Celebrity photographer Jeremy Cowart admits that his latest photography project started with a rather weird idea: a drone and a mattress. But with an aerial view and a stark white contrast to the ash and rubble, the Nashville, Tennessee-based photographer is helping nearly two dozen families that lost their homes in the Gatlinburg fires to rebuild.
Widespread fires on Nov. 28 destroyed more than 2,000 homes, killing 14 and injuring 190 more in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Cowart, a celebrity photographer who has shot pics of celebrities from Taylor Swift to the Kardashians, wanted to respond in a creative way. So, with three drones and a mattress, Cowart photographed 22 Gatlinburg families in the rubble of their former homes Dec. 14-17, sharing each family’s story on Facebook and Instagram, along with a Go Fund Me link to help with rebuilding.
While Cowart has been shooting full time for more than a decade, the project was his first with a drone — several drones, actually. Cowart and four crew members used a DJI Mavic Pro with a Canon T2i, a DJI Inspire 1 Pro with the Zenmuse X5R camera, and the DJI Phantom 3. The photographer used a Canon 5Ds for the ground-level portraits, as well as for some of the drone shots.
“Many times, drones don’t show emotion. I wanted to figure out how to show emotion and tell a story with a drone,” he said.
“As an artist, if I do something weird, creative and helpful — then I’m doing my job.”
Emotion is what brought the mattress into the project. Cowart said he thought the mattress would be symbolic and therapeutic for the families, and give them a chance to rest in their former homes one last time.
He also knew the white would offer contrast, as well as create a sense of scale.
Cowart rented a nearby cabin, then started publicizing the project through word of mouth. At first, many people were skeptical, he said, but more and more families asked to be part of the project as he shot.
The first time he saw that weird idea come to life on the screen, Cowart was moved to tears. “It’s just crazy to have a weird idea like that — a drone and a mattress — and to see it on the screen for the first time — it just got me at that moment to see how powerful it was.”
- 1. “As real estate agents here in the Smokies, we have always told buyers to make sure they have adequate fire insurance. Our professional and volunteer fire departments are great, but because of the mountainous terrain, as we all witnessed two weeks ago, there is no way for fire crews to get to some of these locations and actively fight fires.” – Fran Troxler
- 2. “On my way to staging I passed by my residence and it was still there. We continued to run several more calls and about 1–2am I was going to meet up with another GFD EMS unit. That’s when I passed my residence, and that’s when I saw that my house was gone.” – Pete Thompson
- 3. “Well, it’s a long story how we got out. We barely did. We were trapped by trees and fire was all around us. Our power was out, and when it got dark we could see fire all over Wiley Oakley. We looked down at Westgate, and saw it catching. Then we got in my mom’s SUV with the two kids, one is 9 months, and the other one is 8 years old. We couldn’t back out because of trees down.” – Christen Salter
- 4. “We decided to play it safe and pack and leave our house, and help my 85yr old grandfather do the same, but our shared driveway was blocked by a huge downed pine tree that my brother and I had to cut up and remove. It was pretty stressful and scary! Our homes were okay. Escaped with minor wind damage, but the studio was a total loss. We could only save an ash covered, all white pottery order. I miss the creative atmosphere, projects, teamwork, and the memories of working with my grandfather on many projects for the city. I lost my personal glaze recipes, a month of sculpture work, my handmade stamps, tools, racks, boards, and potters wheels.” – Tommy Bullen
Weather proved to be the toughest part of the project, Cowart said, with the cold shortening camera and drone battery life and the wind making drone flight difficult.
Over four days, Cowart shot 22 families and shared their stories, from a photographer who lost all his gear to a firefighter that lost his home in the blaze. The project also included the entire staff of the Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts in the ruins of the school.Along with the aerial mattress shots, Cowart shot portraits of the families in the rubble, including Gatlinburg Mayor Mike Werner. When Cowart saw the long shadows created from the evening sun, he shot an aerial portrait of the shadows of the mayor’s family holding hands in the ashes of their home.
“If I can use my talents to help people in need, then I enjoy [photography] a whole lot more.”
All the stories and photographs were published Dec. 22 at voicesofgburg.com, along with links to donate to each family.
“As an artist, if I do something weird, creative and helpful — then I’m doing my job,” Cowart said.
The Voices of Gaitlinburg project was not Cowart’s first time using photography for a cause — Cowart has shot humanitarian projects related to the genocide in Rawanda and the earthquake in Haiti. He also founded the nonprofit group Help Portrait, and is now building a humanitarian hotel after a successful Kickstarter project, called the Purpose Hotel.
“I have all the gear and the experience, why use it just for myself?” he says. “I’d rather point to things bigger than myself. If I can use my talents to help people in need, then I enjoy [photography] a whole lot more.”
Cowart says with some creativity, photographers can use their images to raise awareness of issues and tragedies. “In times of tragedy,” he advises other photographers, “think as creative as you do for your real work, your assignments and commercial work. If we can bring unique ideas in times of need, then we can expand the number of eyeballs on the project.”
The images and interviews from the Voices of Gatlinburg project are now available online, as well as on Corwart’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
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