Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Nate Black. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Nate, thanks for joining us today. Let’s talk legacy – what sort of legacy do you hope to build?

Truthfully I never really had thought about legacy until this past year – I had thought about being famous and getting recognized for my work, but never what I would leave behind until I met the love of my life last year. When I looked into her eyes as I proposed earlier this year it dawned on me that this is my new family and the kids I might have with this woman would be the ones that carry on my legacy.

Documentary style of photographer has alway been my favorite because you are getting the true to life human experience of what happened in that moment and what really went on that day. Even when working with couples and models I hardly ever pose or give direction (I know I know is very taboo), but I never want the couple or model to act in a way that isn’t themselves – I simply say “Go on a date like you normally would and the camera and I are just bystanders.

Having time to think about it I want my legacy to not be just “Oh my dad takes photos” I want it my legacy to be “My dad tells stories of life, love, and anything in between” – there would be no higher honor than to have my legacy be that in which I am Dad first in foremost, but also that I told stories in the way they were supposed to be told.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

So I started taking interest back in the 8th grade when my family and I took a trip to Maine and I picked up my dad’s Nikon and found that I loved captured the movement of life around me, whether it be the motorcycle riding by or the birds in the sky – I knew I loved capturing life. That next year I took Film Photography 101 with Mr. Fionte in Wilmington, Massachusetts and my world was change. He showed me the fundamentals of photography and really gave me the boost to start my photography journey.

From then my family and I moved to Atlanta, GA and my world of photography expanded – I started taking photos of my friends in bands and then I learned that you could actually take photos of your favorite bands and artists so I spent time at Masquerade and Tabernacle a lot over the next 8 years eventually moving onto bigger artists where I have now shot at every major venue in Atlanta. My favorite would have to be Tabernacle though – its always felt like a second home to me.

I moved into portrait, wedding, and corporate work in the next few years, but realized my love of live events would always be my favorite to capture because of the emotions and unpredictability. From the Atlanta local scene to Grammy Award winning artists I have shot for over 400 artists and bands in my 8 years of photography.

Chance The Rapper, Mumford and Sons, Billie Eilish, Needtobreathe, All Time Low, Yungblud, Bring Me The Horizon, Young The Giant, Johnnyswim – to name a few of the artists and bands I’ve shot for.

Ultimately it doesn’t matter if you are Billie Eilish, Grant Hill, or just Joe who works at the Ace Hardware down the street, I want to tell your story to the best of my ability, if I want anyone to know anything about my the way I work, its that everyone that hires me I will treat the same way that I did with Grant Hill and Joe from Ace Hardware – we are all humans living on this planet trying to make the world a better place – I just want to make time tangible for those that require my services.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Comparison is a creative’s greatest enemy.

I compared myself to so many other photographers that came before me that I lost myself in the mix of it all.

Something that I always tell new photographers is “be yourself first, it doesn’t matter what gear others have or the way they edit – you can be inspired by them, but copying another photographer will be your downfall because you will lose yourself in it’

For a long time I tried to do the same thing as so many other photographers before like Ashley Osborn, Adam Elmakias, Greg Williams, and of course Annie Leibovitz – they all inspire me now and I am actually friends with two of them, but I never want to ever copy them because they have their eyes and I have mine. We all have different perspectives as photographers and I think that is the beauty in the vast number of us photographers and yet we all have different voices and emotions in our photos.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Just to tell stories and make memories tangible for everyone I come in contact with.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thenateblack.com
• Instagram: @thenateblack

Image Credits
The Devil Wears Prada Grant Hill Passion 2020 Billie Eilish Chance The Rapper Passion Music Sean Curran Cody Carnes & Kari Jobe Dansby Swanson Bobby Russell