Tyra Gathers: July Photographer of the Month Interview


Interview by Olivia Goss/
Photos by Tyra Gathers


Tyra Gathers, 22, from Kennesaw, Georgia, is our July Photographer of the Month winner. She competed against four other photographers for this title and her photos received the most votes. Gathers previously won Photographer of the Week during the third week of July. We love her photography and creative work.

Gathers says she became a photographer after realizing she loved taking pictures of her family and friends. Gathers enjoys imagining creative photoshoot settings and being able to make them come to life with models and her camera.

We interviewed Gathers to get to know her better as a photographer and to share her experiences and advice for all photographers to see.

The photos in this story are Gathers’s original images (© Tyra Gathers).

What is the story behind the photos you’ve submitted?

Tyra Gathers headshot smiling wearing headwrap and large hoop earrings
Tyra Gathers

Gathers: Me and the model, Allie, were on our college’s parking deck just looking around for different places to take pictures during the photo shoot. We walked around and found the unlocked stairwell and then went down a few floors to find the only purple door. I got a vision of how the pictures would turn out in my head and immediately knew that I wanted to take some in front of the door. After finding the purple door, we went back up to the roof of the parking deck and found a brick wall that gave a nice contrast with Allie’s tanned skin.

Do you have a specific theme or topic that is the focus of your photography?

Gathers: No, I don’t really, I kind of just get ideas of photo shoots from Pinterest and TikTok then add my own twist to it. Sometimes I just find cool-looking locations and think about photo shoots I would love to bring to life.

What have you gained/experienced while working with this topic?

Gathers: I definitely have been gaining more experience. I love exploring locations and just taking pictures when I can.

Tell us something about yourself that most people wouldn’t notice about you.

Gathers: I actually just started working towards my passion for photography this year. I didn’t really know it was my passion until recently.

What’s a piece of advice you would offer to other photographers to encourage their creativity?

Gathers: Definitely just search around and let your mind wander onto the different possibilities. I love to make mood boards to put together my thoughts and how I want my photo shoots to come out, or even what poses I want to have pictures of.


We at Bokeh Focus find Gathers‘s photography explores a very unique style of portraiture. We’re very happy to be able to feature her work. Tyra, congratulations again on your evocative work. We hope to see your photography in an exhibit in the future!


View Gathers‘s full size gallery

 


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