At age 19, Springfield native Julie Blackmon wore her first camera everywhere, its long strap casually slung over her shoulder. “I was kind of into it from the very beginning,” she says of her interest in photography. That Canon AE-1 was a catalyst for what is now a successful and fulfilling career in photography. Her work has graced the covers of TIME Magazine, the halls of museums around the world, the pages of the New York Times and the homes of celebrities like Reese Witherspoon and Elton John.
Blackmon began to consider photography as a career in 2005—taking photos of her children, then the neighbor’s children. Soon she started taking classes. “It went on to be about way more than just my immediate surroundings,” Blackmon says. She transformed her images into profound statements on social constructs and captured everyday moments in a charming, whimsical way.
Blackmon started as a photographer but evolved into an artist using photography as a medium. She is influenced by not only photography and its rich history but also paintings and illustrations. There is not merely a single thing that keeps Blackmon motivated to keep creating, because “I feel like it’s within me,” she says. “I can’t imagine stopping. There’s something cathartic about each piece I start.”
