US photographer and writer Emory Hall, is on route to Brighton with her husband Trevor Hall and Nahko Bear from the band Nahko and Medicine for the People.
We wanted to find out more about Emory’s photography, travels and the band’s latest tour, so we caught up with her to discover the adventure these guys have been on.
Nahko and Trevor Hall will be performing incorporating Emory’s photography at the Komedia in Brighton on Tuesday 24th April. It’s just around the corner from our Brighton Gallery, where more of Emory’s work will be shown, so be sure to check it out!
Your travels are deeply reflected in your work, how long have you been traveling and what is the most influential place you have visited?
Traveling has always been a huge part of my life and I’ve had a hunger for it for as long as I can remember. Around the age of 19 I began traveling consistently and haven’t stopped since. Nepal has probably had the greatest influence on my life. I first travelled there when I was 20 years old and stayed for three months. I flew home to the US, booked a ticket right back, and stayed for another three. Nepal changed me in a deep and almost unsayable way, and it has taught me some of my life’s greatest lessons. It’s a strange thing to feel more at home there than I do in America.
Do you think the fact that you and your husband, Trevor Hall, are both artists inspires each other to create more?
Definitely. Trevor and I are both artists, but we express our hearts though different mediums and in different ways. In this way, we are constantly learning from each other and gaining new perspectives from the art we individually create. There has always been a natural and beautiful synchronicity between our creative expressions, and collaborating with him is one of my favourite things to do. I’m constantly growing and getting inspired because of it.
Tell us about this upcoming tour - it's Trevor's first time performing in EU and your first time displaying your work here correct?
Yes! This tour is special for a lot of reasons. It is Trevor’s first time bringing his music to Europe, my first time displaying my art in Europe, and we get to do it alongside one of our closest friends, Nahko. We’ve been blessed to be able to all travel together before, however this is our first time exploring Europe together and I can’t wait to see what adventures await.
What's the one thing you're looking forward to the most getting this side of the ocean?
I don’t think there is only one thing - there are so many! I’m just really excited to dive into new cultures and taste, feel, smell and experience all of the different cities we’re visiting. That is what inspires me and my art - stepping into the unknown and adventuring.
You seem to run in a very creative group of people and are going to be touring with Nahko Bear later this month, do you all inspire each other? How do you support each other's creative ventures?
I can only speak for myself, but the music and art that comes through our community definitely inspires me. It’s amazing when we all get to collaborate - for example, I can’t wait to photograph Trevor and Nahko on this tour. Art brings people together, it creates community, and its moments like this upcoming tour that allow us to collaborate and to celebrate each other’s artistry.
Has it always been your dream to be a photographer and writer?
I can’t really name any specific moment where I said to myself: I want to be a photographer, or I want to be a writer. Photography and writing have always just been natural ways of expression for me that are inseparable from my heart and being. They are how I share my experience and journey with the world, and I’m just very thankful to be able to make my passions my work.
What inspired you to produce your latest works?
My most recent large body of work came from a month-long journey I took this past summer to Greece and Nepal - two very different places that provided me with a lot of inspiration. I had always dreamed of shooting Greece, as I’ve always been drawn to the colours and moods I’ve seen captured in other photographer’s works. In Nepal, I followed a deep desire that I had to join a pilgrimage of shamans to a holy lake in a remote region of the Himalayas. It was one of the most beautiful and crazy experiences of my life.
Which piece are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of a photograph I took of the shamans dancing during this pilgrimage in the Nepal Himalayas. There was so much that went into it - sweat, pain, freezing nights, fatigue, altitude sickness - as well as heart, inspiration, willpower, and amazement.
What would you say is the biggest theme running through your work?
Art is incredibly powerful in that it can be used to inform, to celebrate, to provoke, to question, to inspire, to reveal … The theme of my work is that it comes from my heart and it is my hope that it tells honest, impactful stories about the world we live in. In this way, I hope to inspire others, to broaden people’s perspectives, and to bring our one human family closer together.
If you weren’t an artist, what career path would you have chosen?
My art is my life’s breath. For me, there is no other way. I’m not sure what I would do if I had to do something other than my art, but I’m sure I would find a way to weave it in there. :)
If there’s one change in the world you want your art to influence what is it?
I hope that my art helps to break down the walls that society, history, culture and circumstance all too often builds between us. I hope people see through my work that every human and place has a story to tell, and that each story is beautiful and worthy of being heard. If my art can bring us closer together and foster a feeling of connectedness between so-called strangers - even for just one person - then I feel I’ve been successful.
