What He Does: Anthony Rathbun is a photographer, and like most photographers he'll do your basic portraits and such. His real passion, though, is for people with alternative living preferences, especially if they can deliver themselves openly and honestly for the camera. He can get you the kind of photos you need for an annual company report, but if you want a man who will bring the excitement of a live piercing show front and center in a photograph, he can make that happen, too.
Rathbun has been surrounded by cameras his whole life. It was on a last-minute and badly planned trip to California that he was driven to purchase entry-level professional equipment. That purchase has led him to publications in various magazines. Though he's done gallery shows before, Rathbun finds them to be a pain in the ass, and he is waiting until he has a definite progressive body of work before attempting another one.
Why He Likes It: "I like that I do not have a choice to like or not like photography. I do not know how to not like it. It grows from a need to communicate."
What Inspires Him: "I am inspired when I see something as it is, as it could be, or that I can develop a creative vision that shares what I find beautiful or unique in a moment or place. There is beauty there, and I want to engage it anyway I can that remains honest and altruistic. A friend of mine says I 'have a muse addiction.'"
If Not This, Then What: Despite being surrounded by the arts in the course of his work, Rathbun's list of second-tier professions is oddly mercantile. If photography were off the table, he'd pursue becoming a surgeon, a farmer, a cafe/coffee shop owner or an environmental lawyer.
If Not Here, Then Where: Singapore.
What's Next: "I don't really speak about what I have coming up except to close friends. I'm odd like that. I either want things secret till they are ready to debut or I like surprising folks with what has been in the works."
More Creatives for 2013 (In order of most recently published; click here for the full page).
David Salinas, computer-less analog photographer Danielle Burns, art curator Alicia DiRago, Whimseybox founder Katia Zavistovski, contemporary art curator Ashley Horn, choreographer, filmmaker Amanda Stevens, scary book author Peter Lucas, film and video curator, music lover and self-described culture-slinger Ana María Otamendi, collaborative pianist and vocal coach Billy D. Washington, comedian Michele Brangwen, choreographer and dancer Kristin Warren, actress and choreographer Kelly Sears, animator and film maker Colton Berry, Bayou City Theatrics' artistic director jhon r. stronks,dance-maker Joe Grisaffi, actor, director, writer, cinematographer Jordan "Monster Mac" McMahon, artist, designer
