Today we’d like to introduce you to Blair Ballou.
Hi Blair, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am an award-winning Photographer and Cinematographer based in Los Angeles, California and Jackson, Mississippi. I work in production and post-production. I recently moved to Los Angeles in pursuit of a lifelong dream of becoming a great director and cinematographer. My passion for visual storytelling started as a hobby in concert and portrait photography. I purchased my first camera with the money I made waiting tables and began taking pictures of artists, musicians, and community leaders in Jackson, Mississippi. I quickly became known as “the guy with the camera” and was able to quit my job waiting tables as I became an event photographer. I graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi, where I studied Broadcast Journalism and Media Production.
During college, I was the lead multimedia editor and photojournalist for my college newspaper, all while interning at my local news station where I was a field reporter. While reporting, I realized that my true passion was behind the camera so I focused all of my efforts into photography and cinematography. After graduating, I became a freelance photographer and cinematographer specializing in commercial cinematography, documentary, portrait photography and event photography. I have been able to work with USA Today, Frontline, Def Jam Records, and plan to continue pursuing my dreams in Los Angeles. Through my work as a reporter and journalist, I realized that above all else I love being able to connect to people and connect people to others. I strive to tell the stories untold and overlooked. I love elegance, I love uniqueness, I love passion and humanity. I plan to learn the ins and outs of filmmaking so I can set up a film studio in Mississippi to provide more opportunity to those interested in film but don’t know where to start much like myself. I have struggled with getting a foot in the door everywhere but especially in my hometown of Mississippi so my plan is to learn from the best of the best and bust down the gates that keep folks like me out. My influences are Greg Noir, Gordon Parks, and Hiro Murai.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
It has been a tough but fulfilling journey so far. The film industry in Mississippi is very small and gate kept. The institutions would call for diversity but I would never see it on set, that is on the rare occasion whenever I was able to find set work. I have always had to teach myself my craft through trial and error, asking questions, and bothering people that know more than me. And thank God for Youtube. Through the struggles, I have learned a lot though. Coming from a small place, you have to be able to where multiple hats in the media production industry especially if you’re a person of color because often times the hands of those who are in a better position to reach back don’t come easily. That is one of my driving forces though. Once I learn how the best of the best in filmmaking and video production do it, I’m setting up a studio so that I can open the doors wide open to those who may have a passion for the art but don’t necessarily know who to turn to or where to go. I will not allow anyone to struggle like I had to in order to get to where I’m going.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a visual artist. I’m definitely a jack of all trades when it comes to production but I’m most successful in photography and cinematography. I specialize in portrait photography and documentary cinematography. I’m mainly known for my Portrait Photography. I love dark passionate looks. My taste is heavily inspired by Baroque Paintings. I love capturing textures, colors, curves, shadows, emotion, and elegance. I’m most proud of my stories and photos that have won awards because it brings more positive attention to my hometown of Mississippi. I specialize in capturing Black Skin with special lighting. I always try to connect with my subject before I take their pictures. I always start with a conversation and find how they genuinely feel in the moment. I’ve found the most beautiful moments are those where we can let our guard down and wear our insecurities like an elegant gown. In a world that teaches us to suppress how we feel I always aim to capture those accidental moments vulnerability and genuine humanity. Those moments of joy, sorrow, envy, anger, then blossom into something unique and beautifully confident.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
Risk taking is such an important part of living because what is life without risk? I love taking calculated risks and failing forward. I believe the best way to learn something is taking a leap of faith. I feel like having faith in yourself and having faith that you tried your best whatever the outcome are most important. My most risk in packing my life into an SUV a driving almost 2,000 miles alone through the desert from Mississippi to California to chase my passion for filmmaking. I only knew a handful of people when I moved here and didn’t have a job secured but if I didn’t try it I would always have regretted it. The pain of taking a risk and failing is temporary, the pain of regret in playing it safe lasts forever. You miss every shot you don’t take.
Contact Info:
- Website: blairballou.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ballouboy/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/blair.ballou/
Image Credits
2nd photo (of me holding large lens on monopod on the football field) is by Courtland Wells
