Today we’d like to introduce you to Eli Warren.
Hi Eli, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
I started in photography 16 years ago. I’d been creative up to that point but never found a medium that really fit me. I was making skateboard videos with my friends, and we never had photos for the marketing materials. Then a friend suggested I buy a camera, I can be a bit impulsive at times, so I just spent my whole tax return on one. I didn’t really get it at first; it took a few months to get all the numbers through my head. Not long after, my mom got me a night class at a local darkroom. The teacher, Kim Sholly, ended up mentoring me and really pushing me in the right direction. After that, I read every book I could find on photography, took a few more classes, and shot every chance I got. 2 years later, I moved to digital, quit my job, and started shooting for a living.
Currently, I’m still shooting a lot of headshots, product photos, and marketing imagery for clients, but I also make my own artwork, a mix of figures and still life subjects. Last year Art and Light Gallery began representing my work, and I’ve had several exhibits. Over the past 3 years, I’ve moved back to shooting a lot of film, shooting antique cameras, and processing the negatives in my makeshift darkroom (read bathroom). I’ve self-published 2 coffee table books. The Coat Project in 2019, which featured 72 people wearing and interacting with the same coat. And SKIN in 2021, a book of nudes of real people with all their scars and wrinkles. I shot this one entirely on large format film and developed the film myself. SKIN sold copies in 8 countries.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
Not entirely smooth. To start with I am a high school drop-out and I didn’t go to college. Getting past feeling like that would hold me back was a big obstacle for me. Then once I started as a professional just the challenges of keeping up with bills while trying to grow and get better. Lately, covid has obviously been a struggle, it’s changed the way I view my own work and what I want for my future. But it’s all been worth it. The payoff probably isn’t worth it if it’s too easy to get there.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
In my own work, I am really inspired by textures and dramatic lighting. I also like to juxtapose subjects, living plants with animal skulls, human subjects with natural objects, etc. Lately, I’ve been working on a series, colorful images of blocks of ice containing living and dead plants with a lot of texture and drama. I’m also busy converting my studio into a darkroom so I can start hand printing my black and white images. For my own work, I really like it to be as hands-on as possible, I like it to be a challenge every time.
If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think the most important part of me being where I’m at is just a willingness to put in the work. I’m at it every day and when mentally I’m not there I tend to push through it and make work anyway. Photography isn’t an easy profession, sometimes you just have to put on headphones, put your head down, and do the work.
Contact Info:
- Email: eli@eliwarren.com
- Website: eliwarrenfineart.com / eliwarren.com
- Instagram: eliwarrenphoto
- Other: artandlightgallery.com/artist/eli-warren
Image Credits
Will Crooks
