Aquatic feats and brotherly beats: Student overcomes back injury with swimming, photography and music – El Camino College The Union

Photo-Illustration: by The Cut; Photos: Getty Images, Everett Collection

Jeremy Pope’s speaking voice is as velvety as it is powerful, which, if you’ve heard the man sing, should not come as a surprise. Since 2018, he’s been bringing his vocal talents to the stage, where he earned two Tony nominations in the same year for his debut Broadway performance as Pharus Jonathan Young in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Choir Boy and for playing Eddie Kendricks in the jukebox musical Ain’t Too Proud. Beyond the stage, he’s appeared on television (in Ryan Murphy’s Hollywood and Pose) and film (The Inspection, The Collaboration), and he has recently started to work behind the lens, too.

Pope grew up in Florida, and after a pit stop in Orlando to visit family this month, he headed over to Miami, where his newest collection of photographs appeared on display at the SCOPE Art Show for Art Basel. The exhibition, called “FLEX(bitch),” follows his 2021 photo essay, “Generations,” and addresses some of the same themes. It’s about masculinity as he experienced it growing up — his father is both a pastor and a bodybuilder — and his journey to manhood as he lives it now.

Photo: Jeremy Pope

I read that you’ve been cultivating your skills as a photographer since college, when you were taking headshots for your fellow acting students. Can you talk about how you evolved your photography skills while becoming an accomplished actor and singer?

That was really a big part of my life when I was in New York, just grinding and hustling between catering and all of that. It is more a hobby than something I do all the time. But after I’d spent last year working, I wanted to do something that was for me. That usually starts when I go back home, where there’s less noise. I think about young Jeremy, when I was at home making beats or working on whatever I was doing as a kid — just that creative freedom to think and expand and go, What do I have to say? And why do I have to scream it? I want to get to a place where what I have to say is so loud that it becomes actionary for me. That was the early thesis of unpacking what the “FLEX” series is, but it initially was me just having time, picking up my camera, and wanting to shoot on film.

From left: Photo: Jeremy PopePhoto: Jeremy Pope

From top: Photo: Jeremy PopePhoto: Jeremy Pope

“FLEX(bitch)” addresses the structures of masculinity you were raised with, and I see echoes of that in your photo essay “Generations.” Can you talk about how your relationship with your masculinity, and your creativity around it, has evolved?

Coming from these spaces that are extremely hypermasculine, and knowing that a lot of my core foundation comes from being in those environments, it allowed me to take time to unpack and relearn and reshape and try to guide myself to a healthier place of self-love and existence. Me and my dad have a beautiful relationship; it has had its ebbs and flows, but it’s ultimately always lived in a support and love place. But in trying to understand where I come from, and my foundation, I found out my foundation was a little rocky for me to stand on. I think my idea of masculinity was very fragile — is very fragile. Visually, this project was giving us something new, starting with myself. And the definition of “flex” is to bend, like bending the things that I thought were true. Bending the Bible that is supposed to be the word of God and you don’t question. Allowing questioning to not be a sin, but a launching pad.

Photo: Jeremy Pope

Am I serving the fullness of a Black experience, the Black male experience, in a way that is pushing the narrative forward for the industry that I’m a part of? I look at my career and the opportunities that I have as a vessel. What I’m creating and doing is bigger than me. It has to be, because my time, our time on this earth is so short and limited. I want to believe that what I’m creating is planting a seed for something that maybe I won’t even see, but I know that it’s going to grow into another person being able to exist or share or create.

Photo: Jeremy Pope

I know you’ll be speaking to Tarell Alvin McCraney at Basel. What does that conversation, and his work, mean to you?

It means everything, because Tarell is one of my good, good friends, and he gave me my first shot in New York in 2013 in Choir Boy, which ended up being my Broadway debut and my first Tony, so it’s very special for me. But more importantly, I remember him being one of the first people that I saw standing in his Blackness, just so strong and confident and comfortable. I remember being like, I want to be like Tarell, I want to just exist. He wasn’t ever overly fazed. He was just who he was. We both know what it means to come from Florida, to come from religion, come from the South. I’m just excited that he was down. He was like, “Whatever you need, Pope.” I hope to be able to take the series to other states and places to further the conversation and allow people access to something different.

You played Jean-Michel Basquiat on stage in The Collaboration, which has now been adapted for a film. He was an artist, and you’re now stepping into your artist shoes at Art Basel. What did you learn about art from playing Basquiat?

Anytime you play a character as long as I did, they teach you. You learn about yourself through the character, and I think what I learned through Basquiat was having an open mind and an unconventional approach to everything that you do, not allowing there to be a ceiling, especially in these spaces that weren’t really built for you to be in. He challenged the narrative. I kept saying to myself, “The world is my gallery.” Basquiat taught me to be free in my art.

Where do you get your best culture recommendations from?

Oddly enough, I feel like it’s my grandma. My grandma’s pretty tapped in. It’s kind of crazy, the stuff she’ll know. She’ll be like, “You heard about Cardi B?” I love connecting with her and also sharing culture with her. She’s kind of informed me about what it meant to be liberated and free in the ’60s and ’70s, and I’m telling her what it looks like in 2023.

You’re hopping in an Uber XL and you can bring five celebrities, dead or alive. Who are you bringing?

I’m gonna go with Prince. He’ll have the aux, he’ll handle the music. Plot twist, Miss Honey from Matilda, because she was everything. She was just kind. Who else … Beyoncé, hello? Just because of Renaissance. That’s three. Basquiat. I’d love to connect with him. And my grandma. I gotta throw my grandma in there. It would be lit.

What is the last meal that you cooked for dinner?

Probably Thanksgiving. We threw down. It’s my favorite holiday, so I definitely cooked smoked turkey wings, mac and cheese, sweet potato soufflé, creamed corn, fried chicken. I go hard, like it’s kind of a problem. That’s why I haven’t been in the kitchen since. I made cereal the past couple of nights. I was recovering from my Thanksgiving throwdown.

Sweet potato soufflé sounds incredible.

It’s insane, fam. Brown butter crumble with marshmallow. Next level.

Do you have a ritual before performing, on set or in front of a crowd?

If I’m doing a show on Broadway or in theater, it’s really just getting the energy right, especially being in New York, it’s a lot. I usually listen to a great playlist. I have my palo santo. I love snacks, to get myself whatever energy boost or candy rush I need to be able to go out there and give the show what it needs.

When I’m on set, I call it a moment of still. I like to be alone to allow things to come in. Music is a big thing; it probably is for a lot of people. With Basquiat, it was a lot of jazz and instrumental stuff. With certain characters, it’ll be word-specific or genre-specific.

Your red carpets are always so legendary. Do you have a pre–red carpet ritual?

I always get really nervous before a carpet. I call it bubble gut. I get really quiet. I don’t know if that’s the Cancer in me. I’m not a big drinker, but if I was, I’m sure I’d be doing shots. Normally I have a little Sour Patch in my pocket — li’l Sour Patch candy, Sour Patch Children. Pop one of those. Those really take me there. I’m a big candy fiend! So I usually have like a little Hi-Chew, or just something on me to keep it sweet.

What is your comfort rewatch?

The TV show Martin that was in the ’90s, or Sister Act 2.

What about something you’ll never ever watch, no matter what?

I don’t really mess with extremely gory or horror stuff. I don’t like anything that’s psycho, like it could happen. Stuff where it’s like, the neighbors looking at you. I’m trying to see positive things that make you laugh. Even some of these thrillers sometimes be on the cusp, because I’m like, that’s a little spooky, now. Listen, if you like it, I love it. But personally, I’m not throwing that on and being scared in my house. Why would I do that to myself?

What’s the best piece of gossip that you’ve ever heard?

I think because we’re living in the Renaissance era — at least, I am — I think anything related to Beyoncé, that type of gossip. Act Two, Act Three, we’re all fantasizing and I’m like, Do they exist? Like, Are we delusional? I was fortunate enough to see the premiere in L.A. She’s so sweet and lovely. But she really be minding her business.

Was there any good intel at the premiere? 

I think it’s beautiful to watch her process as an artist, as a mother, as a woman. In the end credits, there’s new music, so I do believe there’s got to be new music … like, where’s the hard drive, ma’am? I know you got things on the hard drive. Stop playing.

What’s your favorite game to play?

I like to play Uno, but we play it dirty style. Doubles, triples, give me your hand, take mine, draw 30 ’til you get the color. We play hard in the streets and talk a lot of shit while doing it too.

What music do you listen to when you’re alone?

That varies, but I’ll say this week — and most weeks — I’m usually going old-school: Earth, Wind & Fire, Luther Vandross, Prince, Aretha. It’s crazy because growing up I always felt like that was old music, but now it feels like the soundtrack of my life. Most of the time when I’m home alone, I’m cleaning, so it feels like, Put on the cleaning music.

What’s a book you couldn’t put down?

Janet Mock wrote a book, Redefining Realness, and she was someone that I was able to work with during Hollywood and Pose. I bought the audiobook; I was about to go on a flight, and I was like, Let me support her and read this book. I couldn’t stop, I was learning so much. Maybe because I was connected to her and she doesn’t lead with all the things that her book entails. I’m always moved by people’s vulnerabilities to share, because once you share something you can’t take it back.

What’s the best advice that you’ve ever received?

“When you know better, you do better.” So stay open, and stay open to the process, and allow everything to have a process. We want results so fast. As an artist, as a human, you’re supposed to have a process.

What show is your partner not allowed to watch without you? 

We’re watching a show on BET+ called The Ms. Pat Show, which is a funny show. I’ll tell you what they can watch without me: anything scary. Watch that on your own time, that ain’t got nothing to do with me.

What’s your favorite piece of art that you own?

A photo of Jean-Michel Basquiat. The photographer who shot it is Richard Corman. It was really cool to be shot by the same photographer that had shot that series, and we did an homage to that, so it was really special and unexpected that he gave me one of the raw prints from his shoot with Basquiat.

What is the worst thing to do at a dinner party?

Not acknowledge everybody at the dinner party. It’s so strange. I’ve been to a lot of them where you’re having dinner and you’re sitting across from someone and they’re on their phone, or they talk through and around you. Just don’t do that. We’re all here. We all got names, whether the name cards are on the table or not. You don’t have to talk talk, but I try to do that at parties. Just make sure everyone knows, Hi, I’m Jeremy. Have we met before? If we have, refresh my memory or if not, I’m available to connect if you choose to.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Jeremy Pope Has a Sweet Tooth

Earlier this year we wrote about a pretty cool Lego Ansel Adams set that was being crowdsourced through Lego’s Ideas platform, and a random scrolling over the weekend just showed up another sweet looking project – a Lego version of the legendary Leica M6.

Created by user ChiefHilariousRaisin100, the model takes a version of the camera first introduced by Leica Camera AG in 1984, and gives it a Lego twist with two films and a Leica Summicron Coll.2/5 Cm SOOIC lens.

Today the M6 remains highly regarded by photographers and collectors, making it one of the more expensive second hand film Leica’s on the used market, with good models selling for upwards of $2,000.

This particular Lego model has a lot more work to do than the Ansel Adams set to reach production however. It hit 100 supporters within the first 60 days, with Lego rewarding it with a one-year boost to give it time to reach 1,000 supporters. The Adams set by comparison hit 10,000 supporters and is currently in the review stage, which means it may enter production.

The pitch for votes comes at the same time as Lego US officially confirmed it will launch a nifty ‘retro camera set‘ just after Christmas, although there’s no word if that particular set will make it downunder. 

You can check out the M6 for yourself here. 

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WPTA) – “So God, what am I doing here?”

Angela Forker asked that question in 2018 as she reflected on her life up to that point. She had been a missionary, active in the church her husband led and now a newborn photographer.

She used handmade, ornate scenes to place her subjects in a whole other world, making the infants look like they were running, dancing or jumping. Forker said God then placed it in her heart to take those scenes in another direction — special needs children.

He even gave her a name for it, Precious Baby Project, a play on her business’s name, Precious Baby Photography, Forker said. It allows her to put the babies in a positive light and bring awareness to the conditions the children live with.

Forker said her work shows parents of special needs children they aren’t alone and helps them connect with other families who have a child with the same condition as their child.

“It’s just been such an amazing time of my life — showing the world the beauty and value of babies with special needs,” Forker said. “That life that maybe turned out a little different than what you expected as a mom and a dad and yet there’s still so much love and so much beauty.”

“I’m just showing the world that beauty.”

Those who are interested in having their child’s photo taken by Forker can learn more about the process here.

Aside from a lull during the COVID-19 pandemic, Forker has been hard at work making photos for the Precious Baby Project. Her work has taken her as far as Latvia to photograph terminally ill children and brought families from all over the nation to her studio to feature their special needs children in her fantastical scenes.

Most recently, her work led her to Seattle where two parents, Owen and Julia, and their son Joshua, a baby with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy — a condition caused by oxygen deprivation — were waiting for her with open arms. Joshua’s father was a pastor before stepping down to help care for his son, Forker said.

She said the family was still processing their son’s condition, navigating being first-time parents as well as being parents of a “medically fragile” child who came into the world with his umbilical cord wrapped around his neck three times.

“They had several friends who were pregnant at the same time and they all had perfect babies,” Forker said. “And they had Joshua, who they loved so much, and it’s like your dreams are just crushed in that moment.”

Despite what they may have had planned for their lives and son, Forker said, the parents had to adjust what they expected their son’s life to look like. In many ways, she said, the photo shoot was as much for Owen and Julia as it was for photos of their son.

“As I prayed, I felt like God was saying ‘It’s more than the photos, you’re going out there for this couple,” Forker said.

After preparing everything for the shoot and just before she began photographing Joshua, she prayed over him as she often does with her subjects — this time including his parents. Shortly before the shoot, Forker said she felt God wanted her to share with the family that he had not forgotten them.

Deuteronomy 31:7-8 had come to her and seemed to be perfect for the family to hear, she said.

Little did Forker know, the verse was Joshua’s life verse, a verse by which someone lives their life.

After their prayers, it was time to get to work on the scene she said came to her immediately after she learned about the family: Joshua and the Battle of Jericho.

Copyright 2023 WPTA. All rights reserved.

After more than a decade of our photo competition Your Best Shot being only open to AP magazine readers and subscribers, we’ve decided to shake things up and open it up to everyone in Australia to enter from 2024.

There’s a different theme in every issue of AP mag, and you can win great prizes thanks to our good friends at Blonde Robot, the Australasian distributors of Peak Design, 3 Legged Thing, and Angelbird.

If you’d like to enter yourself in 2024, you can find out all the details here. 

To give you a taster of what to expect, here were our selections for the December/January 2024 edition of the competition. Our winner for this issue, Rudy Kalele, took home a Peak Design Travel Tripod Aluminium valued at $669.

Dec/Jan theme: Night

Our modern cameras make it easy to take photos when light levels are low, but the fundamentals of good photography still apply. You need a great subject, great composition, and great lighting – regardless of how little you have to work with. Here are our picks this issue.

This issue’s winner

Editor’s comment

As Rudy Kalele says it, night photography is all about light painting.

Here, he tells us a perfect opportunity presented itself at Canberra’s Floriade NightFest. “The slow moving giant wheel provided the perfect backdrop,” he explains. “The challenge was to take a long exposure shot, but not too long so as to bring out the full spectrum of colour and not whitewash the photo. A small aperture was deployed to try and get the star effect with the harsh light facing the camera.”

This is a great shot with a nice leading line through the flowerbeds that take us all the way to that amazingly bright giant ferris wheel. On the use of colour, you’ve done well to preserve the important bits without overcooking them either – no mean feat in a scene with some seriously busy lighting! Well done.

Runner-up

Editor’s comment

Dani Maver’s image Supermood may be a blend of two images, August’s super blue moon seen from Melbourne, and a crow on the roof through foliage, but they come together to make a very moody, atmospheric image that has a real cinematic vibe to it. 

Your processing of the final image is also great, preserving the noise to add a bit of grit – something we probably don’t see enough of in an era of pin-sharp lenses and high definition camera sensors!

How I did it

This shot was taken in the Dark Sky Reserve near Mannum in SA. The Milky Way sits nicely above the abandoned tractor, and I used a torch to illuminate the tractor from different angles to try and highlight the machinery with several images at F5. I then exposed for the night sky at F2.8 taking several images before I finally blended the shots in Lightroom and Photoshop.

How I did it

This image is over 200 x 30 second exposure shots taken from about 3:15am – 5:15am one beautiful morning. I purposely chose this time so I could get that early morning glow in my image to really bring it to life with these beautiful star trails!

How I did it

The Paul Wild Observatory near Narrabri occasionally opens its gates at night to a limited number of keen astrophotographers, but unfortunately not on the night of the lunar eclipse in May, 2021.

Still, I managed to capture this image of one of the radio telescopes on a night the next month and incorporate 41 images of the lunar eclipse captured at another regional location.

The images of the moon were taken every seven minutes, with six to eight separate photographs for each one (stacked to improve the quality). I used a star tracker to capture the middle ten images to avoid blurring due to the movement of the moon. The final image is a compilation of more than 250 separate photographs, adjusted in Lightroom and blended in Photoshop.

How I did it

I visited Narooma early in the milky way season on a night near the new moon, so Narooma Beach was pitch-black and I couldn’t see Glasshouse Rocks with my small head torch. I boosted the ISO to 12800 to compose this photo and waited for the small waves to rush around the foreground boulder.

The shots I captured with a lower ISO were just too dark, so I stuck with the higher ISO, knowing I could use the Lightroom de-noise function to reduce the noise. The orange airglow made the photo muddy, even with changes to the white balance, so I turned the image to monochrome.

I boosted blacks, highlights and whites a little to bring out the stars, waves and distant lighthouse. I also added a little clarity and contrast.

Los Angeles, CA: In a bold move defying decades of established practice, local photographer Max Carter has turned the photography world upside down—literally—by opting to hold his camera lens over the top, instead of the traditional support from underneath. This unconventional technique has sparked a mixture of outrage, confusion, and reluctant admiration within the photography community.

“I was just looking for a new perspective,” Carter explained, nonchalantly flipping his Canon EOS R5 over. “Everyone holds their lens from the bottom. I thought, ‘Why not be different?’ Plus, it’s a great forearm workout.”

Carter’s unusual grip was first noticed during a beach photoshoot. Fellow photographers, initially thinking he was correcting a lens error, soon realized it was intentional. The scene quickly erupted into a mixture of gasps, scoffs, and a few intrigued murmurs.

Renowned photographer Linda Evans, present at the scene, commented: “I’ve seen many trends come and go, but this is absurd. How can you possibly stabilize the shot? It’s like he’s trying to make a smoothie with his camera!”

Online photography forums have been buzzing with debates over Carter’s technique. Some traditionalists have called it a “reckless gimmick,” while a few avant-garde photographers have praised it as a “revolutionary approach challenging the norms.”

Carter’s Instagram post, showcasing a beach sunset with the caption “Upside Down, Right Side Up,” received a record number of comments. “Is this a new filter?” asked one confused follower. Another commented, “Innovative or insane? Hard to tell.”

Photography instructor Kevin Smith weighed in: “While it’s essential to explore new techniques, there’s a reason we support lenses from underneath—it’s about physics, balance, and reducing camera shake. But who knows, maybe Carter is onto something, or maybe he just likes living life on the edge, quite literally.”

Despite the controversy, Carter keeps his experimental spirit, vowing to shoot with the rear screen instead of the viewfinder at his next shoot. When Smith heard of this, all he could say was: “too far. It’s just disrespectful.”

In a recent development, a camera accessory company has hinted at designing a “Carter Grip” in honor of this unconventional method. Whether this will become a new trend or remain a quirky blip in photography history remains to be seen. Meanwhile, Carter continues to turn heads and lenses, one shot at a time.

The magical red of dogwood twigs is one of the joys of the winter landscape for me. The bare skeletal structures of trees and plants in general appeal to my aesthetic sensibilities: I find their delicate shapes more interesting than the lush green foliage of summer. Perhaps this speaks to my state of mind. Who knows?

This patch of wild dogwood was captured on a route along the River Avon in Bath, near where I live. It’s a flood zone that is enduringly fascinating to me, and rich with photographic potential. It’s along a path that I run down regularly, so even when I’m without my camera, I delight in its ever-changing appearance and make photos in my mind’s eye. 

On this particular day in early January, it was super-cold and, even in the late afternoon, the frost hadn’t melted away. I’d never seen it looking quite so exquisite so, as soon I was home from my run, I grabbed my kit and headed back out to shoot photos.

It was twilight by the time I got back to the location. I made some images with a tripod, but I wasn’t capturing the ‘magical’ vibe I was feeling, so I decided to ditch the tripod and use an on-camera flash on my medium-format Fujifilm GFX. Using manual exposure, I balanced the sky with flash, lighting the dogwood. Bingo! The flashgun light accentuated the red hues of the twigs and captured the glistening frost with a sparkle. The harmonious relationship between the colors of the twilight sky and the twigs seemed perfect to me.

It’s not typical to use on-camera flash in landscape photography, but I’m finding that I’m increasingly drawn to it. I’m seduced by the otherworldly rendering of the land and its features that the artificial light produces, and perhaps the maverick approach appeals to my inner rebel.

In a way, this image also reminds me of an underwater scene: the combination of the color palette and the sea fern-esque shape of the twigs echo a coral reef. 

• Other articles in the Art of Seeing series

Read more:
• The 50 best photographers ever
• 100 best photography quotes from famous photographers
• The best coffee-table books on photography

From Dec. 14 through Dec. 28, Village Music in Wellington will present a solo photography exhibit entitled “Enveloped by Clouds” depicting the illustrious beauty of clouds with their majestic and billowing formations.

“Meet the Artist” on Thursday, Dec. 14 at 6:45 p.m., which will be followed by the Village Music Jazz Trio at 7:30 p.m.

Also on exhibit will be a selection from Savicky’s recent solo show at the Delray Beach Public Library entitled “Abstract Reflections and Sky & Water.”

“Abstract Reflections” exemplifies amazing images of light and shadow reflected by everyday objects. “Sky and Water” depicts images in nature from the beautiful northeast. Savicky’s work can also be viewed at photageart.com.

Savicky recently published two books: “Enveloped by Clouds: A Photographic Spiritual Journey” and “Abstract Reflections: A Modernist Perspective.” Both books catalog the photo exhibits and are available for purchase along with the photographic prints.

A Boynton Beach resident, Savicky received a bachelor’s degree in fine arts from Queens College in New York and a PhD in clinical social work/social welfare at Adelphi University, a certificate in interior design from the Parsons School of Design, and most recently received a B.Msc in metaphysics. Over the course of her career in both public service and interior design, she continued in drawing, design, and now photography and painting.

Village Music is located at 10410 W. Forest Hill Blvd. in the Shoppes at Wellington Green near Barnes & Noble. For more info., contact Village Music at (561) 798-5334 or visit www.villagemusicwellington.com for reservations and information.