Drew Will records the black American experience

Drew Will is a 22 year old film photographer from Akron, Ohio. In his work he tries to highlight the black experience in America through captivating images. All his images are shot on film. These 3 were all shot with expired portra 400.

See more of Drew's work on instagram at @drewwill.jpg

ALTER/ANALOG:  How did you get involved in shooting film?

DW: When I started shooting I was using a digital camera but I could never capture the look or feel that I wanted. I also felt very disconnected from it and the process of simply plugging the camera into a computer just didn’t feel like art to me. I ended up giving my digital camera to a friend and decided to only use the film cameras that I had. 

ALTER/ANALOG:  Why did you choose film as the medium to highlight the black experience in America?

DW: Film for me provides a sense of emotion and with my work I’m trying to provoke emotion out of the viewer. My goal is to make people feel something. 

ALTER/ANALOG:  Please tell us more about the theme of your work.

DW: I try to highlight the black experience in America in a beautiful and optimistic way. I feel like black people are often seen as angry or hateful, so with my work I’m just trying to break that stigma and portray black people as beautiful and gentle in hopes to create a space where true freedom can be felt and seen. 

ALTER/ANALOG:  What inspires you?

DW: I’m very easily inspired, my work is mostly influenced by my life and my experiences so day to day I’m constantly jotting down notes about something I’ve experienced and I in turn just figure out how to portray these experiences through art.