We recently connected with Doc List and have shared our conversation below.

Doc, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Going back to the beginning – how did you come up with the idea in the first place?

I’ve been a photographer for most of my life. Certainly for all of my adult life. In recent times (like 15 years or so) I’ve pursued it more avidly, as a profession, and with an intent to learn and create.

In order to continue to raise the level of my skills, I create projects for myself. It began with the Austin Bodies Project, moved into the Austin Dance Project, continued into the Hexagon Project, and then created Winged Beings.

I’d seen images of people with wings. The use of physical wings never really appealed to me, given that there are straps, and you can only photograph the wings you have. Wings are not cheap and are a pain to store. So I began exploring the use of digital wings.

I found that there are many sources of wings (one of my favorites in the fantasy realm being All Things Precious). I also found that it’s not enough just to put some wings there. Shaping them, making the light and shadow look real, and overall making the image believable were the challenge I set myself.

My earliest Winged Beings were okay. I probably could have stayed at that level and had clients and models and friends be very happy. But I wasn’t happy. I continued practicing and studying to achieve the level I wanted.

I’m now at the point where people regularly seek me out to put wings on them. They love looking like they really have wings.

My favorite questions on social media from other photographers include: “Where can I get wings like those and how much do they cost?” and “Who made those wings?”

It’s all about practice and attention to detail and caring about the end result.

Doc, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

Way back in the dark ages (that is, having. a darkroom in the apartment I grew up in with my mother and older brother) it was challenging, to say the least, to create composites of any kind or be creative beyond the camera. Options were limited, it took a lot of time, and it cost (every attempt used film, paper and chemicals).

Once I began making various kinds of composites in Photoshop I discovered a world of possibilities. First I just wanted to place people in unusual or different places. Whether it was a forest or a city street, I wanted to create believable images that would cause others to ask “When were you in [wherever]?”

I’ve always been known for my vision and creativity, as I mentioned earlier. Whether it was photographing nudes (Austin Bodies Project), dancers (Austin Dance Project), or having custom props built in order to realize a vision (Hexagon Project). As I developed my skills in placing color and texture and other elements into images, my followers grew. The combination of my photography skills and my Photoshop skills gained me greater visibility and a reputation. A good reputation, that is.

All of that goes along with my ability to quickly establish rapport with my subjects. It’s important that they feel relaxed and comfortable, and that they have fun, in order to achieve our mutual goals. I chatter on about what’s going on. I ask them about themselves and tell stories about myself. I work hard at connecting with them so that it’s as much an “experience” as a photo session.

These days I can put out a model call and have plenty of volunteers, whether it’s Trade or Paid. I have clients who have seen my work on social media who say “Can you do that with me?”

Most of all, I LOVE what I do and I love people. It shows. It creates my environment and my mindset. It doesn’t matter how I might have been feeling before my subject arrives at the studio. Once we start, I’m in the zone.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

I want to cause people to say “Ooooooohhhhhh!” In fact, I had registered the trademark to the tagline “The Power of Oh!” at one point because of that.

Yes, I want to create beauty and stimulate and challenge the people who see my images.

Yes, I love working with people.

Yes, I love challenging myself in order to be a better photographer and artist.

And that’s what it’s all about – continually growing, learning, and changing. I can easily look at my work year by year and see how I’ve grown and see where I still want to grow.

Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I think NFTs are here to stay. The question I have is what the place of photography is in that world. I can see that people might want to own the “original” of an image by Annie Liebovitz. What I’m not sure of is whether the “average” photographer (and I include myself in that) can find or create a market, whether it’s for “straight” images or creative images.

I’ve made some NFTs and put them on a couple of sites. What rapidly became clear to me is that you can’t just put them out there and hope. As with so many other things, it takes WORK.

How do you drive people to your work?

How do you get them to keep coming back?

How do you get them to believe in your work enough to pay money for it?

They’re really all of the same questions I’d ask about any business venture. “How much work are you prepared to put into this to see it succeed?”

So I believe that NFTs will be around for a long time. I think that they’ll morph as the capabilities of the underlying blockchains grow and change. I don’t know what that will look like (don’t I just wish!), but I’m convinced that as a new technology we just don’t know yet.

We didn’t know what the Internet would lead to, back in 1979 when it started coming out of DARPA.

We didn’t know what HTML would lead to when Tim Berners-Lee first created it in 1993. He just wanted to be able to have smart(ish) links between documents.

We didn’t know what the World Wide Web would be when it grew out of Berners-Lee’s HTML work. Now when people say “Internet” they’re most often talking about the World Wide Web (which, btw, is why URLs begin with HTTP and www – Hypertext Transfer Protocol and World Wide Web) (yes, I’m a geek and had a career in software).

We didn’t know what cryptocurrency would be when Bitcoin first launched.

And in that same way we don’t know what NFTs will become over the next few years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.DocListPhotography.com
• Instagram: @doclistphotography @austinbodiesproject @austindanceproject @hexproj
• Facebook: www.Facebook.com/doclistphotography
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/doclist
• Twitter: @doclistphoto and @athought