create a visually pleasing picture that makes people “curious” when they look at it. During this project I have and am still learning so much about how and why Sam takes these photographs that I can not stop looking at.