BRIAHNA SWITZER: TOP OF HER CLASS
Photos and Words by Cameron Dorsey
Briahna Switzer is a woman of many hats and few words, her photography however, speaks a thousand words. Whether it’s shooting politicians for her school or her self-portraits, Briahna creates to tell a story. Like the greats that inspired her, such as Carrie Mae Weems and Gordon Parks, the Christopher Newport soon-to-be grad student is building her legacy by capturing the ever-changing world around her. Read my conversation with Briahna below.
So looking at your page, you do a little bit of everything, you're doing photography, you model, you do a little bit of drawing as well. So what was the earliest experience you had with art?
Honestly, I think ever since I was like, really little, like, five, six, I've always been into something artsy. I was in drama for a while, like I would do plays or be backstage, helping with costume design. Then I used to draw and I kind of stopped, I did a little bit of everything very young. I used to actually make little films on my little digital camera, I'll put together little skits and stuff, so it's been a long time coming. It's actually surprising that I end up with photography because I've tried like, just about everything.
Self Portrait by Briahna Switzer
So how did it end up just being photography?
I ended up taking a summer program for photography at Downing-Gross Cultural Arts Center when I was 15, and I really loved it. And at first, I always wanted to model, so once I started learning about behind the camera and stuff like that, I really loved it. And then the program extended, so I would shoot all the plays and the events around Newport News, and I just stuck with it because people were really encouraging so I was just like, I'm just gonna keep doing it and I've been doing it ever since.
What made you choose Christopher Newport University?
It was close to home, and the way my major is set up. I'm going to grad school for elementary education, but then you had to have an actual major, so I decided to be a business and marketing major, so kind of like a double major. So it just worked out for what I wanted, because I want to teach, and I also wanted to have my own business and have the education behind that too. So it was like, I got to do both, so it helps me with my career path in the future.
Okay, so how did you end up doing your photography work for the school?
So actually, it was a funny story. So when I first got here, you know, COVID happened. And then after that, I reached out to the photography department and was just like, hey, I want a job with you guys, and nobody answered me. And then like a year later, I tried again, because I used to check out like photography equipment from our library, and I was really cool with the guy, so I told him like, hey, I'm trying to get a job here as a photographer, so he hooked me up with our on-campus photographer and I just sent him my portfolio and then we just started working from there.
How has that experience been?
I've definitely learned a lot because shooting for yourself versus shooting for a company or somebody else is completely different. So you have to learn how to shoot different people because like I was used to shooting black people, like black skin tones, and then it's like actually a big transition of shooting and editing whiter skin tones. So it's just learning different editing styles, learning how to get your point across, and then I learned how to shoot for different things, like tighter shots and stuff like that, so it got me out of my comfort zone. I did like a lot of sports stuff and headshots, so I have a wide range.
What is it like trying to find opportunities for yourself, like trying to navigate finding work and your personal stuff?
So like, what I've also been thinking about that I like, which is really cool, is I've been able to incorporate my personal style in this job too. Because I pretty much had to pitch photo series ideas because, you know, I was used to doing photo series, so I was just wanting to incorporate that with our students and try to make it more lively. So I've been given that opportunity, and learning how to pitch that. And opportunities outside of this, like I've pretty much found that when I start creating things that I love and I'm passionate about, that's when more opportunities start coming my way. So once I started getting passionate about a project or like just taking my time and finding the right people to execute something, then other stuff comes.
Shot by Briahna Switzer
Okay, so when it comes to your personal style, how would you describe it, and then what would you say influences your work?
Okay, so when I first started out, I loved Carrie Mae Weems, like her photo series, because that really inspired me to tell a story with my art. And then like, @younginwithacanon, of course, and it's just a lot of other black female photographers. Like I've followed @blackwomenphotographers, and then the other photography pages, and I really just love the essence of what they post and just like the artistic expression of it, and just how everyone and everything has a story with it. So yeah, and Gordon Parks and stuff like that, like I really love that.
What's a hardship you've encountered along the course of your journey that you learned from?
It's been a lot. I feel like it depends on the year because I feel like when I first started, my intentions were different than now. Like when I first started like I was in high school, so I was really trying to like, you know, I was trying to make money. So I'm just like, after school shoots, you know, $50, I was trying to make that money. And then when COVID hit, I was like, you know, I wanted to actually tell a story because there was a lot going on at the time, and I don't like talking with words a lot, so I just used my pictures to express the feeling during that time. So then it turned into that of more artistic expression, and right now, I definitely got more of the art part of it. And it's been challenging, you know, just those different transitions, and then as I'm growing my business and doing things along the way. Because I'm licensed, so more recently, a challenge is, you know, updating that paperwork and getting everything straight legally and just all of that because it can be like a lot of running around and then I feel like a lot of people don't talk about the customer service aspect of it and just balance and so it has been difficult, you know, just like finding what I'm working towards and how to go about that. And then, of course, you still got to think about the money involved too and still having that good dynamic with other people, so yeah, I'm just learning.
Shot by Briahna Switzer
So how about the opposite of that, something positive you've learned?
I think I learned to kinda focus on my journey and what I'm passionate about because then it's so easy to let everything around you sway you or just like, Oh, I'm not where I want to be or I should be doing this. But I feel like, the longer I do this like I'm really happy with how confident I am with the work I'm producing, like no matter how many likes it gets, I'm just really happy that I'm doing this and I'm proud of what I'm doing. So I feel like my confidence has increased as I keep doing this.
Briahna:
