Emily Rose is a newly twenty your old poet, photographer and model. She grew up in Gloucester Massachusetts but is always moving–she has been nearly four months on the road now. Soon you will see her on the Boston subway listening to her cassettes on the way to modeling gigs/castings or her friends’ to share stories, music, and drinks. Emily becomes somewhat lethargic if she doesn’t have an instrument for expression… at least needs music to dance to or a pen to scribble jumbled words onto her skin or an old Chinese fortune. Her photographs embody her personality–an old soul with a nomadic mind.
Interviewed by Lauren Engel
Tell us about your upbringing. What was it like growing up in Gloucester, Massachusetts? How has it shaped the person you are now?
Gloucester is a very diverse and rich place and for the beginning of my life I was brought up in a small house by the woods and the water, I later moved to a small beach town and then across the country to northern California, then back to Ipswich. I grew up frequently moving and always being exposed to new people and places. My family often took trips to New Hampshire and Arizona… I got to go to lakes and hike mountains and go to museums and learn about many cultures. Growing up in so many places has given me the ability to be extremely open minded and be very aware that there is always more… always more to learn, more to see, more people to meet, more cultures to dive into, new perspectives and concepts to be shaped, new stories. My art, especially photography, has been my most steady relationship throughout my life. While traveling and moving and often finding myself alone… I’ve always got a camera (or four).
What made you want to study photography at school? Was it something you felt like you had to learn academically? Any regrets?
I never thought I ‘had’ to do anything with my photography, especially academically, because I base it as a personal form of expression and self which cannot be taught in a class. Like I previously mentioned, there is always more. In this case there is more to learn, more to be exposed to, more perspectives and concepts. Everything I learn, whether it’s in a classroom, in the darkroom, or on the streets of NYC, LA, SF, Boston, on one of my trains across the country, or on the subway… goodness it has all impacted me tremendously. I’m studying photography alongside expressive arts therapy. No regrets at all.
How would you describe your photographs?
My photographs are my life, they are my diary. They are a record of the places I have gone, the brilliant beings I have crossed paths with and grown with, and the feelings that have been felt. I have also recently started to focus more on capturing myself in my work. Next to my writing and poetry, this is important to me to learn how to better cope with things in my life such as loss, depression, and anxiety. There is havoc and peacefulness in what I do.
Which photographers do you look up to and why?
I could list off many well-known artists that inspire me, but I find myself looking up and learning from people I am surrounded with today which are the artists I meet while modeling, my peers, friends, and my mum. My mum was the one who placed a camera in my hand, and growing up and seeing so happy she was taking photos and giving them to clients was wonderful. Goodness, even you! We met a few years back and it has been so wonderful to see you grow into who you are today. I look at many close friends and artists and see their growth, passion, dedication, and happiness and that… that’s what does it for me.
What’s your muse? What’s your favourite thing/person to photograph and why?
Ha, my muse… Jeez. The people closest to me, they know who they are. They help me more than anything in the world. I also have an overwhelming amount of inspiration from travelling inside and out of the country.
What do camera do you shoot with?
I shoot mostly with my 35mm Nikon N80 which my mum gave me. I wouldn’t be where I am today without her or that camera. I also have a ridiculous amount of others in my room, some of my great grandfather’s cameras from WWII and Vietnam. I shoot frequently with those, an old garage-sale point and shoot, and polaroids. And I’ve always got my phone handy… I love being able to have the convenience and accessibility of my phone’s camera. It’s a wonderful platform but 35mm will always be my first love.
What would be your ultimate goal for photography?
My ultimate goal for photography is to keep growing right alongside of it. I hope to continue to share my work, which is ultimately my life, with other people. I wish for people to enjoy my work and have it produce some kind of feeling for them… new or old. With photography I have been able to not just look at the world, but see it all so so much clearly through an additional lens. It’s all just layers of perspective and it educates me immensely, I hope it can do that for others, too.
What is your perception about real love?
Oh man, that’s a loaded question. Real love… it’s very different for each of us, isn’t it? I think it’s something I have witnessed many times through friends and strangers and moments in my life. I’ve seen so much real love the past five months, I’ve been on the road since May. I believe it to be raw and uncut, which is something I put into my photographs and writing. Real love is really heart aching to think about and I’m still trying to work it out.
The moments you are lying in your bed.. which thoughts come up to you?
I’m laughing at this question, it’s more like, which thoughts don’t come up? My mind is always racing and I normally have an extremely difficult time resting or falling asleep. My body may be still, but my mind is in the midst of a lifelong natural disaster up there. I think of where I want to travel, how to capture the world around me more frequently (through my writing and other mediums of expression), how to keep a settled grip on a sense of wonder and humbleness, how to be a better person; for myself and others. Everything is on my mind, always.
