Transparent Christian Magazine

I feel like I know Jeremy Cowart, although we’ve never met. I work for a company he used to work for, I am friends with his brother Mike, and his father Mike Sr. is a spiritual mentor of mine, and one of my favorite people. (He’s also the most regular contributor to Transparent Christian Magazine.) I was able to catch up with Jeremy recently and talk to him about his life, his photography and the future. Jeremy is currently in Washington DC and is inviting us along as he takes pictures of The Presidential Inauguration.

Transparent:  How long have you been taking photos, and when did you realize that you were gifted in that area?
Jeremy: As a professional, I’ve been shooting since April, 2005. I’ve known about my creative abilities since middle school when I first started taking art classes. It instantly clicked for me and I’ve been in love with painting, design and photography ever since. Though I didn’t entirely realize my abilities with a camera until I started shooting a lot around 2003.

Transparent: You have literally been all over the world with your lens. Your Africa photos are amazing, and that how did you end up there? Tell me about the book that was born out of that trip “Hope in The Dark”.
Jeremy: A good friend of mine, Barrett Ward, helps run an organization called “Mocha Club“. He and some other friends of mine were going over to Africa to get educated and see with their own eyes what was going on. I decided to join them and take my camera along. I also ended up staying an extra 2 weeks with another organization called Blood: Water Mission. They focus on providing clean water and building wells in Africa. So when I returned from the 4 week trip, Relevant Magazine asked me to publish the photos in a book to share with their readers about what was going on. The book is titled “Hope in the Dark” and focuses on humanizing the people of Africa and sharing individual stories of Hope and Joy in the hearts of the people.

Transparent: I’ve looked at your photos, and I’m always blown away not only at the pictures, but WHO you are shooting… These people are household names, Taylor Swift, John Rich, Ryan Seacrest, Feist, Minnie Driver, Miley Cyrus, Switchfoot, Duncan Sheik, KT Tunstall (ok, maybe not a household name but one of my favorites.) Also, you mentioned that you were shooting David Wilcox a month ago… He has been one of my favorite artists for about a decade. What is it like rubbing elbows with these folks? What have you learned from being around people that are media mavens, and ultra popular?
Jeremy: It’s definitely an enjoyable experience hanging out with many of these people who are heroes of mine as well. But you very quickly learn that they’re just as normal and down-to-earth as we are. I’ve never fully understood why our culture idolizes celebrity so much but that discussion is for another time I guess. Duncan Sheik and David Wilcox specifically have always been musical heroes of mine and it was just incredible to collaborate with them on their projects. It’s always a trip to open up a new cd that I would have bought anyway and not only see the photos we did but to remember that day and the conversations we had.

Transparent:  You are friends with Donald Miller, author of what many Christians would say is a “life changing book”, ‘Blue Like Jazz.’ I read recently that the two of you are going to the Presidential Inauguration and taking photos. How did you and Donald meet, and how can people follow along with your journey at the Inauguration?
Jeremy: Donald and I met through mutual friends a couple years back. He’s connected with Blood: Water Mission as well and I believe our mutual friend, Jena Lee Nardella, introduced us. (Jena runs BWM.) Then Donald and I both ended up on a leadership retreat last year in Carmel, CA together and that’s where we really connected and got to hang out together. I’m excited about the next few days in D.C. with Donald. We’re going to be having a fun little “photo contest” and will be posting photos next week on our blogs. If your readers have a Twitter account, they can also follow us at http://www.twitter.com/donmilleris and http://www.twitter.com/jeremycowart

Transparent: Tell me one thing that people would be surprised to learn about you.
Jeremy: I once toured with Sandi Patty as a kid backup singer. Yep, that’s right. I just said that out loud. Don’t be jealous. (Laughs)

Transparent: How is God blowing your mind lately?
Jeremy: Too many ways to count or list. It’s mostly on a daily basis though watching my 2 kids and seeing their personalities develop. My 2 year-old recently thanked my wife for loving him. That’s mind-blowing for a 2-year old to recognize that love is a choice and to thank someone for it. I don’t know that I’ve ever thanked anyone for loving me.

Transparent:  What are your goals over the next few years?
Jeremy:
• To be a good Husband, Father and Friend. That sounds like the cheesy answer but it’s true. It’s easy to let my work take control of my life and get very distracted by my career. So I really want to stay focused on what’s most important in day-to-day life, which is my family.
• To execute ideas. I’m always having different “big ideas” to the point where I think I annoy my wife with it every day, haha. The easy part is the ideas. The hard part is making it all happen. So that’s a big goal for me to follow through with things.
• To bench 400lbs. I’m at 325 right now. So I’m almost there. Or not. I think I can barely bench the bar at this point so I reside to benching a couple 10lb weights most of the time. I do like 3,000 reps though…. over the course of the year.
• To keep doing things that are bigger than me and bigger than photoshoots. Life is very short. I don’t care about being the next famous photographer. I just want to do things that have an impact on lives. Photography is a powerful tool. I want to use it wisely.

Transparent:  What advice do you have for people that enjoy photography and would like to turn their hobby into a career?
Jeremy: It’s a tough and very competitive industry but it’s also the coolest job on the planet thus the reason for being so competitive. If you have amazing work, a good work ethic/drive, ideas, and people skills you can do it. Amazing work is the most important thing and the same goes for probably any industry. If you’re THAT good, word spreads fast.

Transparent: What do you have coming up after the inauguration that you are excited about?
Jeremy: I have several things to be excited about. An upcoming photography book called “Awakening” that will release this Spring. It’s a book I shot last year on the Passion World Tour. We visited 17 countries and 6 continents doing events for College students around the world. The website is launching Wednesday actually… January 21st. Check it out at http://www.awakeningthebook.com.

My assistant, Daniel Meigs, put this video together to show some behind the scenes footage of our journey around the world with the Passion World Tour. We joined the tour to shoot an upcoming book called “Awakening” that we’re working on now with Passion and will be released next Spring.

I also have another book I’m working on and will be self-publishing this year. Details to come on that later. People can check out my blog at http://blog.jeremycowart.com for progress.

Aside from books I also hope to launch an online store to sell personal work this year and then the usual plate of photoshoots. Should be a fun 2009! I’m very excited about this year!

Transparent: Do you have anything else to declare!?
Jeremy: “Milk was a bad choice.” I’m sorry. I always have to throw in an Anchorman quote.  (Laughs)

Check out Jeremy’s Mind Blowing Photos at:  http://www.jeremycowart.com/