Introductions/Introducciones- Eric Fullmer

I introduce Eric Fullmer

www.efullmerphoto.com

Eric’s Blog

Tell me about your music series.

I haven’t been involved with music as much as I used to be.  I do a lot of nightlife photos now instead of photographing concerts.  I’ve been working with a PictureThisCity.com.  They get me all the media passes and everything I need to get into bars/clubs and photograph people.  It’s a lot of fun.  I really want to get back into the concert side though.  Fairly recently I shot Great White (the 80’s hair band) and Sheryl Crow.  Those were fun but I prefer shooting the little unknown bands.  They seem to put a lot more heart into the music and it comes across in the pictures.

What projects will we see in the future from you?

I’ve always got about 20 projects in mind but can never really finish any.  I’m talking to a food bank right now about doing some work for them.  They are struggling to stay a float.  They are being run out by the bigger food banks.  A lot of the other projects I’ve had in mind have been put on delay.  They all require traveling and now I’m a family man.  I just recently got married and have a 4-year-old son.  I can’t imagine being away from them as long as these projects would take.  The one that I really want to do still is travel to Mexico and photograph the little town where my wife’s step dad is from.  We were supposed to go with him last time he went but we were warned that is was way to dangerous for us right now. It’s been plagued with drugs and violence recently.

When did you begin your career as a photographer and how has it developed?

I started late.  I didn’t really get into photography until I started attending a junior college.  I started as a Psychology major and took a b&w photo class just for fun.  I fell in love instantly.  I started to collect little Lomo cameras and Holgas.  You would never see me without one.  Since then I’ve attended two photography schools.  My styles have changed since leaving The Academy of Art.  While I was there all I wanted to do was photojournalism (I think that was the influence of Emilio Banuelos). Now that I’ve been back in Arizona I’ve been doing some assisting work with a few photographers.  Most recently, Chadwick Fowler who’s taught me a lot about the commerical side of photography.  I seem to be heading to the commercial side, still trying to keep photojournalism touch to it.

What was your experience like working with Mexican photographers in the 2007 Black Boots Ink Guadalajara workshop?

The 2007 BBI Guadalajara workshop was one of the best things I have ever done.  The hardest part of the trip was the language barrier.  Working with the local photographers helped tremendously.  I’m already a shy person and then adding the fact that I couldn’t speak the local language.  I was a little overwhelmed at first.  I worked a lot with one local in particular, Ivan I think.  He was a great help.  Not only did he help with the language barrior but he made it much easier to go up to people.  I’m less nervous if there’s someone with me especially if it’s someone I know and he was very open and friendly to me.  Everyone I met while in Mexico was very friendly.  I was surprised how welcoming everyone was.  Even in the smaller towns everyone was open to us being there.  The trip really opened my eyes to the real Mexico, not the stuff you read or hear about.