The Amazing Jeremy Cowart

The most stunning presentation at Catalyst came from Jeremy Cowart.  I had never heard of him before last week, but I'm sure we've all seen some of his work.  He has been called the most influential photographer in America (if not the world).  He had an awesome testimony.

Jeremy told us that as a kid he grew up knowing that he was not smart and not good at school.  He said that often he told his parents "I can't."  His dad told him over and over, "I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength."  Jeremy found his way first with art, and later with photography.  Here's a blurb from his website about what he has done:

Jeremy has taken portraits of many familiar names such as Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Tim Tebow, The Kardashians, Sting, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Heidi Klum, Gwyneth Paltrow, The Civil Wars, Emma Stone, Courtney Cox, and Ryan Seacrest, just to name a few. His clients, mostly entertainment based, include ABC, FOX, A&E, F/X, Discovery Channel, ESPN, People, US Weekly, VIBE, E!, Universal Records, Sony Records and Warner Brothers Records. His work has been published in Rolling Stone, ESPN Magazine, People Magazine, USA Today, Fast Company, NYTimes, TIME, Nylon and more.

After becoming successful in his field, he became interested, because of his faith in Christ, in exploring what good he could do in the world with his talents.  Here's just one example, again from his website:

Jeremy also spends his time on community projects, brainstorming innovative ways to use his camera to make an impact. In January 2010, after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, Jeremy responded with his “Voices of Haiti” photo essay, letting the people of Haiti write their own thoughts and prayers on found rubble. This project was displayed prominently at the entrance of a very important gathering of world leaders at the United Nations in March of 2010. They were meeting to discuss the rebuild of Haiti and they ended up pledging ten billion dollars to the effort. On that day, Jeremy’s “Voices of Haiti” project proved that art can help change the world.

Another initiative he founded is called Help Portrait.  In this project photographers are asked to donate time to underprivileged people.  This enables people who otherwise could never afford it to have a self-portrait or family portrait.  Some of these people have been able to use the portrait provided as part of their resume, and it has led to employment for them.  But beyond that, it is a way of showing the value of an individual and gives them a sense of worth and dignity.

His presentation was a slideshow/video which he narrated live.  It was amazing!  Afterwards he introduced his family and including two new children he and his wife recently adopted from Haiti.

 Here's a sample of some of his video work called "Portrait of Christ".