Meet Everett Milloy

Today we’d like to introduce you to Everett Milloy.

Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I began photography about two and a half years ago in my sophomore year of high school. I initially started photography to impress a girl that I liked at the time, not knowing that the class was for film photography. I soon got really involved in the class, skipped lunches to print more, snuck rolls of film to shoot more than my classmates. As time went on, the girl drifted from my life but the art and passion stayed there. My brother and I were raised by music and film, I suppose that’s the reason he was able to become the musical director at Grand Canyon University and I was so driven to take photos. He would always have me photograph the concerts he would play at, but concert photography never felt like home to me. In my first year of photography classes, I was confined to taking photos of objects, not realizing that portraiture was my true calling. It wasn’t until I was printing with a friend that I realized this. She had taken a photo of another classmate, and as the photo began to develop I instantly knew this is what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. Ever since then, I’ve been shooting portraiture and haven’t looked back.

Please tell us about your art.
I’m primarily a film photographer. I develop, print, and scan all of my work at home mostly because I feel like it’s the most intimate way you can be with your photographs. I want all my art to speak of some type of connection. Whether that’s emotional or physical, I hope that the viewers are able to see what exactly I’m trying to capture. Photography in itself is a shared breath, a deep connection between the subject, lens, and viewer. I create art for the simple fact that, if I am going to live and breathe on this earth, I want to have some mark that I was present in the world around me. There are times in my life where art feels as if it has no meaning anymore, that there is nothing else to create that hasn’t been done already. In these times of nihilism, there is still a glimmer of hope that brings me back, my art matters as much as I think it matters. I want people to understand that if they themselves are pursuing a form of expression, let nothing in your way stop you. Not loss, not people, not money, not even yourself. Your mind will try and bring you down, it is inevitable, but you are the one that lets those thoughts run. Photography is often thought of as a lonely art, but isn’t all art lonesome? Find people that will inspire you to continue, people who will inspire you to get better, and people who tell you that you will never amount to anything (because what’s more fun than showing someone they were wrong?).

Given everything that is going on in the world today, do you think the role of artists has changed? How do local, national or international events and issues affect your art?
Art will always be a commentary on the true nature of humanity. Through journalism, and color, to studio work, and closeness, the work of an artist is to always elaborate on the human condition. I am but a person who documents these things. I’m continuously trying to show human emotion to my viewers, and the time we live in, where everything in the world seems as if it’s going to break, I strive for calamity. I don’t necessarily mean to blind my viewer from the relevant news, but to explain there is so much more news to cover. The one story that has really spoken to me the most is the migrant caravan. If I’m ever able to photograph the people that are involved, I wish to show the side that most photographers miss, that each one of these people is just that. People. There are so many emotions to photograph, yet I find the cliche is to photograph tragedy. I want my work to both to satisfy those who chase substance and those who chase aesthetic. All art is simply nothing in the absence of both.

How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
You can find me on almost every social media platform. At the moment I’m doing two photo series, one on queer youth in Arizona and two, a piece on people shaving their heads. So, if you would like to be apart of either photo series, feel free to reach out. I would say the best way to support my work is just a simple retweet on my posts as well as other local artists. There is no growth in your art if no one else grows around you.

Contact Info:

• Address: 2135 E Champagne Pl. Chandler, AZ 85249
• Phone: 4803222865
• Email: everett.milloy1@gmail.com
• Instagram: @everettmilloy
• Facebook: Everett Milloy
• Twitter: @evmilloy

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