Interview : Tyra Mitchell
Locals Only - You’re a known photographer. An incredible one at that. What else do you want to be known as?
Tyra Mitchell - Honestly I just want to be known as an awesome and creative individual. You can do anything you put your heart in. One day I’d like to dabble in other artistic industries.
L.O - What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?
T.M - I would have to say my #girlartisttakeover show because of all of the hard work that eventually payed off. I also received an immense amount of love via the whole movement.
L.O - What is Girl Artist Takeover? What was the purpose?
T.M - It started off as a hashtag on social media to connect girl artists and showcase their work. I figured I’d create a show from it because..why not? The purpose of the show was to shine a light on young girl artists of color since there was little to none of this happening at the time. There were 13 girls who were personal friends of mine. It was easier to choose girls I knew for the first show since I could see firsthand how much work and effort they put in their craft. I think the showcase went amazing despite the random snowfall in the middle of Spring.
L.O - How has living in New York molded you into the person you are today?
T.M - It taught me to have tougher skin and work 100 times harder than I’ve already been working seeing as how everyone out here is after the same thing. It also helped me to be careful when moving because you want to always do what’s best for your career. I always knew I wanted to move to New York since I was very young so I made sure that I took all of the necessary precautions beforehand to make the move smooth.
L.O - How does it feel to come back to DC?
T.M - Strange because of gentrification but awesome and humbling because it’s home.
L.O - Does gentrification take a personal affect on you?
T.M - The first time I really heard about gentrification was when I moved to NY and everyone was screaming how it’s changed. I really couldn’t understand it because I’m not from here. Then when I started going back home to DC and seeing how much things were gradually changing I was like whoa this is a real thing. My thing is yeah, change for the better is awesome but it seems as if they’re cleaning out our city of everything that truly makes up the culture. The people that moved there don’t care about what was already there. All they care about is their condos and “hot spots”. I think my absolute first experience was when they knocked down the old Children’s Museum. DO YOU REMEMBER THAT? I am still hurt till this day about it.
L.O - What high school did you attend?
T.M - I attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington D.C. I was enrolled in the Visual Arts program which was awesome because we studied all types of fine arts.
L.O - Was photography an interest to you?
T.M - I took a photography course my junior year which pushed me to take my craft seriously and possibly make a career out of it. Although I was good at painting and graphic design, something about photography just stood out to me.
L.O - Describe your style of photography
T.M - When I am creating personal work, it is very organic and youthful. I enjoy playing around with colors and lighting.
L.O - How do you go about looking for models? What makes someone stand out to you?
T.M - I usually use my friends as models but if I spot someone who looks interesting then I’ll use them. I like interesting facial features that you may not see everyday.
L.O - How important is building a relationship with your subjects?
T.M - I personally like to make my subjects feel like we’ve known each other for years ( if we actually haven’t ) therefore bringing the best out of them and they can feel more comfortable in front of the camera.
L.O - What do you think artists nowadays lack?
T.M - Creativity and personality in their work. A lot of people these days are just bluntly copying each other and it’s just like…why are you even creating?
L.O - You covered Fashion Week in New York. How’d you get that hookup?
T.M - My good friends at Opening Ceremony blessed me with the opportunity to run around from show to show daily shooting backstage and runway content for the OC blog. It was such an awesome experience.
L.O - How important is networking to you?
T.M - Extremely. If you don’t network how will you make connections? How will people know who you are? You should constantly be pushing your work. Building relationships is important in the art industry. Yes people will just stumble upon your work naturally, but not always. You gotta be sure that you have the eyes of the right people. Which is why networking is so important. You can’t be lazy either. Sometimes you’ll hear about a good networking opportunity at a random moment. You just gotta be ready to go after it. I would literally hop out of bed and uber somewhere so I don’t miss that chance.
L.O - Are there any photographers out there that have inspired you?
T.M - There’s a bunch of modern photographers out there but my personal favorites are definitely Tim Walker and Francesca Woodman.
L.O - What are your goals as an artist?
T.M - I just want to be comfortable making a living off of creating and being very well known for my work while inspiring others.
L.O - Any advice you have for upcoming photographers?
T.M - Don’t ever stop creating, believe in yourself / work, always be constantly pushing your work, network, work hard and have fun! Don’t take everything so seriously.
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