We were lucky to catch up with Steve White recently and have shared our conversation below.

Steve, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

My most meaningful project is the one I’m currently working on: an art and photo book that encapsulates my artistic journey in Japan, finding myself through the isolation of a foreign country and how I found my voice as a photographer. I gotta say though, whatever project I’m working on, I do it with meaning and intention, even if it’s something as simple as enjoyment. So long as there’s meaning in the work, you know it and the viewers know it.

Steve, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My entire upbringing has revolved around Art in some way or another. Drawing and photography in particular were the norm around the house with my mom and when I visited my grandmother. There wasn’t always a lot to do growing up in small town Ohio, so I had to keep myself busy. Once I turned 19, I joined the Navy and fate had it that I’d be a photojournalist in Okinawa, Japan, and then onto become a combat camera operator based out of San Diego. When I completed my military contract, I attended school in Tokyo, Japan, this time to study Communications and Art. Photography found its way back into my life, but this time in a different form, so I dug in and learned how to express myself through the lens. My other creative endeavors throughout life have been with music and poetry. My photographic work draws on motifs of Japanese ‘Buddhist photography’, capturing the blurred moments in between, adding the surrealism-inspired emotions of street photography and documentary, with a dash of the mysticism and of poetry. I got my first guitar around 14 years old, and successively wrote lyrics and poems with songs. The more I played, the more I had a growing interest in classical and flamenco guitar. So my writing turned from songs to compositions and lyrics to poems. One of the biggest fears I’ve faced and still do is taking the step in believing in myself. I’d argue that’s the single most debilitating obstacle we have.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

One of the best ways to support artists is to support artists! Buy their artwork, prints, paintings, share their work, visit their website, store, Etsy, whatever, diversify the creative ecosystem if you want it to thrive. One thing I’d love to see more of is less photos on instagram and more of them on gallery walls. Having an exhibition space is one of the best things a community can do to nurture the growth of creatives.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

One of the most rewarding aspects about being an artist is also one of the most torturous, is the creating itself. I often struggle to come up with any ideas that pass quality control. In the journey of making an artwork I usually lose interest. The fire does go out. I ridicule myself, talk myself down, then back up again, I find inspiration in the vastness of the world around me, then in the beauty of the mundane in life. Meditate on what it all means and then start over about fifty times. Then one day, while barely paying attention, I come up with a piece of art or music of which I have some pride, but throughout that process, I find something new about myself as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.stevewhiteii.com/

Image Credits
@mstah.freeze (Polaroid photo)