We recently connected with Piper Carter and have shared our conversation below.

Piper, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

I have often been misunderstood. I have always seen myself as loving, open, authentic, thoughtful, caring, kind, courteous, courageous, curious, adventurous, creative, flexible, sensitive, aware, tenacious, an homebody, and resilient.

some folks have told me they see me as aloof, a bully, a party animal, and unapproachable.

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 have lived many versions of myself as I’ve evolved over time through and because of life itself. Growing up I identified as an actress and dancer because those are the disciplines I studied . And also because my Mother (Rise in Power) was a professional actress and dancer and my Father (Rise in Power) was a professional actor and writer). As a teenager and young adult I was in a professional training program for artists led by Motown legend Kim Weston and made my living as a performer. I attended Howard University where I majored initially in political science and they did not have a dance major at the time so I took dance classes and fought for the school of arts to have a dance major which they eventually created the year after I left. So while I was there I changed to musical theater with focus on directing and then to photography, which I realized I loved.

After finishing school I moved back home to Detroit and studied more photography and eventually moved to NYC where I also entered several photography programs and eventually became a photography assistant to Steven Klein. I literally just looked up his number to his studio and asked and they didn’t k is I was Black over the phone so they said yes. When I came in they were shocked so they had me do lots of low level menial labor.

Eventually the studio manager told me Steven noticed my work ethic and offered me a living stipend and more photography related responsibilities. After a while he began to trust me even more and I eventually moved up the ladder to become one of his most trusted assistants.

He was and still is one of the top fashion photographers in the world so I learned so much about lighting, production, creative direction, choosing and working with a creative team, ad agencies, magazines, fashion houses, celebrities, studios. I traveled the world and learned more about how to manage major productions globally.

I decided to not go for the first assistant position and opted to go out on my own and so I did and I began pounding the pavement building my portfolio through testing with agency models and other hair, make up, and styling assistants in the industry. I made a good career for myself.

My bio lists companies I’ve shot for I’ll share that I used to have an agent who secured me bookings and I appreciate having someone fight for me.

At the time I started I was the only Black woman in my field so it was shocking for folks to see me as “the boss”. I loved photographing Black women but I was mostly hired to photograph White women because that was the way the industry was set up then. I would propose Black models to clients but they didn’t want Black women to represent their brands.

I tried to market myself as an expert in lighting Black skin but it was a challenge to even get clients to hire Black models. And I pushed clients very hard. I also pushed them to hire Black folks in other areas everytime I was hired. I received the nickname Harriett Tubman because folks knew if they hired me it would come with a hard push to bring Black folks with me.

I can say that I’m aware of at least 250 people that I helped get into the industry..

In 2008 my Mother (Rise in Power) asked me come to Detroit to support her during and after her bypass surgery.. it didn’t go well and I decided to stay permanently so I exited the industry to become her full time care giver.

I ended up buying a building and creating an art space for community and that became successful because I created a no misogyny no capitalism no violence Hip Hop open mic that centered Women identified persons who were interested in pursuing their artistic endeavors as a performer. This created safer spaces for everyone who attended. It was pretty revolutionary so we were written about in various publications and asked to present and perform at universities.

We became a collective and then i produced Detroit’s first Women in Hip Hop conference and concert and then we developed into an annual showcase featuring our all woman band and then the pandemic happened.

So I created a record label for Women identified Hip Hop artists and produced our first instrumental vinyl album that came out May 2023. titled “Luck or Favor” by Drummer Percussionist Aisha Ellis. And now we are going into the studio to produce her next project.

In between all of that I’m also a grower, I’m growing 90% of my food and herbs and I’m studying herbalism and will be a certified Herbalist in January 2024. I’ve turned my backyard into a permaculture classroom called “The Healing Hood Homestead”.

I’ve been mentoring youth and young adults in the community since 2009 and I’m a community organizer and have also become an environmental and climate justice organizer and activist. I also am a cultural trainer.

I started DJing and have been DJing conferences as well as special events. My sets are dedicated to Women: Women jazz musicians and vocalists, R&B, Soul. and of course Hip Hop.

I also sit on the board of several arts and culture organizations. I am hired to photograph or video projects or produce events and concerts for mostly non profits. I’m 51 years old now and am mostly living and loving life with my husband George and my family.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I will center this question to Detroit society. We need the local government to earmark a portion of its budget for arts and culture. And the amount needs to be significant. It needs to go towards arts and culture education, physical maintenance of structures that support arts and culture, developing programs that presents arts and culture to audiences.

Currently Detroiters who identify as artists are not able to make a living by doing their art here. They must leave to make their money and just come here to go to sleep.

The institutions and businesses here must value the artists that are here, many of them hire what they call “real artists” from somewhere else and pay them very significant fees while if they ever hire folks from Detroit they offer them very low stipends.

We need way more funding for arts and culture and we need folks who appreciate the arts. We need more people to become art buyers and collectors. We need more folks investing in murals. We need more folks who are able to support the arts to be interested in supporting the arts.

There is enough money to support the arts , it’s mostly that there is not enough value for the arts as a valuable part of a healthy society. We need more folks educated and aware of the significance of arts and culture as a very important aspect of society.

This would look like artists being hired everywhere for most projects, more performances all around the city, more designers and design projects around the city, our city would be much more vibrant and thriving if we decided to uplift and value arts and culture. Wed have better food and restaurants, better looking spaces, better environments overall.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think everyone is creative. I think folks who decide to pursue a career in arts and culture do so because of an internal need to create and for me it’s to be free. American society teaches us that we are to do things to get money and money is the center of life in this country. Folks are taught to create their lives and livelihoods around acquiring money and a certain social status.

In a capitalist framework there are plenty of artists who also center their lives around money and their art reflects such.

For me, I’m interested in leaving this planet better than when I got here. I’m interested in being kind, loving, and bringing as much joy to this world as I possibly can.

I enjoy creating. I enjoy problem solving. I enjoy collaborating. I enjoy being inspired. I enjoy paying attention to nature. I enjoy mentoring. I enjoy organizing. I enjoy seeing folks enjoy what I’ve created.

For me that joy is the central important aspect of life, not money. However, because of the construction of this paradigm, we are forced to find ways to get money to live. And folks become consumed with that pursuit, which is really in my opinion how folks have become addicted to that aspect of the equation.

I’m always looking at how to access that joy as often as possible. For me this is where I have dedicated my endeavors and interests. I also would like to be compensated fairly for my efforts and ideas.

Creating is a time consuming process. There are many stages and phases to making projects. There’s a research phase, a gathering materials phase, an experimentation phase, an overhaul phase, and then a finalization phase. This is a cycle that continues. And for each artist the aspects of each phase may vary..

The compensation that artists ask for is more or less based on how they deal with these aspects. There is also an industry and within the industry there are standards. And compensation is based on those standards as well. Also, art and artists appreciate over time.

So this is why there is such a large discrepancy between how much an artist charges or how much their services or performance or piece costs.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pipercarter.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/pipercarter
• Facebook: https://facebook.com/pipercarter
• Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/pipercarter
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/pipercarter
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@pipercarterpodcast

Image Credits
Mahogany Jones photographed the image of me sitting in the chair George Taggart photographed the image of us together James Ambrose photographed the colorful image of me on the microphone I screenshot the image of myself on my podcast