Today we’d like to introduce you to Colin Boyle.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I have been a freelance photojournalist since my first year of high school at Lane Tech in Chicago. I had received my first DSLR camera from my mother – who works as a professional – when I started high school and I had begun to photograph for my cross country team. My coach at the time ran a journalism website for high school cross country/track and field news and asked me to work with him as a photojournalist. Since that first opportunity, I had spent countless hours in high school practicing photography through various work assignments and on my own as a student.
With the guidance from my mother and late grandfather, who taught me a lot about nature and night-time photography, I finished high school and spent my free time working as a freelance journalist, covering news events in my spare time and scoring a spot in the Chicago Magazine with an image that I had taken at a protest. I started studying journalism and Spanish language at Northwestern University, not too far from home, the summer of 2016, and I have been working as the photo editor of The Daily Northwestern since the following winter. My journalistic work has since then been featured in various local and national publications and I have also worked with branded clients such as Corona and MasterCard.
I find myself able to tell stories and give a voice to my subjects through my photojournalistic work, a skill that I have been working on for many years. Photojournalism is not only an occupation for myself but a labor of love and something that I can spend hours working on for every day. Currently, I am working as the photo intern at the Chicago Sun-Times.
Please tell us about your art.
I make stories. I believe that photojournalism is one of the most powerful media in the world, especially with today’s accessibility of the world through the internet. As the cliché goes: a picture is worth a thousand words and through this, photography as an art is just as important as photography as a storytelling method and I believe that photojournalism lies at this incredibly important intersection.
When I work as a photojournalist, I find my inspiration through the energy that is at the event that I am reporting on. There are thousands of stories to be told and these need to be harnessed and documented through an image. Through photojournalism, I hope people take away a better understanding of the story, or at the very least have a visual representation in their mind in conjunction with the story at hand. This is where it gets particularly difficult, since telling a story through a single visual is quite a responsibility. I spend a lot of time thinking about how my images play a role in representation in the media and because of this, I have discussed the role of ethically representing subjects of a story through photography on multiple occasions.
What do you think is the biggest challenge facing artists today?
I believe the biggest challenge for artists is getting the credit that they deserve for their hard work. With the internet, it is so easy to simply rip off someone’s work, images, etc. and there must be a motion to give these artists the recognition that they deserve. Last May, I wrote a column for my university’s newspaper on this topic and I still find it to be a poignant and unsolved issue: https://dailynorthwestern.com/2017/05/02/opinion/boyle-photographers-all-artists-deserve-just-recognition-for-their-work/.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
People can see my work through my Instagram or Twitter feed, which are both @ColinBPhoto. Currently, you can find my work in the Chicago Sun-Times, where I am working as a photo intern for the summer!
You also can find some of my favorite images, stories and videos here: https://colinbphoto.com/portfolio/
Contact Info:
- Website: colinbphoto.com
- Email: colinbphotography@gmail.com
- Instagram: Instagram.com/ColinBPhoto
- Facebook: Facebook.com/ColinBPhoto
- Twitter: Twitter.com/ColinBPhoto
- Other: boylephotographers.smugmug.com
Image Credit:
Noah Frick-Alofs (for the photo of me)
All other photos are by Colin Boyle
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
