I first saw photographer Cari Griffith’s work while waiting in line at Dose coffee shop off of West End in Nashville. Her travel photos were a breath of fresh air, a change of much-needed scenery during a time of quarantine. Griffith is also an accomplished portrait photographer who tenderly captures the nuances of her subjects, bringing vitality to still images. In the following interview, Griffith discusses her process and motivations for both areas of her photographic practice.
What is your earliest memory of your burgeoning interest in photography?
My dad was a film photographer before I was born, and stumbling across his prints from a solo trip out west in his 20s inspired me in both my photography and my love for travel. It was just him, his car, a 35mm, a tripod, and some rad 80s white shorts. A print of his still hangs in my doorway.
How have you witnessed this early interest reveal itself in your current work?
My dad has always been a source of inspiration to me creatively. He was always traveling, and loved spending time outside, so I grew up with my hands in the dirt and an insatiable desire to go places from a very early age. I’ve always been interested in storytelling, and I attribute a lot of my love for little details to my long days spent in my backyard woods as a child.
What motivated and/or inspired you to pursue portrait photography?
I’ve kind of always known I wanted to be a photographer, because it just makes sense to me. I enjoy connecting with people, and through photography I’m able to portray people in a way that highlights that connection in an empowering way. I’m grateful to have been able to use my craft as full time employment, and that I continue to love what I do more and more each year.
“I’ve kind of always known I wanted to be a photographer, because it just makes sense to me. I enjoy connecting with people, and through photography I’m able to portray people in a way that highlights that connection in an empowering way. ”
How do you make visual connections apparent between the physical appearance of your subjects, and characteristics of their personalities?
In my travel work, I aim to photograph strangers in a dignifying way, and have spent a lot of time thinking about the ethics of true representation in travel/humanitarian work. In my family/couple portrait work, it’s important in choosing locations and timeframes that allow the person to feel comfortable, interactive, and free. Even in my booking forms, I’m asking intentional questions that allow me to represent the person’s true self as much as possible.
How has your portrait photography informed your travel works?
I actually think it’s the other way around! My travel work explores the magic present in a place and captures how human built structures interact within a natural ecosystem, and it’s much easier to see those fascinating details and landscapes when you’re in a new city. Everything just feels so much more captivating when you’re away. I think it takes a lot more work and soul to find that magic in everyday people and places. So, when using regular locations like parks, downtown areas, and spaces around the city, I try to find or creatively employ that magic that I feel when traveling, and help my clients feel fully emotionally present and adventurous even in an ordinary family session.
Should the Covid-19 pandemic see an end, what are your next photo travel plans?
We’re hoping to eventually move to Ireland so I can purse an Art and Ecology masters program, so as soon as it’s safe, we’re heading back there! The Irish landscapes are incredibly expansive and inspiring, and I’m anticipating putting some roots down there and exploring photography purely as an art form and not just an income source.
Have you been able to take a travel photography approach to regional locales, and if so can you describe the experience(s)?
Yes! I had an incredible grant funded opportunity through National Geographic to photograph some regional areas along the Tennessee River. The partnership was with National Geographic’s geo-tourism initiative, and it was a beautiful exploration of all of the areas of thriving biodiversity and culture alongside the river, that might not otherwise be noted. I hiked, canoed, explored tiny museums, photographed turtles and song birds, and went on a pontoon boat ride with a fresh water pearl diver, and genuine mystic. It was an incredibly fulfilling project, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for all of those signs for small towns you see along interstate 40, but will probably never go to.
On your website CariGriffith.com, you identify your photography as, “joyful, vibrant, honest, storytelling.” What qualities of your work characterize them as joyful and vibrant?
I especially hope to embody these characteristics in my family portrait and wedding work. I’m a naturally joyful person (although Covid has really put that one to the test), so I hope that whenever a family leaves a session with me, they will feel like they were able to fully represent the connection they have with their family members. I also edit in a way that is vibrant and rich, because that’s how I see colors and nature. Desaturated tones and colors are super in right now, and I just can’t do it personally.
Continuing from the previous question, what are the honest qualities of your work?
Because I strive to encourage and facilitate connection in my portrait work, I’m never trying to artificially enhance an interaction to create something that isn’t there. A lot of talented photographers are skilled in conceptual or editorial portrait work, and I’m leaving that art form in their hands. My motive is to photograph people just as they are, but in a way that helps them see what the outside world sees in them. The mirror always lies, but through intimate and intentional camera work, I can help show people how beautiful and purposeful they really are.
“I had an incredible grant funded opportunity through National Geographic to photograph some regional areas along the Tennessee River. The partnership was with National Geographic’s geo-tourism initiative, and it was a beautiful exploration of all of the areas of thriving biodiversity and culture alongside the river, that might not otherwise be noted.”
And continuing even further from the previous question pair, what are some of the most noteworthy stories that you have told through your photography?
Early on in my photojournalism work, I was on an assignment at the US/Mexico border town of Laredo, covering a catastrophic flooding of the Rio Grande. I was 19 or 20, navigating Texas with printed google maps pages in a pile on the passenger seat, and calling my dad for maps support on my flip phone - it was a wild adventure. That day I was riding around with a border patrol agent and meeting immigrant families who had been impacted by the severe flooding. I will never forget this one family I met, with a newborn baby in tow, who’s mother was still wearing her hospital bracelet. Their house was completely caked in mud, and she was using their drinking water jug to wash a cut on her middle son’s foot. My job was purely storytelling, in hopes that the organization I was working for could raise funding and support for those working to improve conditions in the border towns. I was immediately faced with an ethical dilemma of representation, dignity, and responsibility. We, of course, communicated with them what we were doing and why, and received permission to photograph their situation, but to this day I wish I had been able to spend the day with them, to really learn their story and ensure that they got the help they needed. To ensure that they didn’t feel exposed or ridiculed in being photographed. I was ushered away by the borden patrol agent within a few minutes, and that moment still haunts me. I’m left with an image of a donated Salvation Army bucket and a sponge, sitting on the floor in a home completely caked to the ceiling with mud. It opened my eyes to the critical issues facing immigrant families, and has shaped both my humanitarian photography and my political activism.
Please describe your preferred photographic medium. Do you see yourself experimenting with other print techniques?
At the moment I’m shooting with a Sony mirrorless system, but I have my eye on a Contax rangefinder camera, and hoping to explore different film mediums this year.
What method would you prefer one take when making a critique of your art: a formal, contextual, or expressive approach? Why?
I would assume a contextual critique of my work would be most appropriate, considering that the way I attempt to photograph people and places aims to capture both their unique nature and their fullest self. Although, there is a little bit of self expression in how I photograph, but I don’t always pick up on those elements until much later.
Who and/or what are some of your biggest artistic influences? How? Why?
One of my favorite photographers is William Albert Allard. His image “Basque Girls Running Home” made me gasp when I saw it for the first time. He captures light and people in their purest, fullest forms, and has the ability to funnel all of the magic in a person and place into one single image. I just had the privileged of purchasing that image in printed form, and I’m too intimidated to select a frame for such a prized piece of art, so it’s still in the shipping package.
How does your work demonstrate departure from the above influences?
I wouldn’t say that my work is a departure of his, necessarily. But my work does differ from his in terms of content and approach. My portrait work is much more contemporary, but I hope to be able to create travel images like his that create a sense of fullness and wonder in viewers.
What upcoming projects and/or exhibitions do you have planned within the next 12 months?
I have an exhibition up at both locations of Dose Coffee at the moment, and with the insane unknowns of Covid-19 social life, I don’t anticipate another gallery showing for the next few months. Once the show at Dose comes down, I hope to have a local gallery show with an opportunity to gather folks together and share about my work.
What are your goals for your art within the next 12 months?
I’m applying for an MFA in Art and Ecology at a small school in Ireland, and hoping to pursue a more intensive approach to involving my love for natural ecosystems and artistic interpretation.
“One of my favorite photographers is William Albert Allard. His image “Basque Girls Running Home” made me gasp when I saw it for the first time... I just had the privileged of purchasing that image in printed form, and I’m too intimidated to select a frame for such a prized piece of art, so it’s still in the shipping package. ”
Non-art question time: What’s your favorite food and drink? I’m not the best at picking favorites because I’m just generally pretty excited about everything. But a real tasty breakfast biscuit sandwich is always a favorite, and I love just a good ole black iced coffee from Dose Coffee. My favorite meal I’ve ever eaten was at a little family Italian restaurant in Twickenham, near London. I ordered this fresh and handmade salmon ravioli with a lovely delicate dill cream sauce, and my husband got this magical chorizo and scallop dish with a minty pea puree, and it sounds weird, but it was truly revolutionary. We always share dishes together when we order, but I 100% ended up eating most of his. I still think about it. Haha.
Band(s) and/or record(s)? I’m not very cool when it comes to music tastes, because I kind of just listen to the same 3 albums over and over again. But I love 60s/70s folk, like Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young, James Taylor. But I’ve recently been listening to a lot of Black Gospel choir albums, both new and old. Like Dedicated Men of Zion, and “Do Not Pass Me By” by Pastor T.L. Barrett. It’s just given me a little more communal hope in these dark days.
Movie(s)? I’m going to show my all of nerd cards here real hard, but I watch the Jurassic Park movies and the original Star Wars trilogy at least once a year, and I’m on my second run through all of Dr. Who. I’m a pretty big fan of sci-fi in general. I just watched My Neighbor Totoro, and it is my most recent favorite film, because the way he captures childlike natural wonder and curiosity is flawless.
Money’s not a factor, you will burn no social bridges, and you’re guaranteed a comfortable lifestyle no matter what—where would you live, and what would you do? I would live in Apt, France in the Provence area, with my husband Rob, some good old dogs, and a big garden. And I would never visit or think about America ever again.
To learn more about Cari Griffith and her work, please visit her online at www.CariGriffith.com and at her Instagram page @CariGriffithPhoto.
The following are a selection of Griffith’s travel photography.
