{"id":30811,"date":"2016-09-11T22:08:05","date_gmt":"2016-09-12T05:08:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/?p=30811"},"modified":"2016-09-11T22:08:05","modified_gmt":"2016-09-12T05:08:05","slug":"showcase-your-process-interview-with-keenan-rivals-from-detroit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/erickimphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/09\/11\/showcase-your-process-interview-with-keenan-rivals-from-detroit\/","title":{"rendered":"Showcase Your Process: Interview with Keenan Rivals from Detroit"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"keenan<\/p>\n

Keenan Rivals<\/strong><\/a> is a street photographer and blogger hailing from Detroit. I’ve been very impressed with his hustle, his passion, and dedication to street photography and the community. Learn more about Keenan and his creative process below:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Dear Keenan, wonderful to have you. To start off, how did you discover street photography, and what initially drew you to it?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hey Eric, thanks for having me.<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always enjoyed looking at street photography. Back when Flickr was the go to website for photographers I would just type in Detroit street photography to see what was created. I came across Jon Deboer<\/a> and Brian Day<\/a> and I said to myself \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I can do that\u00e2\u20ac\u009d.<\/p>\n

I always thought street photography was easy, I mean it looked simple enough. As someone who wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as skilled with the camera that was the first thing, I dabbled into.<\/p>\n

After a while, I began to meet people and make connections. It was a different form of creation for me. I enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

I found out that it wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t easy and that every moment wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t guaranteed. I knew I liked it because it was hard, yet I continued to shoot. I understood that involved a high level of skill as well as a little bit of luck. The more I practiced, the luckier I became I guess. But I still have a long<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0way to go.<\/p>\n

Who are some of your biggest inspirations in photography, and how have they influenced your work?<\/strong>
\n\"DSCF1075\"<\/p>\n

I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t consider myself influenced. When I use to read other people say this I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d be like “this guy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lying”\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 But it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s true, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look through a lot of photo books or visit people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s websites. I just take pictures.<\/p>\n

What inspires me is passion, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m really into passionate people. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care what you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re passionate about, as long as your passionate. I spend a lot of time watching videos and movies based on people who really invest in themselves and it just empowers me to do the same thing. One of the most important things I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve picked up from this type of content was to document, not create. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t look at my individual pictures as creations. When I snap a photo I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not creating a moment, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m recording one. When I take my last picture then I want everything that I documented to be my creation.<\/p>\n

But if I had to answer the question, Vivian Maier<\/strong><\/a>. I obviously read your blog earlier on and then current photographers like Chase Jarvis<\/a> and Emily Soto<\/a> give me hope.<\/p>\n

Describe your thinking process when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re out shooting on the streets \u00e2\u20ac\u201d and how would you define \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcstreet photography\u00e2\u20ac\u2122?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"keenan<\/p>\n

I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably lose followers for this answers, but again I try to be honest and vulnerable in my work. My style of shooting is based on the snapshot. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very fast paced, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m more interested in who shooting, than how I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m shooting them.<\/p>\n

I compose when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m in an area in which I can control, but if I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t control the area then I just fire off. With that being said I know how to compose, I understand what elements make a great<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0photo, but that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not my intention. I capture it how I see it. My goal is to show you what I see, what stood out to me, in the manner that it stood out.<\/p>\n

I have little to no fear when out. Whatever happens, happens. Yet I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m also respectable of people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s space. In my time of shooting, I only had 2 altercations, one which can be seen here:<\/p>\n