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

Hi Wisdom, what do you think makes you most happy? Why?
Love is the key to my happiness. It’s an idea that I wasn’t introduced to, growing up in a dysfunctional household and family. Love for me is simply a committed desire to share happiness and inspiration to help other people grow and smile. I use my camera to share that love, and that in-tune makes me excited about life everyday. I think if many of us were to experience love in the way of commitment, desire, and positivity, then a lot of problems would go away. That’s why love makes me happy. That’s why I’m excited about life.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Majority of my work consists of creative portraits in studio, both on medium format film on my Mamiya RB67, and medium format digital, with the Fujifilm GFX 50sii. My photography is centered around high contrast, intimate, and dramatic lighting. But my focus, is showing the beauty of Black men and women, allowing us to create our own representation, through expression of identity, emotion, personal style, and memories.

It wasn’t easy getting to this point. I started taking photos on my first camera, the Canon rebel t7. I would only take self-portraits, and portraits of me and ex-girlfriend. That allowed me to build an audience of people waiting to see what I’d create for someone else. It was still a tough road though. I was terrible at taking photos of other people. Everything would either be overexposed, miscolored, or out of focus. I’m not sure why my skills of self-portraits didn’t translate in the beginning, but I knew ever since I used that camera, that you cannot cheat the process. The starting line begins at the same point for everyone.

Now that I’m at this point, I want my work to express to the world how beautiful everyday people and moments are. Photography for me isn’t just about using an expensive camera, it’s about translating energy and language into a visual moment. I also love the idea of my work inspiring other Black boys to find creative ways to be vulnerable. I grew up to fear the world and survive in it, but hopefully I can be apart of the change for other Black/Caribbean people like me to feel like we can finally live, and not just exist to the fade away.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If you want to have the best time in the city, visit Underground Atlanta, for their frequent events. Every time I’m over there, it feels like Black Coachella. It used to look completely different when I was a kid coming here, but they’ve turned it into a cultural art center. Between that and shopping at World Piece in Little Five Points, and grabbing drinks from colony square, is where you’ll see me the most.

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?
My grandfather was the biggest inspiration in my life. His name is Alexander Billy Andrews. Before he passed away, we would talk on the phone for hours, expressing where we wanted to be in life, and how we wanted to make an impact on the world with our creations. His words always stuck with me, “Baby, make sure you use your philosophy, knowledge, and wisdom through everything that you do, as long as the Lord is with you.” “As long as the Lord is with you,” made me feel like our bond was sacred, and existed beyond the world we live in. It’s because of him that I’m more dedicated to making other people happy, as much as he made me happy. Wherever he is, I hope he’s proud of me, and I hope we meet again.

Website: WisdomWarner.com

Instagram: www.instagram.com/wisdom.tiff/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Iamwisdomwarner

Image Credits
Production, casting, direction, photography, editing, and lighting by Wisdom Warner.

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