Conversations with Caleb Turner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Caleb Turner

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I am Caleb Lee Turner, I am from Nashville born and raised and I am a photographer. I’ve been a photographer for about three years now and have been shooting seriously for about two of those years. But If I am being honest with myself I’ve really been photographing for about 8 years. My interest in photography first started when I was in high school. Unlike most of my peers in school I didn’t have a phone until I was a freshmen. Once I got my first phone I was fascinated with making photographs. My first phone was nothing special… just a hand down iPhone 5 SE I got from my mom. The photos It took are very noisy and blurry looking at them now. But at the time the photos were almost lifelike and I enjoyed taking photos with it, whether it be something ridiculous I saw in day to day, high school shenanigans, or taking just taking photos on trips.

The first real photographs I was proud of were photos I took on a visit to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with my family. I remember going through the Cades Cove valley section of the park and stopping at valley’s visitors center. If you have never been to Cades Cove the area is full of old historic cabins, mills, and farms, and there were several of those structures at this visitors center. So, I decided to it would be a good idea to take some photos! My family didn’t like to make many stops in Cades Cove so I thought better now than never! I walked over to the grist mill and snapped a few photos of it. I didn’t really look it much when I was on the trip, but when I got back home and saw it was impressed with what I captured. I played around my phones photos app to enhance the picture more and was even more impressed! I think this was the first real photo I made where I told myself “I did that?”. This moment I think is what inspired me to make photos and I look back at those memories fondly… was a good time before all the stresses of adulthood. Cool to think that what got this whole thing going.

As the years went on I started to gain an interest in videography/film making. I didn’t really produce much at this point in my life so there isn’t much to say. I attempted to make some movies with my family and friends and even tried and learn visual effects during my final years in high school. I was a huge nerd in high school and tried many times to make cool lightsaber duals with my friends on the weekends if possible. I never really completed any film projects ideas I had… but I still enjoyed learning things about cameras and brain storming scene. Even tho my interest at the time started leaning towards film making more than photography, I still didn’t stop trying to make good photos when I could.

I graduated highschool in year 2020, right as the world was going into lock down for COVID-19 and country began to see unrest nationwide. Seeing all the chaos our country was going through and the addition to being told to stay at home for three month straight really started to get to me. Especially since my mother started to get very ill at the time and was considered high risk, thankfully she never caught Covid but it was enough to keep me inside and to wear my mask. Like most of the class of 2020 we didn’t take a break from school for Covid and went straight to college. The first of year of college were awful for me school was all online and all my friends went to different schools. It was a pretty lonely period of my life… my first real reality check and my first struggles and self-worth and depression…. and unfortunately I never made a single movie and never made a single photo I was proud of during this period.

While I was in college I was lucky to get a job working for the federal government as a student. This was my first real job and I actually started to make pretty good money for a 19 year old. When I got my first pay check my mind scrabbled with ideas, For the first time ever I was able to buy things I never thought id be able to buy. One of those things was a Sony NEX mirrorless Camera that I bought from Mckay books in Nashville. When I started my job I did go through a few cheap cameras… but I like to think this was my first real camera. This camera was awesome… it had a shiny sliver finish and it had the ability to change lenses! I actually bought this camera for film making and I was trying to get friends together again to make videos. But when I actually started to use this camera I started to use it to make photographs. I had started my photo making hobby This was the first camera I used that had the ability to capture RAW image files… and when I learned how to edit them I was instantly hooked! I started watching guides on YouTube for editing raw images and sort of became obsessed with camera hardware and software.

About a year later I felt like I needed an upgrade. So, I splurged and picked myself up a Sony A6000 camera! And at this point I really started to get serious with my photography. I started to carry it everywhere I went just to document my life which was a huge moral boost. Some of my best photos were made with this camera… they are nothing like my work now… but I get a warm feeling looking back at my old work. I used this camera for about a year until it started to have some major hardware problems… I needed something with more performance and so I saved up and set myself back $1000 for a A7ii full frame camera and that was the best $1000 I spent! I took that camera everywhere and made it a goal to make photographs ever day that year.

At this point in my life I really started to use the photographic medium to express myself artistically. One of my first inspiration is probably the California based photographer Todd Hido. I discovered Todd’s work while exploring the idea of “Liminal Spaces” which are empty or abandoned places that appear eerie, forlorn, and are often surreal. The emptiness and eeriness of liminal spaces intrigued me… so I wanted to put some of that into my work. During my research I discovered Todd’s photographs, specifically photos from his series “Homes at night” “House Hunting” and “The End Sends Advance Warning”. Todd’s work mostly consist of long exposure photographs taken at night or are landscape photographs distorted by the elements such as rain, snow, or wind. The way Todd explains his work and why he makes photos inspired me to get out of my comfort zone and make unusual photographs.

As the year progressed I start to venture into other types of photography. One that really stuck with me is street photography! I learned about street photography from youtube, specially a youtube series called “Walkie Talkie” where the host, an NYC street photographer, would meet up with another NYC street photographer and interview them about their work while they walked around NYC making photographs. I loved how alive street photography was and I wanted to make similar photos of my home in Nashville. I remember the first time I went on to Broadway St in Downtown with my camera. I was very nervous and almost wanted to call it quits and go home. But once I started to make a few laps around Boardway I began to loosen up. I kept going downtown going forward and never once came back home with my camera’s SD card empty.

Right now I am working on several photographic projects. The one I am spending the most time is a abstract photography series that I plan to call “Views Of The Crying Man”. At this point in time I am also trying to make connections with other local photographers and even considering a fine art photography carrier if I find viewer ship.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been smooth sailing since I started photography. With the struggles of being a young adult and mental troubles I’ve found it hard to get myself to produce work… sometimes I still find it difficult to get out sometimes to continue my work. But if I just continue to make photos and not get to worried about life I’ll get past this problem.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a film and digital photographer that mostly shoot digital. I would like to think my street work is my most well known as it seems to get the most traction online. I don’t have a very large audience… I only have about 120 followers on my Instagram page at the time of writing. But I think getting to that point is my biggest achievement so far! I think what sets me apart from other photographers is partially my use a vintage lenses. Unlike most photographers nowadays I choose to stay away from modern lenses. Modern lenses do produce sharp images that look almost lifelike in some cases… but in my opinion these images appear flat and lack character. Vintage lenses are not sharp and often have flaring issues due to the lenses coating… but the images that I make with them have a warmth and soft appearance very similar to film. So, I choice to make 90% with vintage glass.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
With the growth of generative AI many creatives are starting to fear that AI will replace them in the coming years. This fear seems to mostly stem from painters and digital illustrators but is getting thrown around in the photography world. I personally find the growth of AI fascinating and have enjoyed trying out tools over the years but I don’t think it will ever replace photographers. Even after 10 years of AI growth AI will be able to make a proper photograph. Photography is a art form that is based in reality and is used to document moments of time. There will always be a reason to document moments in time whether it be for sports, wedding, press, or war there will always been a need for a photographer.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/caleblturner_photography/