INTERVIEW. David Asiamah - Photographer "Chasing Happiness" Where you’re from: Originally from Ghana grew up in Little Rock, AR Website: www.asiamahphotography.com Interviewer: Mustafa March, 2010 CLICK HERE TO SLIDESHOW  IOA (Izms of Art) Does your last name Asiamah have a meaning? David Asiamah Not that I’m aware of. IOA So how did it all start, what made you decide to pick up a camera? David Asiamah I seriously picked up a camera in college. I enjoyed capturing everyday campus life moments and appreciated the fact that my perspective was not only unique to that experience but represented a point in time that will never be replicated. Its like having a piece of time something tangible out of the intangible. IOA Was it a moment, or a slow progression? David Asiamah I would say it was a slow progression but with a critical moment. I’ve always had some kind of cheap camera lying around that I would play with. My senior year at Morehouse I tried to sell some images to the Webmaster and ended up with a job shooting for the College site. I was shooting film at the time and I learned to appreciate the patience required to capture moments and the connection that patience created with every shot. Admittedly that connection would have me sit on my work for months sometimes years before sharing. I’ve learned to let go over the years. IOA On your site, you mention taking a two year lay-off from the camera. Why the two year lay-off from photography? David Asiamah Very long story but the short of it is I started working on my Ph.D. and could not immediately find any space for two loves. Nothing worse than denying an aspect of yourself, especially one that provides a sense of freedom. IOA True, so what's the other love (what are you getting your PH.D. in)? David Asiamah Clinical-Community Psychology. An interest in minority mental health and a current focus on homelessness. IOA How do you go about choosing your subject? David Asiamah I thrive on “randomness”, being in the right place at the right time. I like to think of those moments as a gift and on rare occasions I don’t even shoot. I just take in the moment. When it comes to people my mind creates a mental picture of an expression. I keep their image in mind for a few days and a concept develops. I tend to prefer non-models (in the professional sense). Insecurity makes for some great portraits. IOA Which do you prefer, natural, portraits, journalistic, or architecture shots? David Asiamah It’s like asking if I prefer my left to my right eye. It’s really a matter of what I’m drawn to at any moment. Each allows me to bring a unique perspective admittedly I bore easy and as they say variety is the spice of life. IOA Yeah, you seem to cover a wide spectrum. IOA I notice the photo of the girl, Jessamine in red on your blog site, I noticed her at New Brooklyn Tabernacle a couple of weekends ago, what sparked you to take her photo? David Asiamah Her eyes. I liked her story. Young moderately devout (by my standards anyway) Muslim woman in college. I liked the contradictions in her life. She has a strong face yet it possesses a very soft feminine quality. IOA That's interesting, because some people I see out make me ask the question, "Now what is your story?" Some people just standout and like a few people there, she stood out. IOA The Adluh shot, for years I’ve been taking pictures of that building, (And you’ll right I have not seen the shot you took before.) I know what draws me to it, but from your point of view, what draws you to it? David Asiamah Nothing really. It dominates the skyline and I’d seen a number of shots of it that were rather plain. That’s Columbia I guess in that everyone takes the same eye to the same thing so much so that it loses its uniqueness. It becomes boring. IOA You seem to have a balance when it comes to photo mediums, which do you prefer color or black and white, if either? David Asiamah Depends on the image. At times there are background colors that distract. I do prefer black and white when I do journalistic work because it cleans everything up. The absence of color allows one to approach the image without bias. I find it allows one to pay attention to all the elements. Light is important and I find sometimes the impact of the light is lost in color. IOA You seem to really focus on getting the most out of your colours, the subject whether it is still-life or portrait seems to standout from the background… David Asiamah It’s very important to me in every composition where the eye of the viewer goes. Backgrounds can be distracting so I make sure one’s eye starts at the heart of the image before exploring the intricate details. Colors also have a way of evoking emotion we’re genetically predisposed to respond to color (less so than animals) furthermore the right balance of colors enhances the overall aesthetics of an image. IOA So what’s next for David Asiamah? David Asiamah I need to finish school and I don’t think there will ever be a day that I stop chasing happiness. www.asiamahphotography.com