Photo Profile: Kenon Thompson

Photography became as important as breathing when I realized that I might not be able to remember every single experience in my life. This was a passion hidden from my family and friends until my high school years: The time during which I could have a part-time job at a variety of fast food establishments to pay for my own camera expenses.

The first camera I purchased was a FujiFilm FinePix A800 point and shoot. Nothing fancy or anything now, yet at the time, it was my best friend. I took it everywhere I possibly could. From marching band performances in- and out-of-state, to the stores as my parents took care of the weekly grocery/store shopping. Time continued, and my passion for photography grew.

When I began college in 2008 majoring in Culinary Arts and Food Service Management, an infatuation of food writing and photography was born. Reading the series Best Food Writing and viewing photos on FoodPornDaily.com for a few months, I became determined to purchase my own DSLR camera.

During the summer of 2010, I was working enough so that I could invest in my first DSLR Camera: a Sony Alpha 230. As my junior year of college began, in my peers’ eyes, I transitioned from being the guy who always had his headphones and iPOD, to the photography kid with a camera always by his side.

Taking photos of everything from food, landscapes, lifestyle, nature, school events, fashion events, music concerts and everything in between, I knew that photography and I were an inseparable couple.

With no formal training or studies of photography, I simply began following others’ work. Starting from creating a Flickr account, to viewing photographers on Facebook (and their websites), and following Jim Wills of 1 World Studio in Denver, CO, a photographer I met during a fashion show my school’s fashion club sponsored (3rd Annual DiverCity Fashion Show). Other inspirations come from photographers Becky Brown, Helene Dujardin, Christopher Cina, and Jürgen Bürgin Photography, just to name a few.

I always state that photography is a part of my various voices (included with cooking, writing/poetry, and recently, videography). I view my camera lenses as my third pair of eyes (my glasses are my second pair)! I see a photo and I always think to myself, “Can I express this in a story through personal experience, for what it is, or create a new story from what I see in it now?”

Now, I own a Sony Alpha 55 DSLR camera, and I am extending my photography genres to street photography and portraiture. With two years of experience, and a relentless amount of constant practice, research and spending any time I can with my cameras, I have goals of traveling the world, expressing how I see it through my camera to share with others!

Links:

Website: http://www.kenonthompson.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KenonThompsonOfficial
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/kenonthompson
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/camera_focus/
Store: http://kenonthompsonphotography.nextproof.com/