Georgia has some great photographers.  Despite being competitors, we all can learn a great deal from each other in one aspect or another. This is the third in a series of interviews with Atlanta area photographers.

Evan Leavitt was another photographer that I found while sifting through Flickr. I was immediately captivated.  Truly talented at capturing and preserving what is around him, he is able to take what many pass by on a routine basis and turn it into something interesting and worthy of paying attention to.  A skillful eye and on-point processing have produced a body of work that I am envious of. After following his work for some time now, it just seemed perfect to throw a few questions his way.

For those out there who do not know you, how about a little introduction?

I was born and raised in Georgia and I have a profound love for the natural beauty and history of this fine state. I am by heart, a historian and I’m drawn to the old things that echo of a simpler time, a way of life that has disappeared. I’ve spent the past 8 years working as an archaeologist and doing archaeological computer graphics, and photography has become an artistic outlet for me to express my interest in the past.

When did you first get started with photography and what about it interested you?

I’ve dabbled with photography since middle school. My dad was really into photography as a young man and I had all of his photo albums. He photographed rural Georgia and his images spoke to me and inspired me. I started off with an old 35mm point and shoot. In college I got my first real camera, a Nikon FM10. I wasn’t serious about photography till I moved back to Georgia after 5 years in Virginia working as an archaeologist. I started with my digital point and shoot and finally got my first DSLR in May of 2007. Since then there has been no turning back! I’ve gotten back into film now and have been enjoying my toy cameras and I buy any vintage film camera I can get my hands on.

You currently shoot the majority of your work with an Olympus E-510 and I have also seen you sprinkle in some work with a Holga.  With regards to shooting digital, what were some factors in going with the Olympus rather than another brand such as Canon, Nikon, or Sony?

The Olympus is an excellent camera for the money. You get a lot of features of higher end cameras for less cost. The kit lenses are of excellent quality, unlike the kits for some of the other brands. I have really enjoyed my E510, but I have been using a borrowed Nikon D60 lately and have fallen in love with it. I’m personally not an extremely technical photographer, definitely not a tech head. As long as a camera works I can get the shot I want. I’m a firm believer that it’s not the camera, but the photographer. Composition is the key.

The majority of your work that I have seen on Flickr is void of people. What about shooting buildings, abandoned homes, and other similar locations is so appealing to you?

There is a presence to each structure I shoot, a residual of life lived and lost. It’s hard to explain, but these abandoned homes call to me. There is a sadness to them, but there are happy memories stored with in them too. They are disappearing so quickly, a whole way of building and living will be gone soon and I want to document it artistically. Each has a personality, most feel happy, some are sad, and every now and then there is a disturbing vibe. The light inside the abandoned places I shoot is amazing. It conveys so much and you can use it to create whatever atmosphere you desire.

When setting up at a location, how do you approach it?  Is it as simple as just firing away and examining the work later or do you have a certain process and thought process you follow when taking the shots?

I tend to go on auto when I’m shooting. I don’t spend much time in thought on composing a photo. My eyes are constantly moving and my shutter is constantly clicking. I know what appeals to my eye and I can work through a place fairly quickly. That can be a good thing too, if say you are trespassing, lol.

How often, if at all, will you revisit the same location and shoot it again?

I will revisit a place very often. Each time I go back to a place I will see something I missed or the light will be different and I can capture a new mood or atmosphere. These structures are living and breathing to me, they grown and change in their decay.

What would you say to someone who would look at some of your work and say “What is so special about that?  It’s just some abandoned building”

That’s why our country’s history is disappearing. So many people don’t care about what came before. I romanticize it in my own mind. These places represent a simpler time where I think life had more intimacy. Either you see it or you don’t…

Even though it is often times very subtle, you seem to utilize a variety of textures and post-processing in your work.  How important is post-processing and image manipulation in your work?

Post-processing is extremely important to my work! What I try to do with my photos when I sit down in front of my computer is recreate the way I felt at when I took the photo. I try to express an emotional feeling in my photographs. I have found that there is nothing better than to create an atmosphere and to transform the light in a photo then applying textures. It never ceases to amaze me. This quote by Walker Evans always comes to mind when I’m asked about editing:

“With the camera, it’s all or nothing. You either get what you’re after at once, or what you do has to be worthless. I don’t think the essence of photography has the hand in it so much. The essence is done very quietly with a flash of the mind, and with a machine. I think too that photography is editing, editing after the taking. After knowing what to take, you have to do the editing.”

Many photographers feel that post-processing taints the field and pushes images into a category other than photography.  Where do you draw the line between digital art and photography?

I try to stay out of this argument when I can. You can’t change peoples attitude towards it, if you take the stance that editing taints the field of photography, nothing I say will change that.  To me a photograph is a photograph, period. For photography to be art it must speak to a person on some aesthetic or emotional level. The end result is what matters in my book. As long as someone looks at my images and feels something, they can call it photography or art or digital art, I don’t care…to me its photography.

You currently have two books available via Blurb.  Tell us a little about each one and where people may purchase them.

I do have two books available and one in the works. The first is of my older work, much of it is from when I was playing with HDR. The second is a collection of black and white images that where inspired by the likes of Walker Evans, Jack Delano, Dorthea  Lange, and William Christenberry.   They both can be found here on Blurb’s website.

Do you have any more projects in the works?

I have a third Blurb book that will be titled Gospel and is a study on rural churches. I have been drawn to country churches for a long time, I find their simple architecture to be so beautiful. They are very utilitarian, much like the people who worship within them. They are by no means simple, just sturdy. I find a comfort in that.

For those who see your work and become inspired to pursue photography, what would be your advice to them?

Experiment! I am completely self taught in photography and Photoshop. I use the trail and error method, I find it’s the best way to learn. Shoot film! I have learned more about the basics of photography in using film cameras than anything else. Photograph what you love and your photos will have more meaning. Try to find a look, I like that when people see one of my photographs they know it was taken by me.

If you take a step back and look at all of your work, is it where you would like it to be?  If not, where do you see it going in the next 5 years?

I’m happy with where I am at the moment. I have found my style and my method to achieving the look I want in my images. I have evolved in style a lot over the past three years, from straight images, to HDR, to HDR with textures, to where I am now shooting non-HDR with textures. There is no telling where I will go in the future…I don’t see my current style changing that much. I do see more film in my future, I have been bitten by that bug. I have 9 toy and vintage film cameras now and that collection will grow. I’m shooting medium format now, but want to move to large format soon. My dream is to master wet collodion photography one day.

Lastly, where can people find more of your work, news, and updates online?

The easiest way to find me is on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/evanleavittphotography/

I was recently featured on the blog My Daily Thread: http://www.mydailythread.com/gallery/atlanta/atlanta-dailyimage.html

I have a website I hope to have up and running soon!

You can read other interviews with fellow photographers and artists here.