We recently connected with Greg Cohen and have shared our conversation below.

Greg, 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.

All my personal projects are meaningful to me. I only begin a something if I have a strong connection with it. Farewell to Arms was a project I made in response to the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary and the national reaction to it. It was deeply upsetting and like so many others, I was in shock and felt helpless. I was only familiar with school shootings as stories in the news from other places in the country. This time it happened where I grew up. It was suddenly very real, and I was overwhelmed with a range of intense emotions.

My initial motive for this project was simply to process what had happened, for myself, but as I began making these portraits and interviewing victims of gun violence, the intention grew. The installation ultimately included 20 portraits alongside interviews with victims of gun violence from across the country. My aim with this project was simply to re-sensitize people, raise the volume on the conversation and move people to action. The work was first shown at the Perfect Exposure Gallery in LA and reached over 500 million homes worldwide. Baby steps, we do what we can.

Another profoundly meaningful project – in 2009, I founded Heroes for Autism, fusing NBC with Autism Speaks in an effort to raise funds and awareness for the growing epidemic. I produced and curated a one night only benefit, exhibiting over 100 pieces of artwork by 13 photographers from the cast and crew of NBC’s Heroes along with 12 of the world’s most celebrated artists with autism. Leading a team of nearly one hundred people, I oversaw the entire production, including several musical acts, and we published the Heroes for Autism book. Collaborating with so many people focused on helping others is an enormously rewarding and powerful experience. It was extraordinary for everyone. The silent auction raised $80,000 and word was spread to 42 million people across the globe, making it the largest first year benefit for Autism Speaks.

Greg, 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?

I remember the moment I decided to be a photographer. I shot three rolls of Tri-X in an abandoned part of town and loved everything about it, it was thrilling. That was a turning point for me. After that, it was a day-by-day decision until those days got closer together. I improved and eventually people started to hire me. I love it as much today as I did so many years ago.

Today I shoot environmental portraits, editorially and commercially. I think of it as a collaborative process, when the subject and I are making something together. That approach tends to offer the best experience for everyone and continues to produce indelible images.

For years I photographed food and product for local and national brands, which I loved as well, and I still do. That too is a collaborative practice in a way.

Making photos for a client isn’t that different than making them for myself. It’s largely about problem solving. It’s a puzzle that begins with me understanding the client. I always do my research, I ask a lot of questions, gather some key words, and approach the endeavor from inside their mission. That’s the best place for me to translate their intention into a concept and ultimately into a final image that embraces the essence of who they are or what they want to say.

It’s always exciting to see something turn from a thought into a photograph. I’m confident in my ability to develop fresh ideas and translate those into images that conjure emotion. Leading someone to a feeling is an effective way to deliver an intended message.

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

The mission that drives my personal work usually boils down to one of two questions: “how can I serve others?” or “ how can I learn about myself?”

Who am I? How can I grow? I’m pretty mindful of my feelings and anxieties and I explore them creatively, photographically. It’s sort of a means of navigation.

My commissioned work, on the other hand, incorporates my personal motivations, but its purpose is centralized around the client. How can I best tell the client’s story? How can I best serve the cause? My style will always naturally infuse the final image, that’s why they hired me, but I aim to remove myself and let the subject shine.

These two things are not mutually exclusive. It’s been proven to me that if I can remain open to possibility, then I can develop my own personal connection with any assignment. I have a client who collects athletic artifacts, and last year he was selling a signed Kobe Bryant jersey from his 2007-2008 MVP season. We planned to make a collection of images featuring the dozens of murals of Kobe wearing this iconic shirt; the concept was to highlight the profound effect he had across the globe as a player, hero and man.

The emotional gravity of the project hadn’t occurred to me when I began. It started as an assignment, but as I spent day after day with Kobe, his absence weighed in. I lived in LA when he died and that tragedy consumed the city. Kobe Bryant lives in the heart of Los Angeles as one of its biggest heroes, and as I compiled images from across the globe, it was clear that this loss was felt around the world. I felt the grief of the city, which in turn helped me with my own griefs I had experienced in the past.
Months later, the images would exhibit at Sotheby’s New York to assist in the auction. As I toured the installation, surrounded by the photos and in the presence of Kobe’s Jersey, I felt that weight again. The jersey sold for 5.8 million.

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

So many lessons, where do I start?

It’s important to say “No.” I used to accept every job or project that was presented, because I was either excited about it or fearful to lose a client. That never really served me; it was stressful and I developed resentments, neither of which is helpful in any way. I remember the year I turned everything down and deliberately focused on only 3 projects. The experiment proved to be successful, it was my most productive year to that point. I made my best work, I learned a lot about myself and I felt fulfilled.

Other important lessons include asking for help and asking for what I need, what I’m worth. It’s much harder to get support without asking for it.

Also think it’s important to mention that I hold myself to an almost impossibly high standard and I focus on details that no-one would ever notice or care about. This is a huge waste of time and makes virtually no difference in the final product. I’ve had to learn to let go, and while this remains a challenge at times, it has has undoubtedly improved my work and my quality of living.

These lessons seem obvious to me now, but some of them took a while to correct. It’s all in service of the mission.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.gregcohenphotography.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/deggyphoto
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/gregcohenphoto