Meet Eli Warren | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Eli Warren and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Eli, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
I played an active roll but a lot of things just fell together when I started my business. I’d been doing photography as a hobby for a couple years while working a warehouse job, and on my free time I was helping out at a local darkroom. The owner, Kim Sholly, was mentoring me and pushed me to consider commercial photography. Around that time the warehouse job was changing and just got to be too much. One day I just had enough and quit. It took a few months but I started taking some photo jobs and learning everything I could. That was 15 years ago and I’m still learning. Some of the clients from that first year still hire me now.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I think the thing I’m most proud of is just being 15 years in and still enjoying what I’m doing. I still have a lot of things I want to work on, but when I step back I do feel proud. I wasn’t on track to be successful when I was younger. I didn’t go to college, I actually dropped out of high school in the 10th grade, and after that I spent years working different warehouse jobs. But with photography the only thing that could hold me back was myself, that was a new king of world for me.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Well to start…Pita House here in Greenville. It’s the #1 place I take friends from out of town. Coffee at Village Grind, food at Golden Brown and Delicious. Past that I honestly love a slice of Costco pizza haha. As far as things to check out, Greenville has a huge list of amazing artists worth checking out.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I’ve had so much help over the years. Kim Sholly was a huge factor in me getting started in photography. She owned a local darkroom/photo school. I helped out for her cleaning up the darkroom after renters and in exchange she let me sit in on classes and use the space to shoot in when there weren’t classes happening. Throughout my career I’ve also had help from the Metropolitan Arts Council, they have a grants program for artists that’s really allowed me to do projects I couldn’t have otherwise afforded. I also have a list of friends who proof and help me edit my books before I publish them, including my art director friend Catherine Crandall. There’s a thousand other people as well that I wish I could name.

Website: http://eliwarrenfineart.com

Instagram: @eliwarrenphoto

Other: Commercial photography – http://eliwarren.com Gallery Representation – http://artandlightgallery.com/artist/eli-warren

Image Credits
Portrait of me – by Will Crooks