We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Craddock recently and have shared our conversation below.

Shannon, appreciate you joining us today. What was one of the most important lessons you learned in school? Why did that lesson stick with you?

The most impactful lesson I’ve learned in school is that no one cares. I know It sounds a little insane and harsh, but the moment my teacher said it, it just made sense. It was my first semester at the International Center of Photography in New York City critiquing my latest work. To be honest, I thought the images were very lackluster. I was so busy with other school projects and work that I forgot about the assignment until the night before it was due. So I went out and took some photos of a mutual friend in my dorm hall. In my class, I explained that I had been busy, so my work suffered due to my lack of planning, But my teacher, a retired fashion photographer, told me plainly: “No one cares about that. They don’t see what you’re doing before and after the photo is taken, they only see your work. If your work is bad, that’s what they are going to see and know, and that will be their impression of you.” While I’m not the biggest fan of the “telling it how it is” approach for teaching, I understood at that moment what my teacher meant. I realized that from that point on I had to approach every single assignment and project with my full attention. If I wasn’t able to get the photos I wanted, I had to schedule another shoot until I got the results I was looking for. My greatest fear is not being able to do the work I want to, so being told that no one cares about my excuses taught me to do my very best so that I can get to that point.

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

I’m a photographer based in Nashville TN, focusing on portraits and themes of coming-of-age youth and queerness. I grew up in Franklin TN where my family has a long lineage. I grew into photography during my sophomore year in high school when I was taking a Digital Arts and Design class when in the spring semester we focused on photography. At first, I was interested in taking the “Tumblr girl” aesthetic photos, but when we had a portrait assignment I fell in love with taking pictures of people. I decided to focus on digital art during school, and I took all three levels of the course plus an AP credit. With this newfound love, I applied to Ringling College of Art and Design to further explore this medium and sharpen my technical abilities. During my time at Ringling, I have been able to focus on my portraiture and improve my all-around skills in photography. In my Junior year, I had the opportunity to go to the International Center of Photography in NYC, where I got to meet and learn amongst other highly skilled photographers from all around the world. There, I fell in love with photographing the people within my community and getting to know them and their stories. Many of them were young queer people, much like myself, so much of my work was about them, and has maintained the same themes since then. Right now, I am in my final semester of school and will be graduating with a Bachelor of Fine Arts and plan on pursuing a career as a professional photographer.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

You have to specialize in one type of photography. I don’t know where or why that mindset exists, maybe because it’s required in so many other fields, but in photography, I find that it’s quite important to be able to do just about anything. Of course, various fields do not overlap even in the slightest, but for the most part, a lot of knowledge is very intersectional, and a multitude of skills translate across various genres. Whenever I’ve been able to have conversations or read interviews with other professionals, one of the most common things I hear is being said it’s important to be able to do anything and everything, especially when starting out. It also just makes sense for personal growth within your own art, you’ll never know if you truly like or dislike a specific genre if you haven’t worked in it a lot. If I’m going to be a professional in a field I love, I want to be able to do any job that interests me and has a high reward.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

One hundred percent it’s the time that photography actually takes. I think this goes for not just non-creatives, but a lot of other creatives as well. At Ringling, I interact with lots of different artists daily, but most people don’t really understand how long a photo takes to create. From concept to execution to editing, and god forbid you need to print your work as well. A body of work can take years to create and organize. However, depending on what I’m photographing, the time can greatly vary. I’ve made a project from 2 rolls of film shot over 3 days and edited for about an hour each. In total, it was no more than a week, but for more in-depth projects, the longest I’ve spent on a series is a couple of months with about 12 final photographs. For the latest project I’m currently working on, my senior thesis, I have about 10-12 weeks to capture and edit roughly 15-20 final images. Ultimately they will become part of a book, and be displayed in a professional gallery.
For professional corporate and editorial shoots, magazines, brands, etc, shoot days can average about 10-12 hours These shoots can compile hundreds, if not thousands, of photographs. Editing the total down to just a handful of final images is difficult but necessary, even on a tight deadline. Most people I have met think photography is just as easy as pressing the shutter button, but it’s far more involved and time-consuming than just one click.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shancraddock.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caseshots/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-craddock-4770b0225/