Contributor Interview: Julie Gallup
Julie Gallup is a 21 year old photographer from New Jersey. Her images will appear in the first issue of Side B Magazine.
What are you currently doing?
I am about to enter my last year (and a half) as an art education major at The College of New Jersey. Art-wise, I am working on a number of projects. I have passed the halfway mark for Capturing 365, a project of one picture a day for a year. It’s really allowed me to see what’s around me from a different perspective. Plus, I never leave the house without my camera anymore. A few days ago, I started a project that involves community art-making called 1,000 People/1,000 Pictures/1,000 Words. I want to engage people in the process of mindful picture taking. I am trying to break down the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words” and give it a new context. Anyone who wants to participate can take a photograph, pair it with a word, and send it to me at gallup3@tcnj.edu. My goal is to receive 1,000 pictures and words from 1,000 people. Everyone is capable of being creative and I feel that art has tremendous power to showcase that.
What are your plans for the future?
Once I graduate, I hope to secure a teaching position. My brother has autism, so I’ve always wanted to work primarily with people who have special needs. I firmly believe that disability does not necessarily affect someone’s ability to make art. You may just have to try different approaches to let it come out. My decision to pursue education came out of taking an art therapy course, so I hope to introduce that philosophy into the classroom. Also, I would love to be a freelance photographer on the side. I just want to continue making art. It’s like an addiction. Once you start, you can’t stop.
How long have you been doing art/photography?
I’ve always been involved with art in some capacity; I just had this natural desire to create. I remember having a huge Tupperware container of crayons in our house when I was little and I would just make pictures that my mom would plaster our walls with like wallpaper. In elementary school, I really looked forward to going to art class. I was heavily influenced by the book The Art Lesson by Tomie DePaola. I remember when they asked us in our fifth grade yearbook what we wanted to be, I wrote “an artist and author and illustrator of children’s books.” Close enough. Photography came into play a little later. I did love looking through photo albums and playing with my parent’s Polaroid camera as a child. It wasn’t until high school that I started thinking about photography as an artistic expression. Then last year, I met someone who really showed me the possibilities of what you could do with a camera. Since then, I’ve been hooked.
What are you interested in saying with you art?
One of the most fascinating things about art is interpretation. I love going to museums and hearing people react to what they see. There’s something so visceral about it. With a background in theatre, you realize how important an audience is. I like sharing art with others; being exposed to other perspectives is really inspiring. I just want people to be able to form a connection with what I make, since a lot of my art is quite personal. Sometimes I feel that even though you usually don’t get to see the artist directly in their work, I want people to feel like they can catch a glimpse of the person behind the camera. I want to make a statement, so the work becomes more than just a “pretty picture.”
Why this over another form of media?
Honestly, I think it’s because my drawing skills are not so great! I think being an introvert has compelled me to become more observant. I like focusing on the little details that people may just walk by without a second glance. I also feel that I’m a nostalgic person. I do dwell a little too much on the past, but there are some moments that I like revisiting. Photographs allow you to do that. There is that one little second of your life that is preserved and that single image can bring back a flood of memories. Also, a part of me wants to stop time; or at least slow it down for a while in our crazy, fast paced society. This is my way of doing that.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
“Do what you love.” I cannot pinpoint a specific person who said it; but I feel that some of my teachers and my parents, especially, have reinforced it in one way or another. There’s an Ani DiFranco lyric that I love which says, “Art is why I get up in the morning, but my definition ends there.” That’s how I feel in a nutshell. If you find something that makes you truly happy, you should never let it go.