I got to sit down and have a little chat with Tera about her favorite subjects to shoot, some of her influences and how she is doing her part to help bring local musicians into the spotlight. Be sure to check out her work by clicking here. Enjoy!
What is your name?
"My name is Tera Dee, of TeraRise Photography."
Where are you from?
"I was born and raised here in the Bay Area."
What inspired you to start taking photos?
"I've pretty much always been into photography. Any at family event or whenever my friends and I would be hanging out, I would always get these visuals of what would make a good photo and attempt to snap the perfect shot. In those days, it was just a disposable camera. Haha! I also used to walk around town with my friends carrying a video camera as a teenager. I have always enjoyed the value of a photo that contains a fragment of time, and a video that documents just a day in the life."
Who have been some of your favorite photographers that you've come across?
"I really like Ross Halfin's work. He has been working with musicians since the 70's. I absolutely love the feel of awesome, raw, in the moment photos that essentially are documenting each artist's journey. I also love the work of Kristin Cofer, who has done work for Chelsea Wolfe. I met her where she was recording interviews for a documentary. That is pretty much my goal summed up, both of those combined."
Where would you like photography to take you?
"Ultimately, my main goal is to get more local talent noticed. (All types of artists and entertainers) First from a visual stand point, then (if they're musicians) through people's ears and into the hearts and souls of their fans. Also, I hope to create awesome visuals of special moments that people get to enjoy, whether or not they were present. It's cool when you can look at a photo and feel the emotion behind it. I'd also like to create videos that I can put together that shows what really goes on in the life of a musician. I want this to go far."
That's awesome. It's good to know that other people care about the history of our local music scene. My nest question was going to be what is your favorite subject to shoot, but I feel like we already know the answer. Nonetheless, let's here it from the source herself.
"My favorite subject to shoot has got to be the local and/or up-and-coming music scene, whether it be photo shoots or live performances. To be honest, I have no limit to what I capture. I take photos of animals and nature, families, portraits and head shots for casting purposes and portfolios. I do all types of entertainment so you name it, and I'll do it."
If you could travel anywhere to shoot, where would you go?
"As far as what my main goals are for my work, I'd probably choose cities and countries that are well known for their music scene. In general, I think that many places overseas would be absolutely breath-taking to capture. An old friend of mine moved to Germany a while back, and she takes photos all the time of where she is. I think I'd like to go there to see if I can experience and capture all the cool scenery. Well, anywhere in Europe really!"
What's one album you could never get tired of listening to?
"I can think of a few so I'll mention some of them.
Blink 182's self titled album from 2003.
Staind "Break the Cycle"
Sublime's self titled 1996 album
Soundgarden "Superunknown"
Fleetwood Mac "Rumours"
Korn "Issues"
Die Antwoord "Ten$ion" and "Donker Mag"
Six Gun Saints "Ashes"
BullyWest "Ready For Reality"
They are all just that awesome! hahaha"
What has been your favorite concert that you have ever attended?
"My favorite concert was an acoustic show where they were raising money for cancer research.The lineup was James Hetfield from Metallica, Billie Joe Armstrong, Nancy Wilson, Pat Monahan, Joe Satriani, and Sammy Hagar. It was a lot of fun and was very personal and heartfelt."
Where do you see yourself 2 years from now, and where do you see yourself in 5 years?
"In 2 years, I'd like to be living in another city. If that's not the case, I'd like to still be supporting all my favorite artists and being able to follow and document them when I can. I hope that more people by that time will be constantly contacting me to work with them.
"In 5 years, I hope to be in a big house in a little town by the ocean but always be on the move. I'd like to be recording, photographing artists and making documentaries. Hopefully, my work will have made it clear across the country to where my clients and I are constantly traveling to collaborate. From time to time, I'd love to be on the tour bus with Bernt and be recording behind the scenes footage. You know, basically living the rock n roll lifestyle...."
Where can people go to follow your progress and find your photos?
"As of now I only have a Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/terarise This is where I post a variety of all my finished photos. Please do not hesitate to check them out or contact me there."
Anything else you would like to say before you go?
" I take photos simply for the joy of capturing a moment and playing with that moment to make it monumental. I do this for me. I do this for you. I do this for the love and support of local artists, which tends to be my main focal point, but not the only one. I’d like my work to get out there and be seen. I’d like to keep exploring, and I’d like to help be a part of getting up-and-coming talent noticed. This is pretty much the only thing I have that's mine that I wholeheartedly enjoy. I have a growing support system that respects me for what I do just as much as I respect them for what they do, and I only want to help show their art to the world through my art. When we collaborate our art, it's something beautiful. I hope to be represented as a lover of art and music at the end of the day. I just want to get our art out to the world together. I do this for the art of keeping memories intact."
Last question: If you could have written any song in history, which one would you choose?
"There's this song by Azure Ray called "November" that I just totally relate to. I stumbled across it by chance on YouTube and fell in love. I play it on repeat some nights."
If you'd like to be interviewed for the site, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]
Cheers!
Article Written by: Jacob Schmidt
(Creator of SF Solid Gold)