We recently connected with Caroline Perkins and have shared our conversation below.

Caroline, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve been taking pictures for as long as I can remember, when I was really young I had this Hannah Montanna camera that superimposed pictures of her onto the photos you take and I remember using it until it broke. After that, I would use my mom’s little Nikon and take it with me everywhere I went. I never really considered it could be more than just a hobby until I got a Nikon of my own for Christmas when I was about 13. From then on, I took every photo class I could in school. When I graduated from high school, I took a film photography class at my local community college and I knew then, I had found what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. If I could go back, I would have tried to get more involved in community photography groups sooner. I feel like that’s the best way to get better at something, by surrounding yourself with a community of like-minded people. It can make a huge impact on your work to have other people around you who are doing the same things and you can learn so much from each other. Even though at the time I was getting into it film was fizzling out in the mainstream, I did as much research as I could and even bought some developing equipment and an enlarger from a high school that was getting rid of their darkrooms. I think trial and error is so important in any craft, especially photography. Having my own equipment allowed me to try out a lot of things that I hadn’t learned in my class, and it helped me gain a deeper understanding of the process which in turn helped me better my work.

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.

I am a photographer and printmaker from Houston, and I am currently getting my degree from SCAD in Atlanta. I had come into SCAD looking to pursue a major in photography, and along the way, I also fell in love with printmaking. Being able to combine the two has given me more versatility in my work and I am constantly looking for new ways to incorporate one with the other. Half of my work focuses on my childhood and the areas I grew up in, while the other half focuses on animal rights, (although I often find ways to integrate the two themes). Since being in Atlanta, I have found a great community of other photographers and printmakers, and have been able to show my work at a few galleries within those groups. It is still so crazy to me that I get to go to art shows where my own work is hanging up amongst other amazing pieces!

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had gotten involved in community photography and printmaking groups sooner. I had known about them for a while, but I thought that they weren’t for me. I had this idea in my head that the people who show their works in galleries and are a part of these groups were ‘real’ artists, and I was just someone who liked taking photos. However, my professors at school pushed me to enter into a call for entry at a local photography group, and I got in on my first try. That was the first time I began to take myself and my work seriously, I am a ‘real’ artist, just like everyone else who is in the group. It has been such a great resource to be a part of that, and I wish I had been willing to take the leap earlier on instead of waiting and watching from the sidelines for so long.

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

The school I attended from kindergarten through 9th grade offered art classes but made it feel like that wasn’t an acceptable path to pursue. I loved photography, but I was made to feel like it was just a hobby. For my last two years of high school, I ended up going to a school that was very supportive of any career choice its students made. I finally felt like maybe photography was something I was allowed to enjoy as more than just a hobby. They helped me apply and get into SCAD and I am so glad that I had that support system. It has taken me a long time to get over the insecurities that my previous school ingrained into my head, and it is something I still struggle with, but I am getting better at accepting that it’s okay to allow myself to pursue my passion and that I don’t have to pick a career based on what is most socially acceptable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://carolineperkinsart.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/carolinesart.jpeg/
• Other: TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@carolinemakesprints

Image Credits

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