The Adroit Journal‘s tenth issue was released last week, and you know what that means – more Conversations with Contributors! Intuitively, Issue 10 begins with our cover, so why not begin this round of Q&A with our cover artist?
Jedidiah Gist is a freshman at Clemson University originally from Columbia, South Carolina. For his piece “Whirl,” Jed was awarded a National Silver Medal and Regional Gold Key from the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
Amanda Silberling, Blog Editor: What was the process of creating “Whirl”?
Jedidiah Gist, Cover Artist: I did a push-processing shoot with my 35mm Canon Rebel for my AP 2D Design class. I had this idea for a composite image of four different corners of skyscrapers scrapped together to form one massive building, floating in the sky. I figured I may as well take some shots of the corners of tall buildings during my push-processing shoot, and three of them turned out pretty well. I scanned the negatives into Photoshop and worked for a few days, making about forty of fifty different versions. Most of them I didn’t even save, I actually only have four left, but the one that y’all have is by far my favorite.
AS: What message are you trying to convey through this piece?
JG: I attempted to show how the mundane can be monumental through the isolation and iconization of seemingly every-day architecture.
AS: What media of art/photography do you usually work with?
JG: I usually work with photography, digital art, or sculpture.
AS: “Whirl” is a black and white photograph – how do you think color influences the presentation of a photograph?
JG: The lack of color helps to emphasize the monolith. It adds to the simplicity of the image, emphasizing the simple motif.
AS: How did you get involved in photography?
JG: I went to an art summer camp in middle school, and one of my classes was photography and Photoshop. I loved it, and ended up taking photography in high school and did my AP concentration in photography as well.
AS: What’s the best experience you’ve had so far as a photographer?
JG: The best experience I’ve had as a photographer is having access to the dark room and lab at my high school. I was able to experiment with different methods of film photography, and it was extremely fun.
AS: What do you find most challenging in art?
JG: I’d have to say the most challenging thing is finding time to work on my projects. They are very time consuming, and require a lot of commitment.
AS: How do you plan to pursue art in the future?
JG: Right now, I’m a Chemical Engineering and Physics double major and I’m focused on school. I find time to shoot around every now and then, but nothing serious. I intend on getting into photography seriously once I’ve settled into a job.
AS: Have you had any unique experiences as a teenage photographer?
JG: Getting published in an online publication is a pretty unique experience!
