We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Erica Robinson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Erica below.
Erica, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?
As a creative, there can be internal and external pressures to produce personal projects from a trauma. In June 2021, when I was diagnosed with stage 2, EP+, HER-2, 5% metaplastic breast cancer, this feeling of creative pressure hit me instantly. My cameras traveled with me to mammograms, chemotherapies, surgeries, radiation, and I disconnected and reconnected with my cameras easily a dozen times. Photography has been my preferred form of expression through documentation nearly my whole life, but it was during this diagnosis, treatment, and recovery that I preferred writing. I stopped pressuring myself to create a visual description of my feelings, and instead I was able to step into the feeling itself. In October 2022, after a complication with an MRI left me feeling defeated and unbearably overwhelmed, I created a poorly lit, unsatisfying self-portrait, which became the beginning of the most meaningful personal project of my career—the Under the Pencil project. This project is a merge of photographic portraits with personal handwriting directly from those photographed. It allows adolescent and young adult (AYA) women diagnosed with breast cancer to claim and express their personal narratives. Between October 2022 and October 2023, 14 women were photographed, and vulnerably yet confidently shared their stories through Under the Pencil.
As a person following a creative career path, fresh ideas can be snuffed out easily by industry expectations, my own expectations, or burnout from the energy it takes to balance “work” with personal goals. But trusting in personal projects with such meaningful tones and watching them come to life can keep that passion alive.
Erica, 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?
When I’m asked what I do, I keep it simple. I am a photographer and photography educator, focusing on travel and storytelling. I’ve experimented with graphic design, writing, wood working, and glass working, but always prioritized photography.
Like all creatives, I’ve evolved both with and because of my art. In college, I’d planned to pursue sports photography. That lasted a semester before I started to develop more of an interest in cameras themselves and darkroom printing. I spent a summer studying in Australia, and the year after college worked abroad as a photographer on a cruise line. This ignited my interest for travel and adventure, but what inspired my love for storytelling was actually wedding photography. I knew quickly I wouldn’t pursue a career in this industry, but investing in the skills it takes to document such important moments are skills that naturally carry forward. To develop more technical skills, I spent time working at a local camera retailer which is where I met the Tamron USA team I am with today. Here I am able to focus on photography education. Our team makes photography knowledge and equipment accessible through seminars, photo-walks, and on-location workshops. Balancing time between personal endeavors and public education is a perfect fit for me.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Lessons I’ve learned lately all stem from the ideas of perfectionism and recognizing I’d fallen into habits that were inhibiting my growth. The last couple of years I’ve struggled with major health issues. There’s nothing more jarring and reality shifting than facing your own mortality. For that, as cliche as it sounds, I am grateful. This shook me so hard that I stopped fighting myself and trusted that my art was valuable. I let myself break the mold of what I’d previously been creating, the subjects I’d been focused on photographing, the patterns of editing I’d made, and the structure I’d built around my safety zones of creativity. Most of all, I stopped thinking that something had to be the prescribed “perfect” to be valuable and instead focusing on the process.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is the community you develop once you let them in. I spent a long time in fields that act as both solo and team activities. As a swimmer for nearly 20 years, I raced the clock for personal best times while simultaneously competing for my team’s rank. Being a photographer for over 15 years, I am the one pressing the shutter while at the same time learning from others and building small-group workshops. Many creative fields can feel lonely if you don’t let your community in. I can say from experience that once I let my guard down to let them in, not only did I become a better artist, but I became a better person.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ericarobinsonphoto.com/
- Instagram: @ericarobinsonphoto
- Other: https://news.smugmug.com/under-the-pencil-sharing-powerful-stories-with-erica-robinson-3d2e2d915773 https://thisweekinphoto.com/capturing-cancer-erica-robinsons-under-the-pencil-project-ep-821/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZuo45Nl8DI
Image Credits
Erica Robinson