Rosalyn Stokes Photography

All photos by Rosalyn Stokes

Rosalyn Stokes, currently of Ruston, is at the core a photojournalist who has been dabbling in her medium since she was 16 when under the direction of a photography teacher in high school, Stokes had the groundwork laid for her now burgeoning photographic career.
Her teacher, she said, entered her work into a prestigious national photography competition, North American Nature Photography Association, which she won at 16. Stokes was awarded a week-long photography workshop in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she discovered her love for photojournalism.

"Photojournalism is my primary interest," she said. "It feels more natural. I feel awkward in a studio."
Recently, Stokes switched gears when she turned her focus to portrait photography. She said she likes to do work on location with clients, rather than in a studio. And Stokes credits Strobist, a Web site that focuses on lighting, as being instrumental in her recent growth as an artist.
Stokes said she uses a 24 mm camera lens most of the time, saying that she prefers to get really close to her subjects to the point that they almost feel uncomfortable.

Hey it's me!

She sited the time when she snapped a photo at a Hare Krishna temple in New Orleans where she captured a super detailed shot of a man singing.
"You could see the beads of sweat on his face," she said. "You got a sense how everything happened in the room."
Though her heart is in photojournalism, Stokes admires the black and white Hollywood portraits of the 1950s. The dramatic light speaks to her, and Stokes uses that element in her own portrait photography. Rather than flat lighting, she aims for dynamic shadows and highlights.

An artist whom Stokes said she admires for this is Herman Leonard, a photographer of the jazz age. "A lot his work is absolutely amazing," she said. "He lit just enough to see the form. I really appreciate his work and take elements from it.

Photography, Stokes said, is ever changing and just when you think you understand it, it changes again.

To see more of Rosalyn Stokes Photography, visit www.rosalynstokesphotography.com