Trevor Wisecup: Photographer of Life
Portrait by Cameron Belliveau
Trevor Wisecup is a photographer of life, a documentary photographer, but don’t label him a street photographer.
While his work predominantly is set on the streets of New York, his work is so much more than just street photography. In one short look on his Instagram, you can see that. His work explores life as a person in their mid-twenties in the city, photos of his friends and family, selfies and more all mixed together with incredible photos of the New York street. His photos are up close, they’re aggressive, exciting and energetic, capturing human emotion and the chaos of the city. Within the six years he has been shooting, Trevor has accumulated a body of work many seasoned photographers could only wish to have.
Within our thirty-minute Instagram video call I could tell how passionate he is, he knows exactly what he likes and what he doesn’t, and he truly doesn’t care for the hype. He’s in this for the long haul and it will be no surprise if one day Trevor Wisecup is regarded as one of the greats.
I know you call yourself a ‘photographer of life’. Is there something you don’t like about being labelled as a ‘street photographer’?
The reason I don’t love being labelled as a ‘street photographer’ is because I don’t only take photos on the street. Predominately I take street photos, but I often mix in my personal life in my street work whenever I produce sets or pairs. The reason I take street photos is because it’s accessible, it’s easy to go out and take photos of things I see. I take so many different photos that I include in the work every time I put something out or show online, which is why I don’t love being classified as just a 'street photographer'.
Why specifically ‘photographer of life’?
Well, either that or ‘documentary photographer’. It’s not super important. If I am just labelled as a street photographer that’s fine with me. I just think a lot of people narrow into that, they may think everything I do is just random and, on the street, but that isn’t necessarily true, I feel like I do a lot more than just that and I try to include it as much as I can. I think a lot of street photographers these days, hone in on just the street or if they post something personal it’s just about that, they don’t mix them together. I mix everything because it’s all the same, it’s just photography, it’s what I capture. I think they all relate to each other, but I feel like a lot of people are very specific about what they show and what they include together, whether it’s personal or street. That’s why I don’t love being called a ‘street photographer’ because it’s a lot more than that.
I didn’t get to take a lot of photos of my mom, but I took some intimate photos of my mom and obviously, because of me taking street photos before that some of them look like street photos because it’s that style. Those photos are intimate photos that I was able to take given the situation. Those photos are just as meaningful or more meaningful to me than the street work, I think they all correlate together. That’s just my opinion.
You speak so much about keeping it all together instead of separating it. What’s the importance for you to put everything together?
Well, I am not afraid of showing any of it. All of it is my life, I am a very open person, and I am not afraid of putting work together. I am a person who has specific projects in mind and specific things I am interested in including together. I think when you are a photographer, it all works together and if you are comfortable and okay with being vulnerable and showing stuff like that, that’s more beneficial than sticking to a series. There is nothing wrong with labelling street versus your friends, but I think they all work together.
Yeah, I think that does come through in a lot of your photos, that it is just your life. Do you think if Instagram didn’t exist you would be able to share your photographs in the same way, showing everything in the same way?
I mean most likely yes; I don’t think my mindset would change. It depends, if this is the 1960s and the art world is thinking documentary and street, black and white, maybe it would be different. At the same time [William] Eggleston in 1976 showed a lot of intimate photos of his life down south, which was a lot of his family and friends. I think I would’ve done the same. I don’t think my mindset would’ve changed.
Do you think you would be sharing those photos in books that are compiled of everything?
Honestly, I don’t know exactly how I would feel because I didn’t live in that era but knowing me as a person, I probably would’ve been rebellious and tried to do the same thing. I doubt I would’ve just gone with the norms.
Honestly, there are some photos that I share that are not personally my favourite, but I know most people will enjoy them, so I include them in the series. I am okay with sharing them because it’s social media, it’s Instagram and people will forget it. I wouldn’t have just been rebellious I would’ve stayed true to myself even back then.
Okay yeah, where do you sit on posting something because you think other people would enjoy it instead of doing it for yourself?
Well, I won’t post anything that I dislike but I might include some photos that are good or pretty good, but they aren’t great. I put a little filler in there to show that I take a lot of photos. A lot of photos that I use to show what I’ve been up to. I’m not pressured to share stuff that I don’t want to show.
Your street work is heavily centred around the attraction to human emotion within the chaos and energy of New York City. Do you think you would’ve had the same attraction to the big city if you grew up in one?
I know a lot of people who grew up in New York City and they don’t love it like I enjoy it because I grew up in Virginia and I don’t like Virginia. Generally, when you grow up somewhere you get your eighteen to twenty years there and most people have enough of it and want to go somewhere else. I don’t know exactly how I’d feel if I grew up here. I kind of wish I grew up here but maybe it would be different, maybe I was supposed to grow up somewhere else, have fresh eyes and move here. I think growing up in a semi-rural area in Virginia was probably beneficial for me because I came here, it was vastly different, and I looked at things a lot differently.
I think there’s a big misconception that when people are taking photos of people on the street the only reason, they are taking a photo of them is to make fun of them, what are your thoughts on that?
I am never trying to make fun of someone, sometimes it looks like that because you take photos of someone who is not in a good situation. All I am trying to do is document the happy, sad, tragic and beautiful. There are so many different emotions in life, and I don’t think it is okay to censor things, you have to take photos of everything. What I decide is too much or what I shouldn’t share is my decision, because trust me I have some stuff that I don’t share because it wouldn’t be good. I don’t want to showcase someone in a really poor sense, I don’t want to make someone look awful. Obviously, there could be someone bleeding or with a black eye and yeah, I have taken the photo and sometimes I share or sometimes I don’t but it’s just up to me or whoever else takes that photo.
Do you think social media and iPhones shaped that thought, with people all on edge that people are making fun of them?
Yes. Can I just have a one-word answer for that?
Of course.
I am probably one of the most challenged photographers at the moment.
In what sense?
Just ethically. I get challenged all the time, there are comments all over that Walkie Talkie, YouTube videos and TikTok's have been made about how I am not a good person. I don’t let any of that affect me, people are allowed to have their own opinions. People don’t like that I shoot flash right in people’s faces. There has been the topic of epilepsy brought up and stuff.
What do you have to say back to that?
I mean first off; I have never had a problem with epilepsy. I have only taken a photo of one person who said they had epilepsy. I have been consulted by people before and with epilepsy if you flash someone in the face once they are not going to have a seizure. It has to be frequent and in a strobe. I am not worried about that. Ethically? Do I think what I do is a bit aggressive? Yes, of course I do. I don’t think I am hurting anyone; it’s taking their photo in a public place. People think I get in confrontations all the time, but that does not happen, it barely happens. It happened in that Walkie Talkie, but it does not happen often.
Yeah, I feel like people don’t care usually, they are more just confused.
That’s a part of the ethics, that people have a problem with. A random guy going up to a random person taking a photo of them with a flash. I keep walking unless they have a problem with it, and then I talk to them. People don’t ask me very often what happened or confront me. I don’t feel bad about it because it is a public space. People have the most qualms with the flash. I am very blatant and obvious. That’s where a lot of the problems come from. Which I find interesting because I am not hiding.
You posted something the other day that was like 100 rolls on a table. How many rolls of film are you shooting and how do you afford all this film?
Yeah, that was 100. I have 300 more in the fridge now. During the summer I was shooting five to seven a day. Now it’s like one. It changes based on the season. How do I afford it? I don’t.
Photography isn’t your job, is it?
No. I mean, I sold a zine, and I did okay. I sell prints here and there and did some workshops recently. I make a little bit of money from it, but it isn’t my full-time job.
I am very lucky, Gelatin Labs sponsor me, so they develop and scan all my film for free. I just have to pay for the film.
Are you hoping it can get to the point where it is your job?
Yeah, what I am hoping is to be able to do other photography assignments whether it’s ads or fashion and then supplement that money towards continuing to do my personal work. My personal work is the most important. My goal is to be a working photographer and do what I truly care about, that’s not to say I wouldn’t care about the work I’m making for other people. I don’t want to work odd jobs or work part-time at a coffee shop anymore. I want to be able to focus on the work and just be a photographer.
I know Daniel Arnold’s work was one of the reasons you got into photography. Now you guys are close friends are there any words of advice he’s given you that you’ll keep forever?
Daniel and I have a very interesting personal history, it isn’t bad. He is like my big brother to me, but the specific advice that I can say he gave me, it’s pretty personal advice. I don’t think it was even photography-related. He had a show about three months ago and I went to the show, he didn’t really say any words to me, he just gave me a hug and was like, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing, don’t stop what you’re doing’. I am kind of relentless when it comes to sharing and he was just like keep doing it. Daniel was pretty relentless with sharing when he started, and he just affirmed that I was doing well by doing what I am doing.
Do you want to get to a certain point where you don’t have to share as much as you are?
I mean, I am at the point where I feel like I don’t have to, but I feel like it’s better to do it. If I keep sharing as much as I am traction keeps going. I’m not playing a game but exposure’s good. I feel like to not just be successful but be able to be professional and be able to support myself through photography I should keep trying to get exposure because I feel like it will only help. My goal isn’t to try and be famous it is just to be able to do the work I want to do and support myself. I am only six years into this, I mean four years from now I have no idea where I will be, that’ll be the ten-year mark and hopefully it will be even better than now. I hope I’ll be in a much better situation. I feel like I just need to keep working and working.
Before we go, how does it feel to be responsible for the popularity rise in the Chinon point-and-shoot that you use?
For a price hike? Well, I tried not to do that because I obviously didn’t share what it was called. I knew people would figure it out. It kind of sucks, I didn’t want to share it because I wanted to buy more. It is interesting because there aren’t many cameras you can inflate the price of, like Daniel inflated the price of the Contax G2 when he was using it early in like 2014. It is kind of cool that I influenced a whole fucking camera.