Daily Inspiration: Meet Cheyenne Weston

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cheyenne Weston.

Hi Cheyenne, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Growing up, I was apart of a Native American youth group and we would have monthly meetings and hangouts with other native kids from around Mesa. Mesa public schools had a Native American department that would help fund kids with school supplies and occasionally send students on trips. This one year they sent a small group of us to Washington D.C. and they asked if I could take photos of the trip so it could go in their newsletter next month. I didn’t know much about cameras but I was excited to be given an assignment and document the experience. This was the first time I photographed with intent and I became hooked. Fast forward, I graduate from high school and my grandparents gift me a Canon rebel and a laptop. I decided I wanted to become a filmmaker and went to the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We were studying mostly writing and story structure and I was getting a little bored. One class I didn’t get bored in was Intro to Photography. This class we learned how to shoot film and develop and print out work. My teacher taught the class with a hands on approach which really helped me understand how exposing for an image worked. I really got a grasp on the fundamentals of photography and started to develop my eye for composition. We shot black and white film and developed and printed our work and would have critiques about our photos. It was an eye oopening experience and I learned the art of photography and the work it takes to create a great photo.
I wasn’t the best at school and after struggling in my other classes I left the school and returned home in 2019. I worked from job to job but I still had a passion for photo and video so I would shoot as much as I could on my off days. I used to work a janitor job cleaning office buildings at night and I would take a disposable camera and photograph the empty cubicles. During the summer the sun was still up and the golden light would strike the the walls a chairs in beautiful light. It made the graveyard shift less grim.
My friend from college, Dakota, started a band called Earth Surface People and I asked him if I could shoot photos and video for the band. We started making music videos during the pandemic and when venues started to open up again I would shoot their concerts too. Concert photography was a whole new subject that I began to explore and was a new challenge to conquer. It introduced me to a new audience and new people to collaborate with. Now I follow them to different towns and cities for shows and studio recording sessions.
In 2022 I began to work at the local camera shop I have been going to since high school; an opportunity I’ve been thankful for ever since. Working at Tempe Camera has been a great experience and I’ve learned way more about the technical side of photography than I have anywhere else. I learned what strobe lighting was and how to use them to bend light to my needs. This got me really interested in portrait photography and it has been my main focus for about a year now. I was recently in a photo exhibit over at Cahokia in downtown Phoenix with a local photography group, Analog Alliance. I showed a couple of my portrait work and some street photography as well. It was a great experience for being my first show. Currently I’m working on short film with Earth Surface People called “Darko” and hopefully we can wrap up shooting before the year is over. It’s been a fun journey and I couldn’t imagine what my life would be like if I didn’t get that photo assignment in high school all those years ago.

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?
There’s definitely been some struggles along the way when it comes to this not every shoot is a hit, you will take bad photos all the time. I’ve made some uninspiring videos and stale photos over the years, but I take it on the chin and try to learn form the experience. Its not how many mistakes its to make sure to not quit.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a filmmaker and photographer and I mainly shoot music videos, concerts, portraits and a bit of street photography here and there. The video I am most proud of is a music video I shot for the song “Nanibaah’s Freestyle” by Earth Surface People. We shot it in Arcosanti, AZ which has great architecture and was the perfect scenic backdrop for the video. I am also very proud of my portrait work that I was able to showcase at Cahokia this past July.

What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
I remember being a little kid, playing basketball and my couches would stress to practice, practice, practice. “Shoot at the freethrow over and over to get your rhythm down.” Later I used those teachings to practice my shots and to get comfortable with a camera. I would tell myself to take 10 photos a day and then review what I shot and see what I liked or what I didn’t like and figure out why. I think constant practice and asking myself why am I shooting has helped out a lot to take me where I am now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://cheyenneweston.myportfolio.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/greezy.lens/
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@greezylens?si=O8kR-u3pSUlAyZbg

Image Credits
First Image: Model – Jessica Chavez Photographed by Cheyenne Weston Second Image: Model – Nanibaah Photographed by Cheyenne Weston Third Image: Earth Surface People performing at Marquee Theater Photographed by Cheyenne Weston Fourth Image: Earth Surface People performing at Crescent Ballroom Photographed by Cheyenne Weston Fifth Image: Model – Sky Duncan Photographed by Cheyenne Weston Sixth Image: Model – Jessica Chavez Photographed by Cheyenne Weston