Since 2015, Cameron Hyman has been capturing people around him in the cinematographic settings of St. Martin. In “Moonlit Stories”, his first book published last month, the 32-year-old photographer delivered a series of unpublished photographs taken in the glow of full moon nights.
Photography hasn’t always been obvious for Cameron Hyman who has now been living of his art for the past nine years. The young man developed a perceptible but latent artistic fiber during his childhood in Sint Maarten, but he made a more classical choice by moving towards accounting studies. In 2012, he went to New York to study finance, but doubts were growing. “I wasn’t sure that I would keep following this path, I was bored”, he remembers. His evolution in the heart of an urban life, within an environment completely in opposition to the one of his native island, was a turning point for Cameron Hyman. “It helped me find out who I was and what I wanted”. One day, a friend offered to lend him her camera, but Cameron did not feel like learning how to use it. A little later, another friend gave him a camera and then, it suddenly clicked. It was as if everyone had known before him… “I realized later on that I was taking a lot of pictures during my vacations, more than the average”, Cameron Hyman points out. “Actually, in a way, photography has always been there.”
A QUEST FOR SIMPLICITY
The photographer started his shootings in 2013. According to him, it was mainly “an opportunity to meet new people”. He quickly acknowledged that portraits and lifestyle photography were subjects of choice. Then, the budding photographer spent his summers in St. Martin, taken under his wing by St. Martin photographer Elvis Harrigan who helped him in learning the technique. In 2015, Cameron decided to come back to his native island to devote himself entirely to his passion. After a year of part time complementary work, he created his own company in photography and videography.
Since then, he has been capturing the life stories of people he has been meeting with softness and spontaneity. Colors and natural grain, little post-production editing, photography “in the simplest and purest way possible”, he sums up. This quest for simplicity was what led him to take pictures on full moon nights. In 2018, after a photo shoot that continued until nightfall with a friend, the photographer understood that by pushing the limits of his camera, the moonlight could allow him to make original and new pictures. Then he decided to take a series of shots at each full moon for two years. “Moonlit stories”, very recently published by The Friendly Books publishing house, gathers 25 series of poetic shots in black and white showcasing the woman body under the moonlight. A bold effort that marks an important step in the journey of Cameron Hyman, who is full of projects for the future.
"Moonlit Stories"
Available on www.thefriendlybooks.com
Private book launch : December 17th at The Cliff (Cupecoy) - 6:30pm-8:30pm, $75 (limited spots, RSVP at thehand@cameronhyman.com)
Facebook : @cameronhyman
Instagram : @itscameronhyman
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