Who am I?
Ephrem RichmondShare
Hello everyone!
In this blog post, I will cover two things: "general information" on my life, and my discovery of photography!
Where did I grow up?
I grew up in a small village in Shangri-La, China, with my three sisters and parents. Our surroundings consisted of mountains, mountains, and more mountains, followed by caves, cliffs, and canyons. The special thing about our location was that we were relatively close to a city full of people, and yet we got to live the country life. This type of life was suitable for the business my family ran and for my photography endeavors.
What are some things I grew up doing?
Being in a mountainous area and being part of an adventure company, I was given a ridiculous number of opportunities to explore and lead in said area. I grew up climbing cliffs, rappelling down canyons, and dropping into caves, and when I got older, I was leading people into those same situations.
Where have I traveled to?
As a result of the business that my parents had overseas, I got to travel quite a bit. I've been to China, Thailand, Korea, London, Sri-Lanka, Honduras, and the United States. The place I have traveled to the most, oddly enough, has been the United States. Straight off the bat, you might think China has been my most visited, but in reality, China is where I grew up, and it was the place I went back to AFTER my trip.
What got me into photography?
When I turned 14, I taught myself how to build a desktop. I eventually created a machine that was capable of running my school, playing TV, running video games, and even 3D animation. The 3D animation is key here because that's where my love for art began. I got severely involved in the whole realm of CGI, and I learned a lot about framing, lighting, and textures. Over time, I was slowly moved to videography due to an excitement that I had in the 3D world. Videography was easier to do than 3D art, and it got me involved in the real world. The cinematic styles you could create with the simple adjustment of lighting across a person's face were quite rewarding. Nevertheless, this eventually faded away as I stepped into a pair of climbing shoes. Those things held me tight for years and years. I committed myself to a new type of art, a "motion" art. Because of the way I was built (skinny and muscly), I quickly climbed the ladder of skill and topped out on my first 5.12c in 2024. While this number isn't necessarily big in the climbing world, as someone who was doing it as a hobby, I felt pretty good. This feeling of success is really the reason I kept my mind on the idea of climbing for years. It wasn't until I received my first cell phone and eventually the first camera that I found an interest in photography. It was while I was in my "climbing stage" that I took most of my photos because of the travel I did to get me from cliff to cliff. This travel resulted in me meeting dozens of photographers who all inspired me and taught me something new. Now, I hope, I have become one of those photographers: going around, taking photos, and teaching people.
