Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Aluka Berry.
Chris, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My career as a professional photographer began in 1999 when I started providing freelance photography for The State Newspaper in Columbia, SC. After five years of grinding it out as a freelancer, I was hired as a full-time photojournalist at The State Newspaper in 2005. I love telling community- based stories and spent most of my time trying to tell stories that would help people. For example, I spent a year documenting life at a drug rehab facility, which aided people in fighting opiate addiction. I later spent two years showing what life is like for migrant farmers at one of the largest peach farms in the U.S. and spent a year documenting the poor school condition in South Carolina. Working on stories like these satisfied my soul, knowing that my photography could help educate and encourage people. During my time at the paper, I was blessed to win many awards such as being named South Carolina News Photographer of the Year four times and winning many regional and national awards.
Life was good in South Carolina until the newspaper industry started to grumble. As more and more of my colleagues got laid off, I started to form an exit strategy. In 2013 I made a leap of faith and left The State Newspaper and moved to Atlanta. I fell in love with Georgia and never looked back. I began providing photography for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Reuters. I also began providing event and marketing photography for Atlanta based corporations like the Coca-Cola Company, Home Depot Foundation, Chik-Fil-A and many more. I never thought that photography would take me so far, but all I could do was thank the Lord for such wonderful opportunities and warm friendly people. Although things were going well, something was missing. I was making good money but just didn’t feel like my photography was helping make my community a better place. So in 2017, I started ALUKA Storytelling Photography. ALUKA is my middle name, it’s an acronym that my father made up, it means All, Loving, Understanding, Kindness, Always. I named the business ALUKA Storytelling Photography because I tell stories that promote love, understanding and kindness.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
When I was freelancing at The State Newspaper, although they loved my photography and work ethic, management didn’t want to hire me on full time because I didn’t have a college degree. But thankfully, hard work and winning multiple photo contest helped prove my worth and they hired me on full time without a college degree. The next struggle as a photographer was to stay motivated and produce work that had meaning to me. The daily grind at a newspaper can get you down, but I made sure that I always had a long-form photo story that I was working on, a story that would bring hope and inspire people. Even to this day, it’s long-form projects that keep my fire burning. At the end of the day, there is always going to be a struggle, but if you’re doing work that is helping people, then the struggle is totally worth it.
The biggest struggle in telling stories that help people is to receive funding . Helping corporations, nonprofits and media outlets see the value in funding these projects can be challenging. But, some organizations get it, they really get it! They know that by telling stories that show how they are helping their communities, helps build trust with their customers and is a win-win for everyone.
Please tell us about Aluka Storytelling Photography.
ALUKA Storytelling Photography specializes in using photography to tell impactful stories from an intimate personal perspective. ASP documents the good that companies and organizations are doing in their communities. With years of experience as a photojournalist, I know how to build trust with people and use photography to go beneath the surface and tell stories that touch your heart. What makes me proud of Aluka Storytelling Photography is the numerous times that people have seen my photography and it has spurred them on to help people. I’ve had people give money, time, and other donations to help people and organizations whose stories I have had the honor of telling. Because I care about the people I photograph, I believe it carries on to the viewer. For years people have told me that my photography pulls them in and makes them want to know more about the people in the photographs. My photography makes them feel empathy and want to help.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I had to start over, I would have been more proactive in getting my name out to photo editors and would have left South Carolina earlier. I would have traveled more and worked on more photo projects, thus helping more people.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AlukaStories.com
- Phone: (404)323-8434
- Email: chris@alukastories.com
- Instagram: @alukastories
- Facebook: Aluka Storytelling Photography
Image Credit:
©Chris Aluka Berry
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