A master of light, adventure, and raw beauty. Camille Seaman our latest brand ambassador makes some serious waves with her photography. Images that provide a sense of awe. Join us as we sit down with Camille and learn of her insights, journeys, and a bit of life story. Without further ado....
Cotton Carrier: Where do you call home?
Camille Seaman: I am presently living in Rural Ireland in a tiny village of 45 people called Querrin, it’s located on the Loop Head peninsula in County Clare.
CC: How long have you taken photographs for unprofessionally and professionally?
CS: I have been making images with a camera since I was a small girl, it wasn’t until I was 32 years old that I decided to become a professional.
CC: How would you define your style as a photographer?
CS: I am a believer in mastery of light. I also don’t think a photograph is successful unless the viewer feels something emotionally. I also think some of the most powerful images are the ones where you are fully present, still and aware. and those same images transport the viewer, in fact the viewer forgets there ever was a photographer present.
CC: Have you ever gone to photography school?
CS: Not as such. I went to the Fame HS of Music and the Arts in NYC when I was a teen ager, but never had a photo class there. At University I took a few photography classes, but felt completely lost. When I finally decided to go professional I called up photographers whose images made me ask, “How’d you do that?” Whether it was a technical, moral or philosophical.
CC: Where is your favorite place or thing to shoot? I am definitely drawn to unusual qualities of light. At the Polar Regions or Storm Chasing I feel inspired.
CC: What Camera(s) / Lenses do you use?
CS: I have many cameras, they are like tools to a carpenter, Different jobs require different tools. For a while now I was pulled towards Sony Mirrorless, but that seems to be fading as I am drawn back to the quality of the images I make using my Leica and Canon.
CC: What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever done to get “The Shot”?
CS: You mean like drive at over 95MPH to avoid getting pummeled by a super cell collapsing? Or more like walking to the edge of the Ross Ice Shelf to see what that might look like as a photograph?
CC: Who has inspired you as a photographer?
CS: The man whose work made me think, “Yes that is what I want to do!” Is Edward Burtynsky. I have many inspirations, he was my genesis.
CC: What advice would you tell an aspiring photographer?
CS: Know thyself, Know thy camera! I mean really, I cannot tell you how many aspiring photographers spend so much time and energy trying to reproduce an image they saw in a magazine or somewhere. I also cannot tell you how frustrating it is to see people fiddling with their camera instead of being present knowing where ever knob, button control is on their camera..inevitably missing the moment in front of them.
CC: Can you share a photographic resource you personally use?
CS: I uses Google Earth a great deal to get an idea of where I am going, what the terrain is, what direction things face and so on.
CC: How has photography shaped your day to day?
CS: It’s everywhere, all the time. I am constantly doing what I call “visual pushups” I am always and I mean always gauging the light, compositions, perspectives, whether that is in my kitchen or on the drive to the supermarket.
CC: Where has photography taken you, and made you experience?
CS: Photography has taken me to the literal ends of the earth, I have seen and been places I never could have dreamed would be possible, coming from where I come from and what I come from.. It has been a magnificent gift to walk through my life as a photographer.
CC: Any exciting photographic events in coming up you’d like to share?
CS: I have an exhibition in Fairfield Connecticut coming up and if that isn’t in your geographical region, you can always come along on a workshop that i am leading, or find me on my YouTube Channel or Instagram.
CC: Anything else you’d like to add? If it’s one thing I have learned working in as many environments and situations is that comfort is critical, if you are too cold or too hot, if your gear is too heavy you will not experience joy, and if you do not experience joy you will not stay out there long enough to make extraordinary images.
Find more of Camille's work below:
Instagram @CamilleSeaman
www.youtube.com/c/CamilleSeaman069
www.camilleseaman.com
