Gravity – A photographers Journey 

Hello! My name is Perry Slade. Perry is the only name I go by. No middle name just, Perry. 

Before I say anything else, I want to say thank you to Donnell for spotlighting me on his blog. He is a good guy and a great creative artist. 

I was born in Greensboro North Carolina but only spent six months there. I’m the middle child of 5 siblings. My parents decided to migrate north. They decided on one of two places, Newark, NJ or Pittsburgh, PA. My father worked in the steel industry, so he voted for Pittsburgh. My mother was a stay-at-home mom who had to deal with all that came with that. She also had three sisters that lived in Newark. Well, needless to say I was raised in Newark NJ. 

Why me? Well, I’m a photographer. I’m an imagemaker. Which is it? A photographer or imagemaker? I’m both as I see it. I’m an imagemaker who’s creative tool of choice is a device called a camera. 

I have always been drawn to images as far back as I can remember. Drawing as a child was big for me. At this point I want to tell you that I have the DNA of an introvert. But as strange as it may sound, I resist that inclination and I usually  beat it. Why am I telling you this? What does this have to do with photography? It’s what I think of as the gravity of my personality trait that nudged me into the direction photography as a communication method. [ A phycologist could have a field with this.}   

For me photography allows me to tell stories. I’m not a very good verbal storyteller. That is not my gift. However, I can tell stories through photography. I capture the stories I see and hopefully others see a story in my images as well. Sometimes I see the story clearly and ‘click’ the camera shutter. Sometimes I feel the story but do not clearly see it and again ‘click’ the camera shutter. My subject matter interest is fairly eclectic. It ranges from black & white, color, landscapes, cityscapes, creative staging, etc. My cameras are digital, and I primarily use Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop to process my photography. I use those two pieces of software the way I did when I processed my film chemically and printed chemically based. 

I accept the beauty of a thing without reservation when I see it. I take the photo and I trust my third eye without reservation. However, there are also times when the only path is to bring a concept to life via photography. To say something about a thing. Examples of this would be a piece called “Four / Fifths Human”, as statement on race or my series of pieces called “Artist Conversion of Found Communications Within the Environment” { Series on exhibit at the Richard & Gina Santori Library April 2, 2021} or Tailor’s Dream [which came to life for me as an image in search of a definition.} This way of working and creating is very satisfying to me.

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Creative artist search for a voice in the work they create. This is true of painters, writers and also true for photographers. My way is not to spend time trying to find my photographic voice but to instead, follow my heart and let my photographic voice follow. 

I once heard someone say something like “Do what you can, While you can, With what you have” I’m all in with that! 

Perry Slade