My name is Cole Atkinson. I am a Film and Media Studies graduate from the University of California Santa Barbara, and an avid film hobbyist mostly intrigued in capturing the human experience. Over the past five years, I have become increasingly captivated by film photography.

It started with travel and surfing. I was trying to capture where I went and the essence of each place through its people and natural surroundings. I wanted to preserve the experience of the moment, as a journal of sorts for myself, my friends, and my family.

This interest evolved into an obsession as I started to concern myself with the skillfulness of the craft, realizing that for each shot, there are almost no bounds, and one could go in an arguably infinite number of directions with composition, exposure, and development. It was the interplay of creativity and intention that got me hooked. I became obsessed with the intentionality, obsessed with the technicality, and obsessed with the capability of curating a feeling through film.

About

Joy, sorrow, embarrassment, nostalgia, whatever emotion or feeling it may be, I aim to capture it spontaneously or through making my subject comfortable enough to create these emotions authentically during a shoot. With a focus in black and white film photography, I feel that I am able to capture these feelings with a fuller body, void of the distraction of color and providing a perspective that our eyes alone are unable to see.

I strive to be unnoticed unless I want myself noticed, curating life as it unfolds before me.

Approach

For any questions or photography inquiries please send me an email!

coletravisatkinson@gmail.com