Life & Work with Landon Edwards

Today we’d like to introduce you to Landon Edwards.

Hi Landon, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I was raised near Atlanta and spent the first ten years of my life in Georgia. Shortly before my eleventh birthday my family and I relocated to Nashville, and I’ve been here ever since. I’ve almost left numerous times, but so far Tennessee has still felt comfortable–I really do love it here.

I started taking photographs when I was in middle school. My mother was a professional photographer for a time, and would occasionally bring me along with her to family portrait sessions. Eventually, she allowed me to experiment with her Nikon DSLR. It was one of the first digital SLRs Nikon made, and today looks ancient. She eventually gave me the camera outright.

My early experiences of photography were heavily informed by Instagram, the VSCO app, and eventually YouTube. I’m not certain I’d be a photographer without the internet. I quickly began imitating photographers I liked on Instagram. Most of these people lived in California, the Pacific Northwest, or Utah-just outrageously gorgeous natural landscapes. However, within a year or two I became heavily discouraged that I couldn’t make the work these people were making. And of course, I couldn’t: The landscape I had to work with here in Tennessee is so different from those places.

Eventually, I stumbled upon some folks in Nashville (and some on YouTube) taking photos with old 35mm film cameras. I was smitten. It was exciting to try this new medium, wait for the film to be processed and scanned, and then receive your images a week later. I kind of coasted there for a few years: Making photographs of old cars and dilapidated buildings, and portraits of my friends. I did a fair amount of freelance work for artists and bands, though I’ve all but stopped doing that now.

However, I really hit a turning point with my photography when I met my friend, Beth Gorham. She was a professor of mine in college, teaching photography and darkroom. She exposed me to so many wonderful artists from across the history of photography: Folks like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Diane Arbus, Stephen Shore, and Alec Soth. I had never before paid much attention to these photographers, and others photographing in their tradition and linage: What some call documentary or vernacular photography.

I came to view photography as a language, much like music or poetry, one could use to tell complex stories. It is in this tradition of documentary photography that I have remained. My work now looks much different than it did just a few years ago. I hope my work inspires an appreciation for the seemingly ordinary and quiet moments of our lives.

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?
Yes and no. It’s been beautiful all the way, certainly. I have struggled quite a bit with roadblocks in my own inspiration, discouraged at not being able to make the work I one day hope to.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m a photographer who likes to sit in the space between documentary and fine art. I’m now focused on creating images that deal with (simply) what it means to be a person in our time. I’ve been trying to explore my own relationship with time and place, and how we all deal with grief, loss, and healing. I have some other work in development also. Most of it concerns social issues and questions of identity. However, this work is still very much in the preliminary stages.

Most recently, I’ve been very proud of my first exhibition in several years. It was a collaborative project, made with the wonderful artist, Lucas Eytchison. It took place this past spring, at Random Sample in West Nashville. It was an utter joy to show our project, “Slingshot,” in that gallery.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
It’s quite difficult to pick one, but my fondest memories are of running around in the woods as a kid. I think I’ve never stopped being that kid really. I often find myself wandering aimlessly, looking for something, anything, that could be a good image.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.landonedwards.co
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/landonedwards.co/