Today we’d like to introduce you to Shawn Bumpers.
Hi Shawn, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I’ve been chasing creativity for as long as I can remember. It started with storytelling—writing fiction as a kid—then shifted to music, where I built a strong early career performing with bands like Solar Coaster and collaborating with a wide range of artists in the industry. Eventually, I found myself behind the camera, drawn to photography’s ability to freeze what’s fleeting.
I focus on landscapes, industrial scenes, portraits, and fashion—each offering its own rhythm and tone. Acting and modeling became other ways I learned to express myself, and they naturally pulled me deeper into the world of fashion photography. My goal isn’t just to document moments, but to reveal the details most people overlook—the quiet things that only become visible when framed with intention. Music has always looked like color to me. Photography? It feels like touch.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It’s never been a smooth ride—maybe it’s not supposed to be. Choosing a creative life wasn’t really a choice; it was something I couldn’t ignore. But like anything worth doing, it’s come with struggle. Growth has meant facing hard lessons head-on. Like many artists, I’ve wrestled with addiction and had to figure out how to keep creating while still holding my life together. There’s also the challenge of mastering your tools without letting them master you—a necessary lesson every creative must learn.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
Travel keeps me curious. I love discovering new places, meeting new people, and trying to capture what feels essential—what might go unnoticed without a camera to spotlight it. Art taught me to care about people, to study them, to understand them. While regular life has me often in Birmingham, Alabama, and spending much of my time around the Southeast, I regularly travel to California, New York, and everywhere in between. I keep workspaces in both LA and NYC to stay connected to those creative hubs.
My strength as a photographer lies in sensing the mood of a place, the shape of a moment, the subtle character in a line or face—and bringing that forward through the lens. Some of my favorite images have come from the most ordinary things, seen differently just once. I try to bring that same angle through my acting and modeling endeavors as well.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
If I had to name one quality that’s been key to my growth as an artist, it’s perceptiveness. I’ve always been drawn to the layers beneath the surface—whether in music, photography, acting, or modeling. I move between these forms not just to create, but to connect—to catch what might be missed and bring it into focus.
That sensitivity to detail, emotion, and rhythm shapes everything I do. It helps me see the story in a moment, the feeling in a face, the meaning in a line. I think that’s what keeps my work grounded and personal, and what drives me to create, even when life or circumstances make it difficult.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://shawnbumpers.smugmug.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/solarcoast/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shawn.bumpers
- Soundcloud: https://on.soundcloud.com/AqpZk6UcGk87sFjL6
