Today we’d like to introduce you to Darrin Clifton.
Darrin, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I like to say I was born to do this. My mother named me after a television character ‘Darrin Stevens’ played by Richard Allen York on the television show ‘Bewitched.’ So hence, I named my photography company Darrin Stevens Photography as a shout-out to my mother.
My mother would always take photos of my brother and I when we were younger. We had old photos albums, and I would look at them all the time and enjoy hearing the stories behind the images. I forget the name of the small camera she had, but I do remember the pink and gray Polaroid camera she upgraded to. We used it all the time, capturing the images of my childhood.
As I grew older, I still had a love to be behind a camera as opposed to being in front. I love being in front as well, but I was always often unhappy with the finished product. In seventh grade, I failed off the basketball team and found myself in the stands watching instead of playing. A teammate’s mother, Linda Montgomery, had a video camera that she allowed me to use to film the games. I would look forward to riding to the games with her and was always excited to film. I wasn’t very good, as I cheered too much and would miss good moments. But filming the games was something I enjoyed more than playing at the time.
As time went by, I would always find myself with a disposable camera, and I would take photos of every event I attended. Mardi Gras, Beach Party Weekend, and others. I first used a professional camera in 2001. A friend named Donovan Styles let me use his camera, and I loved the quality of the images. It was at that moment I really knew I wanted to take pictures.
Fast-forward to 2010, and I found myself incarcerated. During that time, I wound up on a facility called the InnerChange Freedom Initiative. It was the only facility in the state of Texas that was operated as a faith-based unit. Prison Fellowship founded by the late Chuck Colson, a political advisor who served as Special Counsel to President Richard Nixon. Colson was named as one of the Watergate Seven and pleaded guilty to matters related to the infamous Watergate scandal. Mr. Colson became an evangelical Christian in 1973, and that led to the founding of his non-profit ministry Prison Fellowship.
The facility focused on getting men reacclimated to society by integrating volunteers and inmates in social settings where open communication could take place. Some of the volunteers, victims of crimes themselves, would share their stories to the men of how God played a part in healing and forgiveness. The classes and the events held at the facility would all be documented by photos or video and guess who find himself behind a camera doing just that. Whether it was our Angel Tree Christmas party or Day with Dad’s, an event that matches its name, I along with a select group would film, photograph, and edit for each event. I enjoyed being able to create and see the faces of the other men when they would see the finished product.
Upon my release in 2012, I told the then-director of the facility, Tommie Dorsett, that I wanted a camera to start a photography business. He said he would get me one, but I had to write a business plan for it. I eventually did, and Mr. Dorsett purchased a Nikon d3300 for my use. That began this journey that I am on today!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road. Any new business had struggles. I had no clue what photography really was. Remember, I just wanted to take photos. I thought if I took a picture, it would be as nice and glamorous as the ones I’ve seen in magazines and in the newspapers. I was taking pictures, and I thought I was doing okay until I asked a friend his opinion. Marcus Williams is one of my oldest friends, I’ve known him since 1985. I sent him a few pictures I had taken and asked for his opinion. He gave me his most honest answer and told me they were not good. While doing so, he sent me examples of pictures and pointed out the differences between mine and the ones he sent. I saw the difference; he was right, and from that point on I began to study photography via books and YouTube.
As I began to get better at my craft, I had to convince people I was capable of doing the job. That meant a lot of free and discounted gigs. I didn’t have a website nor business cards so a lot of my clients came by word of mouth. Still, some passed on me and went another direction. I eventually got business cards and flyers, and later a website and business got better.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a Photographical Historian. I capture history as it happens. Weddings, birthdays, and events, it is my job to tell a story through my lens that clients can look back on years later and reminisce.
What sets me apart, is I look at my job through intimacy. A relationship with my client and I. I’m capturing the moments with tomorrow and the next year in mind. I’m hoping to capture the timeless moments that they can tell their children about.
What do you think about happiness?
Working with kids makes me happy. I mentor at-risk youth in Houston and work with Harris County Juvenile probation. I am now a part of Prison Fellowship, and I return to facilities I was once incarcerated in to share my testimony about how God changed my life. I share that what the devil meant for bad, God meant for good!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.darrinstevensphotography.com
- Instagram: @darrinstevensphotography
- Facebook: @darrinstevensphotography
- Twitter: @darrinstevens09
Image Credits
Ron J. Photography
