Joy Brathwaite is a Washington D.C. event and portrait photographer. Joy started photography in July 2013 with a Nikon D3000. Shortly after picking up the camera, she was invited to join NVPS by a work colleague. Through NVPS she has met great photographers and learned various photographic techniques, from whom and which she credits with improving her photography in those initial years.
Currently, Joy shoots with a Nikon 750, primarily using the 24 – 70mm/f4 to photograph flowers when not photographing events. Whether photographing flowers or events, Joy enjoys taking images that are vibrant, energetic and colorful. Going forward, Joy is looking forward to working with her portrait and event clients to capture all their essence and precious moments.
Title: Out West
Over the last few years, Joy has taken several trips out west to Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Montana, and South Dakota. The West offers such wonderful diverse and amazing geography, making it a treat to photograph. This presentation is a collection of the images from those trips.
Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely, a reflective state where one can often learn the most about oneself. For me it is a restorative, peaceful and necessary place where I feel attuned to everything around me. Photography is the vehicle that helps me best experience solitude and allows me to express that private world.
“Solitude bears the same relation to the mind that sleep does to the body. It affords it the necessary opportunities for repose and recovery” – William G Simms
Jim Williams discovered photography in the early 1970s. He extensively used an Olympus OM2 SLR and spent a few years with a Cambo 4×5 medium format camera. He developed his own film and prints and all of his work was in black and white. Some of his best memories are of late nights in the darkroom with other photographers (and a six pack of beer) bringing their images to life.
Jim was lucky enough to have some great teachers. He studied photography at Glen Echo, where he also served as an assistant to Robin Moyer (who started the photography program at Glen Echo). He later attended the Center for Photographic Studies in Louisville KY, which was founded and run by CJ Pressma. Finally, some photography coursework at Northern Virginia Community College and the Corcoran School of Art rounded out his photography education. Jim had featured spreads in the George Mason University literary magazine and had photos displayed in a number of photo exhibits and competitions.
Jim’s photography stagnated from the 1980s until around 2010, while he focused on his career as a Data Architect and Analyst and his family. Once the age of digital photography started to mature Jim was able to regain his love for photography, even without access to a darkroom. He started in digital photography with the Fuji X100 and currently uses a Fuji X-T2.
While it may seem like an odd combination, Jim’s favorite photographers from his film days were Walker Evans and Ralph Eugene Meatyard. His photography usually incorporates his passion for solitude, with no people or animals in the photos. His aim is to create an image that reflects the feelings he experienced while viewing the subject. His experience behind the camera is usually as important to him as the final image he creates. Jim also enjoys exploring textures, light and shadow, patterns and reflections. He likes to bend the rules (which often earns him a quick dismissal by club judges:))… He loves negative space, he likes to place subjects along the edges and in the corners, he enjoys high contrast and defocusing his subjects, and playing with camera movement.
