We recently connected with Adyera Robinson and have shared our conversation below.

Adyera, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

The most meaningful project that I’ve worked on was my Senior Project for College. For that Project, I wanted to challenge myself in terms of finding models for the project and shooting in a setting that I’m less familiar with: studios. I adored how everything came together in the end and it is a project I’d like to continue in the future. Provided is my artist statement for ‘The Growth Project’: “The purpose of this project is to showcase the growth of artists at UNCG. Many artists suffer from imposter syndrome and fall at the hands of comparison. My goal with this project was to showcase that we as artists are improving over time, even if we don’t see it as we work on it day after day. I have utilized projection and motion blur to conceptualize the passage of time in my images. Also, with this being my final project completing my photography Minor, I wanted to challenge myself in hopes of catalyzing more improvement as I continue to experiment with projection and low-light portraiture. All the artists pictured are volunteers who heard about my project via social media, discord, and the many flyers that I posted around campus advertising the opportunity. I hope to continue this project or something similar in the future and push myself socially and creatively as I grow as an artist and continue to pursue photography post academia.”

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

When I was in Middle School, I made and presented a Prezi Presentation to my parents because I wanted a camera, and they wanted to make sure that I would truly use it and that it was not just something that would become a dust collector in three months. Following that, I was gifted my first camera, a Nikon Coolpix L330. I took that camera everywhere. Mostly, my little brother’s sporting events. Sport and nature photography were my first encounters with the craft. I then went on to join the Yearbook team in high school. There, I gained more of an appreciation for photojournalism and documentary photography. After doing Yearbook for two years, I decided that I wanted to delve more into my style of photography and see what kind I liked to do. I minored in Photography in College and learned my way around a DSLR. Once Covid hit my sophomore year I, like many others, picked up a ‘new hobby’ and decided to try to take photography a little more seriously. I saved up and bought my first DSLR, a Canon EOS 5D at Peace Camera in Raleigh, NC. Which, after some research, I felt would best fit my short-term photography goals. I took on Graduation and Birthday portraiture shoots as I learned a little bit more about my style and how to go about taking portraits for clients. Things started to pick up from there. I made creative concepts and invited people to model for them, and I went to Tabeling events such as the ‘Black Creative Exposé’ to showcase my work and to meet other creatives. Whilst doing this, I was still taking bookings for Graduation Shoots, for the most part, among Headshots as well.
Photography took the back burner, as I was preoccupied during my last semester of college with my internship and finishing the final requirements for my degree. Post-grad, I’m still trying to navigate life outside of Academia. However, I am currently making strides to get back into shooting again regularly :)
As a Photographer, I enjoy creating art and bringing creative concepts to fruition. My care and clarity sets me apart as well as my creative takes. Everyone has different ideas about photography which is one aspect of why I love it so. When clients come to me because they saw one of my concepts, I’m extremely honored. I adore out-of-the-box concepts and that is one thing I would like people to know who may follow my work or want to shoot with me in the future. If you have an idea, I want to make it happen. I’m all about creating art and taking on new ideas and different takes, my love for art is one of my greatest motivators.

What’s been the best source of new clients for you?

Instagram and word of mouth have been the best ways I have met clientele. Many of the clients I’ve had to this day have been friends of friends as well as people who have seen me shooting on my story and asking if my booking was open for a concept they had in mind. Above all, letting people know what I do and showing my work is how people became aware of my work as a Photographer.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

I had to unlearn that promoting my work is…bad? Up until Covid, I could have never gone to a tabling event or stood next to my work and said that I’m a Photographer, I didn’t feel ready to accept that title. But through the Pandemic I learned that I needed to go for it if I wanted to reach my goals as a Photographer. If I wanted to book clients, cover concerts, or shoot editorial work, I wasn’t going to get there saving all my work in a Google Drive folder. I had to share it on social media, I needed to go out and shoot creative concepts, and I needed to tell people that I was a Photographer, or else I wasn’t going to get anywhere. In the beginning, It was very uncomfortable, sometimes it still is. However, I have never regretted putting myself or my work out there, I’ve only grown and learned from those experiences.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://adyeraroche.mypixieset.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/an.arob.photograph/
• Other: Email: [email protected]