Carly Brantmeyer, class of 2010, has done all of these things and more. Carly, UNC’s Homecoming Queen in 2009, started her own photography company while in college.
Her company, Carly Brantmeyer Photography, shoots weddings and portraits. Be sure to check out her website to view some of her amazing photography projects! She also won a Hearst National Championship Award for the Best Single Photograph of 2011.
Carly lives in San Francisco, Calif., with her fiance Allen Mask (UNC ’10), where she works for Apple as an associate in the Apple Store Leader Program and photographs weddings, children, babies and families on the side. Carly is getting married in Chapel Hill on July 7, 2012, so if you see her around, be sure to congratulate her! Her Campus sat down with Carly to get the scoop on getting good pics and giving back to the community.
Her Campus: What first sparked your interest in becoming a photographer?
Carly Brantmeyer: You know, I was always the girl with a camera in my hand, taking photos at every event for me and for my friends. I always had a love for photography, because I think it was a way for me to hold onto moments forever – it somehow made it easier to let go, knowing that I’d have something to remember them by. When I was in middle school, my mom signed me up for a community college photography class and I fell in love with my camera even more. I was by far the youngest person in the class, but I didn’t let that stop me. The most memorable assignment for me was following around the twin girls that I babysat for and photographing them. I loved what I was able to discover and uncover with a camera in my hands, and it somehow allowed me to enter into moments that I might not be able to otherwise. When I started college at UNC, I was reminded of my undying love for photography because of one of Jock Lauterer’s classes. He has such a passion and relationship with photography that is absolutely contagious. After his class, and after I had the opportunity to travel the world for the first time the summer after my freshman year, I was inspired to change my career from education to photojournalism. And then, I never looked back. It was one of the best decisions I ever made.
HC: What is your favorite thing about being a photographer?
CB: I have two favorite things about being a photographer. First, I love the ability and permission photography gives you to experience things you might never experience otherwise (if you didn’t have a camera in your hands to tell a story) such as trekking through igneous rock terrain in the wilderness with goat hunters in the Galapagos or being sent on assignment to follow a Kenan-Flagler Business School professor around Tiananmen Square in Beijing. Secondly, I am inspired by how photography allows you to capture moments and tell stories in compelling ways that make people empathize, relate, reconsider and understand. It is a medium that is so precious, so irreplaceable, so valuable – it’s evidence that something happened or that something exists.
HC: What previous internships did you have during college?
CB: I started my photography career by interning for a local wedding photographer based in Raleigh-Durham, who was a huge mentor to me. He spent a year and a half or so teaching me the basics, bringing me along to second-shoot at venues like The Carolina Inn and The Umstead. However, I took a very different approach than many of my peers did during college, and instead of going after lots of internships, I got hands-on, and craved traveling the world with my camera while simultaneously running my own photography business. Before UNC, I never traveled outside of the country, but because of my major and love for photojournalism, I was able to travel to the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Haiti, Ghana, Belize, Mexico and China during my time at UNC.
HC: What is the most interesting/memorable photo shoot you have taken?
CB: The most memorable photo shoot for me was when I photographed my good friend Brooklyn Decker’s wedding in Austin, Texas, to tennis player Andy Roddick. When she asked me to photograph her wedding, I was so honored and so flattered that she would ask me out of anyone. The most memorable shoots for me are the ones where I have a personal connection to the people I am photographing, so this made Brooklyn’s wedding shoot extremely special and memorable to me. It is an event I will remember forever.
HC: How was it shooting celebrities like UNC’s own Anoop Desai?!
CB: Photographing celebrities or people in the public eye like UNC’s own Anoop Desai, as well as Brooklyn Decker, Andy Roddick, Elton John and Nancy Pelosi, have been some of my favorite projects. I started photographing Anoop during the fall of 2009, leading up to his performance at the N.C. State Fair, and the project grew from there. I spent many hours with Anoop and the boys in his crew, and quickly felt like I was part of the family. What I enjoy most about photographing celebrities or people in the public eye, like Anoop, is realizing that they are just ordinary people with extraordinary talents and that they live normal lives. I spent hours photographing Anoop, talking with him and learning authentically about his journey before, during and after American Idol and now, we have a great friendship. When I follow my photo subjects around and spend hours, days and even weeks with them, I develop a unique sort of trust and collaboration with them and them with me.
HC: What organizations were you involved with while a student at UNC?
CB: While I was a student at UNC, I was involved with UNC Dance Marathon, PhotoTEACH, UNC NPPA (National Press Photographers Association), Senior Marshals, Phi Beta Chi Sorority and Flashes of Hope.
HC: Can you tell me about the program PhotoTEACH that you founded?
CB: PhotoTEACH puts cameras into the hands of youth, both nationally and around the world, who might not otherwise have access to cameras, and empowers youth to use photography as a means of self-expression to share with others.
PhotoTEACH first began when I studied abroad in Ghana during the fall of 2008, my sophomore year. A student from California named Miriam and I collaborated to teach photography classes to children in the slum of Nima. Because these children had in most cases never seen, nor touched a camera, we were inspired because of our passion to share the magic of photography. The photos these children took and the moments they captured were so illustrative of their stories, their struggles and their dreams. At the end of the semester, we showcased the children’s work in an exhibit and invited the community to view the photo gallery. The response was overwhelmingly positive and influenced me to bring PhotoTEACH back to North Carolina when I returned home. I collaborated with my most inspiring journalism school mentor, Jock Lauterer, and we were able to get donations for cameras and resources to begin PhotoTEACH (part two) in Durham, N.C.
HC: What advice would you give for UNC collegiettes who have dreams of working in the photography industry?
CB: I would tell them that you have to think about photography completely differently than ever before. You can’t wait for things to happen; you have to make them happen. You have to think forwardly about the next big thing you’re going to do and do it, tell yourself it’s going to happen no matter what, and do it better and differently. Working in the photography industry successfully today requires someone to be well-rounded, social media savvy and bold.
*Be sure to follow Carly on Twitter at @carlybrant, view her website at carlymask.com/blog or follow her on Instagram @cbrantmeyer!
Sources:
All photos attributed to Carly Brantmeyer.