BIO
Terry Beverly, Sopi Photography, Documentary Photojournalist – Brooklyn, NY
“I am a hunter, hunting for my prey. My prey is my subject waiting to be captured and devoured by my creativity. My hunt is inspired by raw emotion. Strapped with my 35 camera I hunt endlessly for my next capture. My goal is to capture the underlining of my subject’s emotional surface; I will study my subject for hours before capture if necessary, just to convey my subject’s message.”
Photography has become an emotional and spiritual release for me. Through my shooting, I am able to express my emotions more fluidly; fluidly expressing to the world, the beauty, the laughter, the joy and particularly the social injustices of the world.
Most of my skills are self taught and also through study of other photojournalists, such as: Gordon Parks, Annie Liebowitz, and William Eggleston, to name a few as well as photography technology study.
Rudy Edwards, a NYC Fashion Photographer trained me on my darkroom skills. This was my first passion of photography, until he viewed my initial work and suggested that I continue on with my shooting. He told me to get out of the darkroom because my photographic skills were being wasted.
Later in my career, I met Azim Thomas a veteran photojournalist from Harlem, NY. He mentored me and brought my skills to the heart and soul of documenting life. Our styles clicked and he took an instant liking to me. In my photographic approach, he saw a sponge that was ready to absorb his teachings and expertise in photojournalism. We began our photographic travels in New York City and ending in Washington, DC as well as signing me up for the National Action Network Photo Group created by Reverend Al Sharpton.
His training was more intense and spiritually leading. Ultimately, he taught me how to develop my photographic eye for photojournalism and how to document life at its true essence. He used to always say, “You must be able to tell the story through your photographs independently.” I will never forget what he has taught me or continues to advise me on today.
From there, I secured an internship with the New York Beacon, where I worked under the helm of the famed entertainment editor Don Thomas. Under his advisement, I photographed some of today’s biggest entertainment celebrities. He also taught me a lot about photojournalism as well. I have shot and wrote for The Thinker, The African American Observer, Black Star News, Amsterdam News, and Caribbean News, as well as many others, in hopes of gaining experience and furthering the development of my skills as well as my passion for documenting life – literary or photographically…
I have captured some of history’s most profound marches and protests organized by Al Sharpton’s National Action Network, such as: the police brutality cases of Patrick Dourismond, Amadou Diallo and Abner Louima. I also documented the Not In Our Name (N.I.O.N.) War Rallies in New York City and Washington, D.C., Michael Jackson’s only protest march during his career against Tommy Matolla and Sony Records, the migration of the Bloods and Crypts from California to New York and Minister Louis Farrakhan’s long overdue return to the helm of the Nation of Islam.
My work has also been displayed at the NYC Photo Club: “As We See It” 2010, The Underground Shutter, Sopi Photography Gallery Opening (8/09), New York Photo Festival 2009, The New York Public Library Gallery (The Countee Cullen Branch), the De La Vega Street Art Festival and the National Action Network’s Photo Group showings. My collection “Black Authors” will be featured at The Schomburg Center for Research February 2011 – Black History Month.
Also, I am a Baltimore, Maryland native now residing in New York City documenting life. Although my shooting style is versatile, my heart belongs to photojournalism and documentary photography: the medium in which you can convey the true story photographically frame by frame.
You can view some of my work at: www.sopiphotography.com
Contact me at: terry@sopiphotography.com
Call me at: 347.693.3104
