Rising Stars: Meet Sam Skelton of Nashville, Tennessee

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Skelton

Hi Sam, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I grew up in Indianapolis, IN and I never thought when growing up that I would have the love for photography that I do now. In my earlier days I was always obsessed with different technological gadgets and played a lot of video games with my brothers. I would spend hours watching YouTube videos in hopes that one day I could be in the position of the people that I looked up to. In middle school I got my first camera and the reasoning was because I always thought that I would become a YouTuber, as at the time I watched a lot of Casey Neistat. His use of story telling in his vlogs and style of video editing techniques drew me in and I was hooked at wanting to create content in some form. Fast forward and I ended up taking a photography class in high school to try and learn more about how a camera works and to try and get better at creating art. I always used to take photos on my own time but I would never publish them because I thought people would dislike the work that was put out. At the time I was starting to get more into music videos and the creative flow that goes into making a video work. I remember the first ever music video that caught my attention was Juice Wrld’s “Lucid Dreams” video that was created by Lyrical Lemonade back in 2018. That’s when I knew that I could combine music and photography into one and I had a vision of one day being able to shoot videos and photos for music artist. A big dream of mine to this day is to work with the owner and creative director of Lyrical Lemonade, Cole Bennett. His style of story telling and being able to capture what the artist is feeling in the moment draws a lot of inspiration in my work that I put out now. I decided to base the college I went to around involving media and being in a creative industry. I ended up going to Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. I always knew I wanted to leave Indiana as I started to dislike living there but I never expected to see myself in a big music city. With all of the opportunities that this city holds I went right to work and started connecting with bands and individual artist on my campus. Since there were a lot of music students, I would reach out and ask if they ever needed photos or video work done. Networking is very important and I knew that if I wanted to be successful in what I do, I would need people to see my work. I met some small music artist who invited me to a studio session to shoot content. This was my first time shooting in a studio and I didn’t know what to expect from this experience. After the session was done I immediately got to editing and published my first set of photos back in 2021. After they released I had people reaching out wanting me to work with them, and during this time I did photoshoots for free which helped me get more connected with the clients I would work with. My friend Edgar, also known as his artist name Midwxst, went to college at Belmont as well. I told him about the work I was doing and during that time he needed someone to shoot his merch photos for clothes he was selling. We ended up drawing ideas and this was the first time I did a photoshoot for both himself and his label, Geffen Records. A few months later there was a music concert happening in Philadelphia for an event called Overcast N Friends. I reached out to Edgar and I was granted access to shoot video and photo work at this event, as he was one of the artist that was going to perform. I networked a lot during this concert and talked to lots of music artist, photographers and videographers with the intent of hoping to get my name out there. After publishing the sets of work that I captured, the feedback I received helped me grow more love for what I was doing. Being able to capture the energy and emotion of an artist in the moment of them performing is crucial and can tell a story. A lot of photographers that I noticed would capture just the artist but I wanted to incorporate the audience as I felt like they also play a big part of the event and can really bring the work together. After building up my portfolio I kept reaching out to any artist that needed content done and would travel to various cities to help shoot their concerts. Fast forward to 2024 and I am still doing what I love, I’ve learned a lot throughout these past few years while being a photographer and had many ups and downs. I am now starting to move on to the next chapter of my life in hopes to create film photography work that holds a story. My inspiration is making the work feel like shots from a movie so there can be this continuous flow when looking at the final product. This better challenges me to step outside of my comfort zone and to explore outside just concert photography. Every person has their own story to tell and I try to capture that through my eyes in hopes others can experience their own thoughts and feelings when viewing my work.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
No road is ever smooth, there are lots of ups and downs with anything anyone pursues in their life. Its just a part of living but the challenges I faced helped me become a better photographer and overall person. Reaching out to an artist will never guarantee you a media pass and if you do happen to get one, being able to work with the artist and their vision can be challenging at times. Getting the right shot at the right moment is key and can make or break a photo. The music industry can be challenging to work around as well and not everyone is your friend, its important to separate work from being a fan and knowing what to do at the right time and place is important in order to secure working with that artist again.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
The work I specialize in falls under film, digital, video camera and photography work. I am most known for my concert photography with having the pleasure to work with various artist such as Freddy Gibbs, Aries, DC The Don, Midwxst, Glaive and many more. I am very proud of being able to continue working with music artist but being able to explore outside of just music has been a blessing as well. I have worked with the NASCAR Ally 400 here in Tennessee and I plan on doing more event photography that falls under this. There are a few projects that I have upcoming that deal with more of a story concept that involves the world around me. Being able to capture what I see in the moment and bringing that photo to life plays a big part in my work. In some of my newer photographs, I have switched to working with just film photography as I like not knowing what the photo looks like until it’s already developed. It gives photography more of a challenge and allows me to be creative and manipulate the film before I scan it. A lot of photographers love to use digital cameras but I’ve grown a liking towards film which I feel like separates me from the rest.

How do you think about luck?
I wouldn’t say that I was lucky for where I am today but I worked hard for achieving and making my dreams a reality. Working hard can take you a long way, and never be too scared to try something new. You never know what could happen by publishing that one song, that one photo or piece of art that you want to show to the world. Be yourself and do the things that make you happy. Sometimes not everything will work out in your favor but its important to realize that you have to continue your passion if you want something special to happen out of it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://sam-skelton-portfolio.squarespace.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_samskelton_/