Rising Stars: Meet Lindsey Cooper of Atlanta

Today we’d like to introduce you to Lindsey Cooper.

Hi Lindsey, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
When I was about 11, my mother gave me her old camera. I had always been fascinated by photos, and have very clear memories of going with my mother to get photos developed at Wolf Camera and at CVS. One time, she showed me the negatives that came back, and I remember being absolutely entranced, looking at the negative photo and wondering how it became a positive photo when it was printed.

When she gave me her old digital camera, I took photos of anything and everything. I started taking photos of my friends whenever I could. When I got to high school, I had the option to take a photography class. My parents also bought me a new camera for my birthday one year, which I proudly brought to class. It was a small digital point and shoot. The other students were using their big DSLR cameras, but I remember a conversation with my teacher. She told me that I was making better photos using my tiny camera, because I was getting out there and exploring more. I was trying different angles because I didn’t feel limited by what I had.

When I went to college, I brought that point and shoot with me. I started out my Berry College career as an Early Childhood Education major, and didn’t have time for photography. That was, until I changed my major to Studio Art. At most schools, you need to have a certain GPA to get into the school of education, and I need not meet that threshold. I would later find out that was a blessing in disguise.

When I changed my major, I decided I needed a job in the industry. I got a job at the Department of Marketing and Communications, and eventually became the student supervisor in that role. I found myself enjoying my life a lot more, being able to take photos and learning how to make art out of my life. During the summer of 2018, I decided to study abroad in Italy, at a school called Studio Arts College International. There, I learned how to develop black and white film. I finally knew how to make the images that had so fascinated me as a child. I took that skills back to Berry College for my senior year, where I had my own darkroom. It was the last darkroom that was left on campus, and I had full use of it for that school year. The darkroom became my home away from home, a place that I could really call my own. I developed my own film and made my own prints to my heart’s content.

After graduating from Berry College, I decided to return to Studio Arts College International for graduate school. I started the program in fall 2019. I like to say that we had one normal semester before everything changed. Once covid hit, the whole world was turned upside down. I decided to return home to Atlanta for the summer of 2020, and then went back to Florence in fall 2021. This was a year of exponential artistic growth for me. There were three students left in my cohort, and the three of us became so closely bonded that we still call each other our siblings. The photos that we took during that year remain a huge part of our portfolios to this day.

After graduating with my Masters Degree in Photography, I decided to return to Atlanta and move in with my now-husband, Chris. We had met at Berry College and continued dating through my time in Italy. I found work in photo studios, taking senior portraits and school sports team photos.

On September 7th, 2021, I was hit by a car while riding my bicycle in a crosswalk. Everything stopped. All work was put on hold. I went to work at a daycare for two years, where I eventually became the art teacher. I slowly started to pick up my own work again, which has led to where I am now. I have started to continue much of the work that I initiated in grad school.

Last year one of my closest friends, who was in my grad school cohort, died of cancer. My work recently has been connected to my feelings of grief, as well as the ideas of staying connected to her memory.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It has not been a smooth road. When I was hit by the car, all of my art had to be put on pause. I was recovering from a broken leg, 3 herniated discs, and PTSD. That didn’t give a whole lot of time or energy to be creative.

I’ve also faced a lot of financial setbacks in the past year. Many photo competitions require that you pay entry fees, and I was unable to pay for my entries, and therefore unable to submit my work to competitions that could have furthered my career.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I mostly specialize in analog photography right now. One of the series I am most known for is called “From the Belly of the Beast”, where I am going to protests and documenting protestors with their signs. People are starting to recognize my work, and I got recognized in the MARTA station the other day. The guy sitting next to me recognized me and asked what protest I had just documented, and that was a really nice feeling!

Another project I’ve been known for is Memory Book. I think I may have mentioned it in a previous answer, but it’s a sketchbook that I started back in college and decided to continue working on. I use it to capture all the significant moments in my life, whether they be big or small.

We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
I’m a fairly open book when it comes to my artwork, so I’m finding it hard to think of things.

I think one thing might be that it surprised my family the other day to learn that I was reading a book about the philosophy behind photography. It’s called “To Photograph is to Learn How to Die” by Tim Carpenter, and I’m finding it very interesting! I like to read books that are similar to what I read in grad school because it feels like it takes me back to that time and place, which is also what I like to do with my photography. I want my photos to be enough to remember a time and a place exactly as it was.

Pricing:

• Branding photoshoot – $200 per hour
• Headshots – $50 per person
• Event photography – $200 per hour
• Memory Book prints – $40
• Photographic prints – $50

Contact Info:

• Website: I am currently working on this! I will have it ready in the next couple of months
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lindseycooperphotoart/
• Other: https://docuspecials.com/shop/lindsey-cooper (readers can order a special edition of DocuMagazine on my work!)