EVAN WHITNEY

Unlike many of my peers, I did not possess an early interest in photography, nor did I envision a career as a photographer. While both my parents were working, professional artists, I didn’t grow up with a camera in my hand, nor did I go to school for formal training. My formative years (as they were) saw me with a soccer ball at my feet, Legos in my hands, New Wave blasting through my headphones, and more often than I care to admit, coming up with new ways to tell my middle-school teachers, “No, I don’t have my homework.”

That being said I’ve always been creative, have a good eye, and enjoy telling stories; photography is a natural extension of these things.

I didn’t truly pick up a camera until my mid-20s, at the time, working in Harvard University’s Office of Public Affairs and Communications as part of their media relations' team. When I wasn't managing events, conducting media research, talking with producers, or responding to press inquiries, you could find me down the hall looking over the shoulders of our staff photographers as they edited images, impressed and awed at how their visual storytelling skills provided insight into life on campus. Never in a million years did I think they'd let me borrow some of their equipment, but they did, also providing a healthy amount of encouragement, education, criticism, and support that continues to serve me well to this day.

Some twenty years on I have been pursuing photography full-time, a camera in my hands as I have pivoted professionally from one side of the media landscape to the other. I am a contract freelancer for Advance Media New York. I am also a member of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) and the Professional Photographers' Society of Central New York. Some of my commercial clients include the Child Center of NY, The Post-Standard, The Gifford Foundation, PMC Speakers, Syracuse.com, AP Intego, Gretchen’s Confections, Nisos, Shockey Builds, The Savage Homestead, Skaneateles Brewery, and Fox Run Vineyards. My work has been featured in exhibitions at the Davis Orton Gallery in Hudson, NY; Gallery 54 in Skaneateles, NY; the Rhode Island Center for Photographic Arts in Providence, RI; and the Multicultural Art Center in Cambridge, MA.

I also serve as official photographer for the Mottville (NY) Volunteer Fire Company.

When not looking through the viewfinder or going blind editing photos my free time is most often spent with my awesome daughter Tabitha and rescue dog ‘Happy.’