Talk about your selection of a platform. You have been vocal about working with Ghostmarket as opposed to some of the other more popular platforms. What has influenced your decision?
Ghostmarket was a great marketplace to discover, especially just starting out. The thought of spending $60-$90 in gas fees was pretty intimidating to me at first. Ghostmarket is running on the Phantasma blockchain rather than Ethereum, making minting fees pennies in comparison to $60+.
I also really appreciate being able to contact the developers if you have any questions. They’re all super helpful! I’ve started experimenting on Opensea now as well and will explore other options. I don’t want to feel tied to any one marketplace.
Your personal story is very inspiring. Can you share a bit more about it? How did this bring you to photography as a healing modality?
Thank you. I think creating has always been an outlet for me. Here’s a little back story. I played basketball for Lake Superior State University for 4 years on full scholarship. In my sophomore year of college, I came back too soon from a concussion and got another one that was more serious.
Memory loss loss of verbal skills, and constant migraines are just a couple of ways I was affected. I couldn’t speak so I started to draw these pencil drawings and I think that really re-sparked my creativity. I ended up taking a photography class.
I didn’t have any expectations, I just needed an extra credit to be eligible to hoop. Mr. Shibley, the professor and also the head of the PR department, really gravitated towards my work. He also liked that I shot and edited video.
So, he offered me a job to shoot photos and edit videos for the PR department at Lake State. When I didn’t have class or basketball, I would shoot photos for the other sports teams. That was really special for me. I won’t ever forget it. Shoutout to Mr. Shibley!
What inspires you personally and professionally?
Personally, my mother inspires me, as cliche as that is haha. But she’s a goddamn superhero. She had me young and sacrificed so much because of that. But those sacrifices never stopped her from getting her to where she wanted to go. She’s freaking madam Vice President of HR at Holland Hospital. She’s absolutely incredible.
Professionally, my peers within the NFT space inspire me. I see the work artists like Andre O’Shea and Corey VanLew are doing and all they’re accomplishing and it just lights a fire under my ass.
Andre was just featured in Vogue and I recently found out Corey made artwork that was featured on T-shirts for the Disney movie, Soul. C’mon! That’s incredible. 2 young black men doing these amazing things, I love it and also want that for myself one day.
What is your grand vision for your work?
The grand vision for my work is for it to be so inspirational you feel it. You feel it so much that you just have to have it. I plan to pair all my photo NFTs with physical prints for the collector.
Seeing those prints in people’s homes is going to be really special. Later down the line, I also visualize having my work in huge museums, both in real life and in the metaverse, on display for the masses.
Who was your favorite musician to photograph?
Whew, this is so tough! The easy answer, is Drake because it’s Drake and I’m a huge fan haha. But photographing NAV is an experience I won’t ever forget. I had to sneak my camera through security and into the Hollywood Palladium to capture those images.
No photo pass, no photo pit, just sweaty fans, and vibes haha. I had to wear my leather jacket to hide my camera from security and literally sweat through it, camera lens fogging up and shit. It was wild. But so worth it. He actually posted one of those photos to his IG page…didn’t tag me though, shocker haha. That’s pretty common though, you just learn to roll with it.
Can you tell us about Trammell Boudoir? How did that come about?
Trammell Boudoir is the Boudoir Portrait photography business I started in 2019. I had discovered boudoir-style photography and fell in love. The thought of empowering other women to feel beautiful and sexy and themselves really spoke to me.
I had a lot of momentum going into 2020 but the pandemic really affected things since I shoot out of my home studio. I’ve been able to do a couple of sessions since then, which I’m super grateful for. My clients are the best and so much fun to work with!
What equipment do you use to shoot?
My camera is a Sony A7R3 and my go-to lens is a Zeiss 55mm 1.8. I also use Lightroom and Photoshop to edit my photos. I use a 2017 MacBook Pro and Final Cut Pro to edit my personal videos. Work videos for Hearst Media are edited in Adobe Premiere.
Do you work with film as well as digital? Is there a preference for you?
I have a couple of film cameras and have shot some rolls, just never got them developed for whatever reason haha. So it’s mostly digital for me at the moment.
Follow Raven on IG, Twitter, OpenSea, YouTube, Ghostmarket and her personal site.
