Crystal: When did you begin your photography career?
Camille: I first got a camera in my hands during a summer roughly circa 2004. My parents would buy me disposable Kodak cameras to take to camp and always have in my bag. About 1,000 photos later, I got a digital camera and began taking photos for clients in college, mostly fashion and some food.
Crystal: What is your greatest accomplishment thus far?
Camille: My biggest accomplishment relating to photography, thus far was holding my own exhibition my senior year of college. I showed about 12 photos in a small craft beer stop just before moving to New York.
Crystal: Who/What inspires you?
Camille: I take away the most inspiration from people watching. There’s no better place to do it than this city, so I’m in the right place! I love spending time alone and will often roam around downtown taking iphone shots of things that catch my eye. I revisit those places or get in contact with people later.
Crystal: Which failure turned into a blessing in disguise?
Camille: Upon graduating high school, I was offered a soccer scholarship from a great university. Complications made it so that I couldn’t go there. I ended up going to a further university in a city I grew to love, studied photography under amazing professors and met some people who inspired me to get into portraiture photography.
Crystal: What is your favorite lens/camera to shoot with?
Camille: I almost exclusively shoot with my Canon 5D MK III and a 50mm 1.8 lens. Otherwise, I make short movies on my handy IPhone 7 plus
Crystal: How do you educate yourself on taking better pictures?
Camille: I’m an avid Youtube fan and usually go there if I have any technical questions. Otherwise, I’m always scrolling through Pinterest, Instagram and flipping through magazines finding styles I like.
Crystal: Among your works, which is your favorite?
Camille: I’ve created so many photos with clients that I’m fully behind but I think I’ve gotten the most out of a small set of photos I made for fun one night in college. I rented out the school photo studio, texted a friend and just shot in front of a white background. I had a few ideas of what I wanted to do post-production. It was black history month and that year, I had met so many black women who inspired and worked alongside me. After shooting I decided to have fun and experiment. It remains to be my favorite work as well as my most complimented.
Crystal: What is one thing you wish you knew when you started taking photos?
Camille: I wish someone would have told me that it’s okay to one, call yourself an artist and two, that you can be more than one thing. I think I was a little ashamed of liking photography so much because I felt I should be focused on other things. Yet, here I am, over a decade later, making a career out of it… :)
Crystal: Among the gadgets you own, is there something that you wish you hadn’t bought? Why?
Camille: Hm, I honestly don't buy enough equipment.
Crystal: What do you have to say to those who are chasing a photography career?
Camille: It feels funny giving advice to people in my same predicament... So I’ll imagine myself in ten years, an established, award winning photographer and say, “Create for yourself, find your style, realize your value then give them a price. In that order.”