Trenity, tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do.
My name is Trenity Thomas, most people call me Trent as a nickname, and some people know me as 504 Degrees on Instagram. I am a 20 year old black photographer based in New Orleans, La. I grew up in Kenner, La and the 9th Ward. Taking photographs of my surroundings and the people around me is something I love to do. I’ve been capturing photos since 2015 now. Working on making it my hobby.
What do you want your photos to capture/represent? What do you want people to see?
I want my photos to capture the life I’m living in, giving people something to see as if they were in that moment as I hit the shutter button on my camera. Just being around so much culture in New Orleans is like a field day for me as a photographer, you can never run out of things to catch on camera. When people see my photos they tell me it feels like they were there.
Do you do anything creative besides photography?
Besides photography, I paint and draw. Portraits of people, abstract paintings, and I’ll even paint some photos I’ve taken. I actually attended NOCCA (New Orleans Center for Creative Arts) and left with a few skills and tricks.
What camera(s) do you use and why did you choose them.
The Nikon D3200 is the camera I’m using as of right now. I do tend to upgrade to a new camera soon. I chose the Nikon D3200 because I really wanted a DSLR camera back in like 2015, I was 16 years old at the time. I didn’t have much money, so I went to Best Buy and saw that they had some refurbished cameras for sell. I’ve been using it ever since.
Who gave you your first camera/how did you get your first camera?
When I was a freshman in high school, my mom got me my first camera for Christmas. It was a Canon Powershot digital camera. Nothing major, just to capture a few shots here and there.
Do you prefer to shoot film or digital photography and why?
I prefer digital photography because that’s what I’m use to at the moment. I do find film photography very beautiful. I recently just bought a Canon AE-1 film camera and a point and shoot camera. It’s a process on learning how to use them and I still haven’t gotten any of my rolls developed yet, so I’m hoping everything comes out right.
What makes your photos different from other photographers?
What makes my photos different from other photographers is the way I have people and subjects angled in my frame. When I was in high school my art teacher told me that I have great composition in my photos and I stuck with that ever since.
What’s a day in the life like for a photographer?
When out at parties and events, I worry if my battery is going to die or if my SD card is going to get full and that can be stressful LOL. But other days being a photographer is cool. Just from taking so many pictures of people, I remember a lot of faces and those faces remember me. Running into people just smiling at me for knowing I do something really cool.
What’s your favorite photo that you’ve taken and why?
My favorite photo is this picture I took of this sweet lady named Ms. Irma in 2017. She’s known for decorating her tree in front of house with Mardi Gras beads and her obsession with having long fingernails. It’s my favorite photo because her presence just seem so real and natural when looking at the picture. One of my best portraits.
What’s your take on the rapidly growing photography industry?
I feel that the photography industry is really taking off. So many good photographs are getting the credit they deserve and are getting noticed just for showing true talent.
Are you working on any projects that you can tell us about?
I don’t like to spoil too much of my upcoming projects, I like to surprise my audience. But I will say this, I do have some concepts to accomplish before the summer is over.
Any last words?
My last words are that soon I hope to travel, meet new people, take my photography to the next level, and continue learning.
Big shout out to Trenity for agreeing to Interview with Nefarious Supply. You can find his work on Instagram here, as well as more of his shots on his website here.
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