Today we’d like to introduce you to Conrad Young.
Conrad, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born three months early in a car on the five freeway. I was not breathing I did not breathe for ten minutes. My parents thought I was dead. When they got me to the hospital, the doctors and nurses brought me back and I survived. I spent a few weeks in the neonatal ICU. I was a very ‘odd duck’ growing up. I did not “ fit in“ no matter how I tried. The other kids did not understanding me. Turns out I was a puzzle piece in the wrong box.
I enjoyed boy scouts and I earned an Eagle Scout award. Scouts is where I learned I was most comfortable in the wilderness. I loved camping and backpacking. School was a different matter — I always struggled with school — except art class. I made jewelry, ceramics, and drawings. I got excited about photography in 1996 when my stepfather Gordon gave me a camera to use during my senior year of high school. I started taking rolls and rolls of photos. I knew then that I wanted to make a living as a photographer. I needed to know more, so I started taking photography classes at Saddleback College.
I spent a summer working on a surf boat in Western Samoa, as a photographer, shooting people while they were having the time of their lives. A few years later, I got a job working at a portrait studio in Laguna Beach called Romero Fine Portraiture. There, I learned how to be a portrait photographer. In 2003 I started school at the University of Utah, with a major in film, and a minor in anthropology. While at college, I worked on films that were made or filmed in Utah. I also worked at Brighton ski resort. I was that guy trying to take portraits of people coming off the ski lifts. In 2005, I worked for the US Olympic Park taking pictures for the World Championships of Luge. After I graduated from the U of U in 2006, I moved back to California and worked in Hollywood and tried to make it as a photographer doing a lot of different types of jobs.
In 2008, I got married and soon my new wife and I were expecting our first child. Three months after my son was born I was hospitalized after suffering a TIA (a mini stroke). They found out I had had a previous stroke, most likely when I was not breathing as a newborn. For me, this was something amazing, as I finally understood why I had always struggled with school and fitting in.
In 2012, I meet an artist making Wet plate collodion photography. This process fascinated me and I knew I needed to start doing it. In 2015, I found Will Dunniway and started learning this 150 year old process of photography. We spent many hours shooting plates all over San Diego. This was, for me, the most satisfying type of photography. It was a process that was all hands-on, with chemistry, a dark room, and light. I’ve been creating great wet plate collodion art since, and couldn’t be happier.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Life is how we live it. I have had both struggles and smooth sailing. Right now I wonder how I can be the best dad to my three children and how to be the best husband to my wife. I owe so much to them and am amazed by them every day. it puts life into perspective seeing my little ones start to master things. My ten year old son started surfing last summer. last month I watched him paddle out to the outside and catch three four foot waves. or my eight year old who will bounce on a trampoline and land 20 backflips. My six-year old daughter is an artist and I love sitting with her while she draws. I would say my biggest struggle has always been myself.
I am a survivor. When I put my mind to something, I don’t quit. Having suffered three strokes in my life, and learning recently I am dyslexic I can be my own worst enemy, wondering why things don’t come easier to me. It is when I become conscious of negative feelings that I remember I can overcome and then I drive the feeling away.
We’d love to hear more about your art.
I am a wet plate Collodion artist. I use silver and different chemistry to create art with light. It is unique in terms of the detail and clarity possible. I have made photographs in Yosemite valley that are so clear you can see individual stalks of grass on the valley floor and details in individual trees on the canyon rim. It is a 150 year old process, that I love. It is a type of photography that is tangible art. In a world where photography is digitized and manipulated with software. I have walked back into the past, to be able to capture a likeness of people, that takes time to create. On average, I spend fifteen minutes to make one picture — it is a one-of-a-kind image, that does not degrade over time.
I use a wooden camera that is 110 years old and lens from 1860, to create modern portraits and landscapes with an old touch to them. I have worked with Chris Burkard, on a project for the National Parks and Travel Lodge, making landscapes. I make portraits all over California and Nevada. I have a small studio at home and can drive all over in my Shuttle bus darkroom creating art at will. This year I made portraits of Kat Von Dee and her family. I already have events scheduled in 2020 at the Paradise Road Show in Palm Springs, CA in January, Viva Las Vegas in Nevada in April, and at The Nowhere Show in Joshua Tree City, CA in May.
I love meeting people, getting to know them, and creating artistic photography with them that will be Heirlooms their great grandchildren will relish. Not only does my photographic method differentiate me, but my life’s struggles set me apart from others. Overcoming the struggles makes me sensitive to my art’s emotion. Each image I create includes a piece of my mind and spirit. I truly have a hard time when I hand off my work. It’s similar to leaving your kids on their first day of school when you know they will be ok and well cared for, but you are scared and nervous just the same.
What were you like growing up?
I liked to read a lot when I was home. as a kid I had a wonderful imagination my mom would always be looking for me I was on whatever adventure a little kid could come up with. When I was old enough to explore outside the nest I would go hiking as much as possible. I started scuba diving at fourteen and would dive twice a week for six years. I see my photography as another exploration to find the essesence of meaning, and to find the true spirit resident in my subjects’ hearts.
Contact Info:
- Address: 783 Valley Crest Dr Oceanside CA
- Website: conradfilm.com
- Phone: 9494441769
- Email: picturethis@conradfilm.com
- Instagram: conradfilm
Image Credit:
Conrad Young
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