| MEMBER PROFILE:
TCHELL DePAEPE
By Dana Downie
1. Please
give us a thumbnail sketch of your career and family background:
Born where? Are you married? Do you have children?
I was
born in Indiana and grew up in Utah. I know my name is kind of
unusual, but my parents made it up because they liked the sound
of it. I was always a bit of a tomboy, hiking and fishing with
my
Dad. I grew up drawing on everything, so I naturally started to
take art classes in school.
In 1993, I was just a few months from graduation from Utah State
where I was majoring in art when I decided I needed to pursue my
interest of photography. Within three weeks, I was living in San
Francisco. I didn’t know anyone there, but I’m the
adventurous type. In 1995, I graduated with a Bachelor of Fine
Arts in photography
from the San Francisco Art Institute. get that excited flutter
in my heart when I press the shutter release. I also love the flexibility
that freelancing gives. Being in control of all the aspects of
my
career gives me the opportunity to focus on my strengths (shooting)
and weaknesses (bookkeeping).
2. How did you become
interested in photography?
As a child, I always had something in my hand to
draw or paint with. My parents strongly encouraged my budding art
projects and
took me
to numerous galleries and museums. I started taking photography
classes in college and fell in love with the medium. I found that
photography
was the best way to express myself.
3. Why have you continued with photography? (i.e.,
why is photography important to you?)
Photography has become second nature to me now. I couldn’t
imagine not being with a camera. I still
4. What
have been your most interesting or favorite situations or assignments?
I’ve had several: Spending 24 hours in a small fishing boat
in rough seas on the Bering Sea to film a PBS Documentary about
Alaska. Being in a bad car crash in South Dakota while filming
a documentary
on Mount Rushmore. Our van, full of equipment, was struck by a
car at 60 mph and rolled three times down an embankment. Miraculously,
no one was seriously injured. Witnessing a helicopter crash 30
feet
in front of me while shooting stills during a wild mustang roundup
in eastern Utah. The main rotor snapped off on impact and missed
my head by four feet. Photographing reef sharks swimming through
Japanese World War II shipwrecks while scuba diving in Truk Lagoon,
Micronesia for a personal project.
5. What do you hope to do in the future?
I am always trying to keep my portfolio as fresh as possible. I
would like to continue shooting editorial assignments for magazines,
specializing
in food.
6. What do you do for
fun?
Downhill skiing in Tahoe. Scuba diving in the South Pacific. I
also play center on a women’s league basketball team in San
Francisco... and go for beers afterwards.
I freelanced as a camera
assistant in the motion picture industry for 10 years and shot
editorial and restaurant reviews for websites
on the side. A few years ago I started to concentrate on editorial
magazine work. I found I enjoyed shooting food, so I decided food
would be my main focus.
While I was working in film, I was fortunate to work side by side
with Academy Award winning cinematographers like Allen Daviau (The
Color Purple, ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind). I learned
to see light like a sculptor looks at a block of marble. What you
take away is as important as what you leave behind. Seeing how
they used light to pull emotion out of an image really had an impact
on
how my photography developed.
I’m single, 32 years old and don’t have any kids. I own
eight cameras, the largest being my wood Wista 4X5. It’s been
to Europe twice and packed around Utah and California on various
photo projects. Considering all the places that I’ve dragged
it, it has always worked perfectly. I wish I could say the same
about myself!
7. What is important to you?
Taking the time actually to slow down and enjoy the little things
in life. So often we judge our happiness on accomplishing larger
goals. I enjoy great conversation over a glass of red wine, spending
time with friends and family, and reading the paper with a good
cup of coffee in a sunny spot in my kitchen overlooking my garden.
It’s
during these quiet moments that my best ideas have a chance to
be heard.
8. What magazines do you currently subscribe to?
Time, Smithsonian, National Geographic, Creative Real Estate, and
Cat Fancy.
9. How have you taught yourself to adapt to change?
I always look at change as a new opportunity; change keeps us alive
and interested in life.
10. Any regrets or changes you would make?
I have a film project that I started a few years ago that I still
haven’t finished. It’s a documentary about the government’s
ongoing program to round up wild horses throughout the West and
adopt them out to people. I have all the raw footage in a box in
my closet.
11. What are the most important things you have learned?
Stay true to yourself. No assignment is worth giving yourself away,
either financially or creatively.
12. What are you doing differently to adapt to the current business
climate?
All you can do is to keep trying. Keep trying to get your work
out there, update your book, stay in touch with other photographers,
view other work, and keep excited about shooting.
13. What is your favorite food?
Fresh, in-season, locally grown fruit. Organic veggies and herbs
from my garden. We Californians are so spoiled when it comes to
great local produce. Oh, and good chocolate.
14. Please explain why you joined.
ASMP and what you have done with the organization over the years.
I joined ASMP to have contact with others for whom photography
is a big part of their lives. To be a great photographer, you need
to
spend time around other great photographers. As a young photographer
trying to carve out my niche, I always welcome advice from those
already established in the business. I enjoy being around other
creative people; it always inspires me to look at things from a
different
angle. It motivates me to shoot, shoot, shoot!
15. What is something you would like people to know that was not
asked?
“
My favorite thing is to go where I’ve never been.”
Diane Arbus, Photographer
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©Tchell DePaepe
©Tchell DePaepe
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. .
The members featured in this section are picked at
random. We hope to profile students, beginning, seasoned and semi-retired
photographers. If you know a member or are a member that would be
an interesting profile, please contact Dana Downie, Membership Chair,
at danadownie@telocity.com
or by phone at 510/792-5987.
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