INTERVIEWER: What's your favorite part of your work?
JEREMY COWART: When there's like this rare moment I get to--very rare--
where the music is right,
the vibe is right, talent is loving it.
Like everything just clicks and is working, and I've had a few of those shoots over the last year.
[music]
INTERVIEWER: Hey Jeremy
JC: Hi, how are ya? Good to see ya. What are you doing here my studio?
INTERVIEWER: Just in town for Imaging USA.
So I figured I'd stop by and ask you 21 questions.
Alright, I'm editing. Hope that's okay, but sure I'm game. No problem.
INTERVIEWER: No problem. All right, first question. What kind of photography do you shoot?
Um, weird experimental portraiture.
Musicians, entertainers, models, fashion, whatever.
INT: What's your go-to camera and lens?
JC: Right there. Canon 5DS with a 24 to 70, 2.8.
INT: What was your first job?
JC: First... photography job was shooting my friend Steven in New York City
a long time ago with a 3 megapixel camera.
INT: What got you into photography?
JC: I think it was just, um...
When, when cameras first went digital, I was already a graphic designer.
So the digital workflow--Photoshop, Adobe Bridge, all that stuff--already made sense to me.
So when cameras went digital, and it was like just another extension of my workflow.
So it's very easy to switch and start shooting, really.
INT: Your photography isn't a classic style of portraiture. What do you call your style?
JC: I don't know what I call it.
I would... I would call it curious cuz I'm always curious I'm always...
wanting to try the next weird thing. I want to push myself. I get bored really easily.
Bored of my own work, bored of lighting in the same ways. I really got to keep trying new things.
So I would say experimental.
INT: What's your favorite part of your work?
Um...
When there's like this rare moment, I get to...
Very rare. Where the music is right,
the vibe is right, talent is loving it, like,
everything just clicks and is working, and I've had a few of those shoots over the last year.
[music]
INT: Do you do other creative things aside from portrait photography?
Yes, I do a lot of fun art and painting, so these paintings you see around my studio are all mine.
So, I'm always exploring and trying new things.
INT: Do you have upcoming projects?
I have a small thing. I'm working on. Uh...
It's a global hotel chain that I'm trying to build from scratch. It's called the purpose hotel and
basically everything inside every building will connect people to causes and nonprofits so.
By staying these hotels you'll be quote unquote change the world in your sleep.
So we've been working on that 4 years now...
Seven years since I had the idea, but it's coming to life and it's gonna be really exciting.
INT: Charity seems to be a big part of your life. What other charitable projects have you worked on?
I've done quite a few
humanitarian projects around the world over the years.
I love to respond during natural disasters, when something bad happens. I think we need
creative ideas to help solve the problem.
And I think a camera can do that and in a lot of ways, as a storyteller.
So I'm always trying to figure out how to respond in times of need
INT: So let's switch gears a little bit. What are a couple tips you can give to somebody inspired by you?
JC: I would say
to just keep pushing yourself, you know...
Thinking outside the box is really cliche, but I get bored easily.
So I have to keep trying new things and experimenting.
I put, you know, crap in front of my lens,
I use projectors, I use all kinds weird gear as a part of my process
to just try new things and see what can happen.
So I think people, they like my work they need to also experiment and try things in their own work.
[music]
INT: So, what do you do for fun aside from photography?
JC: What do I do for fun? I'm going to stand up because I'm tired of sitting.
JC: Isn't this cool? This thing is called an up desk, and I use it all day to stand and sit
and ride a bike or job. It's, it's a pretty great desk.
So, what do I do for fun outside of photography? I, uh...
Paint and draw and I play with my kids--anything outdoors. I love to go see movies...
because older I get, the harder that is to do to take time to go see a movie.
Uh... Yeah, anything outdoors with my family is always good.
INT: Here's a hard question. JC: Okay. INT: What's your ideal breakfast?
That is not a hard question. That is easy:
my ideal breakfast is an açai bowl or smoothie. I'm a health nut these days.
So those are my 2 go-tos: smoothies and açai bowls.
INT: Dogs or cats? JC: I have both, but dogs
INT: Who is your favorite photographer?
JC: That's a good question. My favorite painter is Jean-Michel Basquiat.
My favorite photographer? There so many...
Frank Ockenfels is one. Annie Leibowitz is one.
I'll go with those two.
INT: Best documentary you watched recently.
Don't know if I watched any documentaries recently...
I want to watch some food documentaries.
But I've been watching the morning show on an Apple TV, and it's really good.
INT: You've traveled a lot where and what's your favorite project abroad?
I did a shoot with Imogen Heap in Iceland,
and the results from that shoot were insane. That was my favorite.
INT: What was the most fulfilling or impactful project?
Probably the global movement
I started called help portrait, where photographers serve those the need.
I started that about 10 years ago, and it really did become a movement.
Photographers have done in over 70 countries worldwide.
And so it's been really fulfilling to see the results from that for sure.
INT: Why Nashville for your home base?
Because I was born here [chuckles]
And I love it here, you know the creative community, very artsy town. I've got my extended family,
friends. I mean pretty much every reason to love somewhere, you know. I love the weather here
for the most part. It's a great town.
INT: If you weren't a photographer, what would you be?
I'd probably be a painter first or a musician.
Then after those two, it'd be snowboarding or a drummer.
[music]
INT: What is one thing that makes your job easier
JC: There's a lot. There's all this gear, you know.
Capture one pro is amazing.
My Canon 5DS is amazing, but I have an app that I love called LIFX.
And in this app I can--when I'm ready to shoot, I close those curtains,
I turned my projectors on, and then I hit this button.
And then over the next 10 seconds, all of these light bulbs are getting darker.
So the whole studio morphs, and I close the curtains and it's really dark and vibe-y.
Then I start my photo shooting. It's really cool
So that's this LIFX app and the LIFX light bulbs have really made life a lot easier.
So now I push it again.
And the whole studio goes brighter, it's pretty great.
INT: If there were to be a movie about your life who would play you?
Oh gosh, a movie that no one will want to see, um...
I was a big fan of Joaquin Phoenix in The Joker so I'll go with him.
INT: Who should we interview next?
Joey L.
Joey's been doing some fascinating work.
overseas for the last, gosh, 2 years. So if you can track Joey down...
INT: Definitely interview Joey.
INT: Alright, I'm gonna go get a head start on that. Thanks for answering our questions.
Yeah, get out of here. I got some work to do. See ya later.