Short profile
Gregory Prescott is a self-taught photographer. After stints in Houston, Texas and Brooklyn, New York, he now lives in Los Angeles. The fine art and editorial photographer focuses on portraiture and nude photography, playing with the interaction of body shapes in his images. On his successful Instagram account, he describes his own style as 'Photography for the Soul'. “I use my camera like a paintbrush to create beautiful images of the male and female form. Inspired by Herb Ritts and Andreas Bitesnich, my mission is to expand the cultural spectrum of fine art photography with classic and timeless works.”
4 QUESTIONS TO GREGORY PRESCOTT
Can you tell us about how you became a photographer? Please share something about your images (what is your particular interest, how do you choose the colors, composition, themes etc.)
I’ve always had an interest in all types of art so I actually started out as an illustrator back in the late 80’s. I would draw all the time but then I discovered iconic photographer, Herb Ritts. After discovering his work, I picked up a film camera and never had drawn again after that. I was very intrigued by his classic style and how he photographed the human form. The nude and human body back then, was mostly related to porn and looked down upon, and with a lot of people today it still is but Herb Ritts photographed in such a clean way. It was truly art. It was all about shadow and light; lines and form. For me it was just beautiful so I mainly photograph models and like to create work for people to appreciate and accept others as artistically beautiful humans. I thrive to have diversity in my portfolio. I normally shoot black and white which I naturally gravitate towards. I envisioned creating work that would hang on people’s walls as works of art.
Photo: Gregory Prescott
How do you get inspired? And what inspires you the most? Films, books or magazines? Or what surrounds you?
I have a large collection of coffee table books. I love looking at the great masters work so I think that is what inspires me the most. I particularly love photography from the 90’s and early 2000’s. They are simply timeless. There are a lot of great artist today but it’s so much harder to stand out because the photography world has become so saturated so even though I see a lot of work I like and that can be inspiring, I really can’t name any current day photographers that inspire me. I do love looking at fashion magazines but a lot of work in magazines these days also look very random to me and not as curated as well these days as they were back in the day. But when you find good work, it’s really good but it’s a lot to weed through to get to the good stuff.
Photo: Gregory Prescott
You do a lot of modelling photography. What is it that attracted you to this type of photography? Do you have a routine for dealing with participants in a portrait session?
I love working with a lot of different models. I love models that have a little edge to them or something different about them. I love when people embrace their differences. I shoot all race, gender, body types, skin and hair types, sexuality etc. to showcase the beauty of all of our differences in art. I want to showcase the beauty of all types in art photography. Just having the models relax and trust in my vision is what works for me. I love working with models that are open to my process. I’ve been pretty fortunate in that aspect.
Photo: Gregory Prescott
Is there any advice you would like to give to colleagues?
Stay true to yourself and your art and don’t get distracted by all the noise around you. Don’t give in to what you think people want but be you and your true fans and followers will continue to follow. Be you. Believe in you. Your time will come.
