The title of this recording is "Stefanie Upchurch". It is described as: Stefanie Upchurch describes how the Out Proud portrait series came about and what it was like to photograph openly queer people. It was recorded in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand on the 10th December 2011. Stefanie Upchurch is being interviewed by Gareth Watkins.  Their names are spelt correctly but may appear incorrectly spelt later in the document. The duration of the recording is 17 minutes. A list of correctly spelt content keywords and tags can be found at the end of this document. A brief description of the recording is: In this podcast Stefanie Upchurch describes how the Out Proud portrait series came about and what it was like to photograph openly queer people. The content in the recording covers the 2010s decade. A brief summary of the recording is: In the podcast recorded on December 10, 2011, Stefanie Upchurch, a student from California studying photography at Mass University in Wellington, New Zealand, is interviewed by Gareth Watkins. Upchurch expresses a passion for documentary photography, particularly enjoying candid shots over studio photography. According to Upchurch, documentary photography is about documenting from one's perspective, implying that it is shaped by individual viewpoints. The interview delves into a project assigned during Upchurch's course at Mass University, which required students to initiate a commercial-based project with a hypothetical client. Upchurch reached out to Pride NZ and other similar organizations for this purpose, seeking to engage more meaningfully with the queer community and to make a positive impact. The interview reveals Upchurch's personal journey of becoming more open with their identity, highlighting a reflective self-portrait project which helped them gain confidence. The success and personal revelations stemming from this project spurred Upchurch to photograph queer individuals outside of the studio setting. The 'Out Proud ' portrait series involved Upchurch asking participants to choose locations for their photographs that best represented them. The aim was to capture 12 portraits, and despite initial interest followed by some withdrawals, Upchurch succeeded. The portraits were selected based on comfort, confidence, and the sense of naturalness they conveyed, all central to the project's theme of being "out and proud." Upchurch narrates the process of arranging the photoshoots, emphasizing the importance of making participants feel comfortable and at ease. They discussed having to adjust to the challenges of outdoor lighting and suggested the advantage of having an assistant in future projects. During post-production, minimal edits were made to the images as Upchurch prefers to retain the authenticity of the subjects. Believing that heavy editing can detract from a person's true self, particularly for a project celebrating one's identity. Reflecting on the project, Upchurch feels it still resonates strongly and plans to develop a major project in the following year that includes a wider demographic and contrasts studio settings with more comfortable environments. Aside from this series, Upchurch participated in a march for legalising gay adoption and marriage equality, cherishing the energy and purpose it brought to their photography. A recent trip to New York provided a thrilling experience for taking street photography, capturing many images in a city full of life and vitality. Looking forward, Upchurch aspires to make the final honours year at Mass University highly productive, culminating in an exhibition and hopefully leading to a job where they can continue to pursue photography with the openness and introspective quality that marked the Out Proud series. The full transcription of the recording begins:  Um, my name is Stephanie, and, um, I'm from California, and I've been in New Zealand for 10 years, and I'm studying photography at Mass University. It's a four year bachelor honours degree. Um, I love documentary photography. I like to capture people. Um, and I love I love more candid shots. I'm not a you know, studio photography is great, and we've learned how to do that. But I love. I love being out and getting to know people and the inter interaction with them. And, um, yeah, that's that's what I really love. That's what I want to do when I finish what is documentary photography To me, it's not necessarily with people with anything. It's just it's it's documenting it, how you see it. So it's from your perspective. So it's Photography is all about opinion, pretty much so. It's it's, I guess it's something different to everybody, but for me, it's, you know, it's it's the way I might Outlook on the world, I guess. Point of view. So, as part of the the messy photography course you were asked to do, uh, what kind of project? What? Um, you were given a commercial based project So you yourself had approached a client, and it was kind of a hypothetical assignment and with no necessary outcome. Um, so I approached pride NZ, Um, and a few different, um, websites in the US, like the Trevor project I. I know I aimed a bit high, but they said a high. Um, see what happens. Never heard anything back about those. Um, And then I heard from New Zealand. Did you have any specific ideas about the kind of project when you were approaching these kind of nonprofits? The kind of project that you were interested in? Were there any things that you really wanted to target? Um, for me, I because I have recently, you know, been more open with who I am, and so I just It's, you know, I've always been kind of not scared to to go kind of out of my comfort zone, But, um, I I really kind of wanted to get involved in the gay community and just, you know, try and try and do something. So that's that's what I've been kind of working on, and I'm next year. I'd love to do a major project on that, So this is kind of like a little project leading into, hopefully a bigger, a bigger project. Were there any other kind of projects of the type that you've actually kind of ultimately done that inspired you in that direction? Um, I did a self portrait on myself this year for, um, our contact paper, which is our double semester paper. And I just, you know, the the self portrait went really well, and I was really happy with it, and it really it really helped me be comfortable and confident with who I am. And I just thought, you know, that it kind of sparked other things and made me want to try different projects. So and and then that was a studio project with myself, and I kind of thought, Well, it'd be great to photograph people outside of the studio and see what kind of, um reaction I get from them looking at the camera. So why did the self portrait project kind of help you to kind of understand yourself? Um, the self portrait project helping me because I've never really been extremely confident person, um, or with my sexuality. So it you know, this year, stuff's kind of come together, and I've just been happier with who I am, and through the project, it really you know, people said I started to change a little bit, and they started to see me be more, um, open. So it was It was a great project. Um, is that something you had expected Would happen? No, not not at all. Um, kind of just started the project, Then it ended up being a, um I ended up because I'm, you know, a little, um, modest and ended up being a nude self portrait. So it was, um, yeah, I didn't It didn't start off that. It was the development of the project. And it was kind of, you know, showing who you are on the inside, kind of, um, you know, when I was in the studio, I ended up crying in the photos, and it was just it just the project just developed into that. You know, you don't expect when you start a photography project for it to especially me, end up like that. But, um, I was extremely happy with it, and so was my tutor. So yeah, it kind of sparked other things. And you know, It just made me Yeah. Happier, I guess. I know it sounds a little quirky, but but yeah, the proposal that you then put to pride NZ What can you describe? What kind of proposal that was Sure. Um so basically, you kind of put a little bit, um, about myself in it and said I really wanted to do a project that made a difference. When I met with people, I basically said, Where would you like your photo taken? What best shows who you are. And, um, I talked to everybody for a good, you know, 20 minutes, half hour. I got to know them a little bit, and, um, it, you know, it felt like a comfortable situation. So and that's what I've been told. When people look at the work that it's you feel comfortable looking at it, you don't feel this is an awkward, you know, kind of photo that, you know, it's a very natural feeling. And everybody was you know, who I approached was They said, Yeah, I'd love to do this. Um, I mean, at first, you had a lot of people interested and people, you know, backed out. But then I got more people and the the people that I got, I got 12. Um, the aim was to have 12 portraits, and, um, I wanted to achieve that. So I got 12 people, and, yeah, I'm really happy with it. Was there a difference between, uh, putting the proposal out to the general public in terms of trying to get participants and the personal connections that you had was the personal connections was how I got I got most of the, um, the people for the photographs, um, putting, because there was a press release put out on a couple of different websites and that, you know, I got I got a couple of people emailing me, And then as I was ready to shoot, they kind of said, Oh, you know, I'm actually reconsidering this. I don't know if I want to do this, and I said, That's fine. You know, um, I didn't want people to do to, you know, just to do it because they feel they had to, you know, I'd rather people be Yep. I'll do it. And was it hard getting, uh, a wide demographic of people I'm thinking in terms of like uh, genders sexualities, but also ages was I mean one, I guess. Was that something that you were going for, And two. Was it hard to get Age definitely was because everyone I met was between 18 to, like, 35 roughly, Um, and but I had a it ended up working out. Kind of weird, exact amount of I had six females, six males. Um, but, um, I didn't know no one of non who is transgender or Yeah, nobody older. I thought an older generation might, you know, it would have. It would have worked really well to show that someone who's older is, you know, really happy with who they are. So But, you know, just it worked out that I got everybody at a younger age, but why do you think it was? Um I think people that knew people, it was, you know, and then some of the people I originally had who, um, through email were older. And, um, I had a couple with kids and they decided that it wasn't It wasn't for them. So which is which is understandable, especially, You know, if you know you, you have to be careful. No, matter what your photograph. You have to be careful. So moving on to the photo shoots, how difficult was it to set those shoots up? Um, organising with 12 different people was a little difficult because everyone has different schedules, and I've got four classes to do. So it was kind of I basically said, Well, I can do it whenever you're free. Um, because I wanted you know them to not think that there was a lot of pressure. So then, you know, people got back to me. It worked out fine. What about choosing locations and kind of styling the participants? Did you leave it up to them to suggest places, or were you more kind of directing? What? Um well, I met everybody in the city centre and I walked around with them for a bit, and I said, Well, where would you like your photo taken? A lot of people immediately saw someone and they said, Oh, how about over here? And then I kind of made some suggestions of people who who weren't really, um, who didn't really know where they wanted their photo taken. But I mean, and I took a couple couple of different locations. So I shot a lot of each person. Did you make any suggestions in terms of the, uh, clothing or or or what they should wear? No, no, I said, you know, come as you are, that sounds kind of It's a Nirvana song. But I, you know, basically just be yourself, which is the point of the photos. I had a couple of people ask me, how should I dress up? And I said no. Be like how you would be on a day to day because I don't want it to be a staged photo. You know, it just be like if you met someone in the street randomly and you decided to take their photo. I wanted it to be kind of like that, you know? Well, if because the whole point of the project you know, you don't want someone to, um, dress up what about the poses or the emotions that they convey in the images? Did you direct them as to what they should be doing? Or was it I had to tell a couple of people to smile because a couple of people were a little bit nervous? Um, but I just said. I just said, You know what? The 1st 10 photos you take of somebody are never very good. Just because it's you, you could feel the kind of, you know, You just you have to wait a little bit, and then eventually people just become really relaxed. And I didn't have to say smile or do anything after that. It was just kind of, you know, as you were. I talked to them while I was taking their photo. As you start talking to someone, they just they relax a lot. What kind of things would you be saying to them to Kind of makes them make them relax. How? Um, just asking them about themselves. Um, some people were very open and, um, talked about coming out and And how You know, uh, how their lives are now and or just people that were studying just talked about general stuff. Was it hard doing that with people that you'd never met before? No. I mean, I probably couldn't have done this project a couple of years ago, but I think you know, if you're more at ease about yourself, it's easier if you show that you're at ease about yourself. It's easier for someone else to open up with. You had many of the participants modelled before. Um, I think one or two had, um, but just for photography projects. Um, like Massey photography projects, nothing. Um, nothing out of university. I guess so. No. No professional models or anything like that. Was it a challenge to work with people that that weren't necessarily used to having their photographs taken? No, I mean, I did. I did shoot a lot of a couple of people just to make sure I would get a good photo. But no, it wasn't really a problem. You know, when you say a lot, how how many photos would you be taking? About 50 of each person. But, um, but that's within a good, you know, half hour just talking to someone, and you're talking to them. So you know that II I shot digitally. So if I shot on film, it would be a little bit different. Um, I chose digital because I just felt that it was People seem more relaxed when you have a digital camera. When it's film, it's a little more serious. And, um, you know, it's you also have to. Really? You have to watch what you shoot when you shoot with film, because it's, um it gets a little bit expensive, but I, I love digital photography. So that's why I chose it. Can you talk to me about, um, shooting on location outside? Are there any things that you need to look out for in terms of the lighting or background or natural conditions? Um, I didn't really want a lot of people behind the photos, so I kind of went in areas where there weren't a lot of people in the background. Um, and lighting I usually shot on a sunny day, which was also could be a bit difficult because, um, the way the sun comes down on on the face, you know, you've got to watch that. And then I did shoot it a couple times on rainy days. So to be careful with the flash, you know, that it wasn't it wasn't too much in somebody's face. Um, but I know it ended up, you know, ended up being OK. It would have been good to have an assistant. I did it all myself, but I think next time would be great to have an assistant, um, someone hold a reflector, maybe to get the lighting even on the face. And, you know, it was, um It was definitely really a good experience for me. I learned a lot, and, um, I learned what to do better next time. You were saying that you were taking about 50 shots per person. How did you in the postproduction decide which shot was the right shot? Um, that didn't actually take that long. I kind of after I shot each person. I kind of did a little edit down. In the end, I kind of tried to pick photos that kind of went as a series. Um, how if a photo was cropped a certain way that I liked or, um, mostly it was what was, You know, going on in the person's face is what really kind of made me choose the photo. What were you looking for in the face? Confidence, I guess every all the photos I chose of everybody, they look really comfortable, comfortable and confident with who they are, which is the point of the project of being out and proud. So and the thing I like about the project is because I asked a couple of people and someone in the computer lab sitting next to me looked at the project and they said, What is all the photos of these people? Was there supposed to be a similarity in them? As you know? And I said, Well, why don't you try and look and see and they couldn't figure it out? And I said, That's really good because it's everyday people, you know? That's the whole point. Did you do much image manipulation in postproduction? Um, a little bit with the lighting and a couple of things like that. But nothing I don't I don't like editing people's faces. I like the more natural. Look, I didn't you know. That's if you're doing a fashion project that's a bit different. But for something like this, No, no editing other people. Why don't you like it? Isn't, uh it just it. I think it takes away from who? The person is it? I've It completely depends on your own project, though. Like I said, if you were doing a fashion project, Yeah, then you do a bit of editing, um, skin tones and that kind of stuff, but this is a more natural look. So it's it's who people are on reflection. Looking back at the series, does it still speak to you in the same way, or have the images changed for you now, uh, it still speaks to me in the same way. I mean, next year I really want to do a major project and have I would love to have a lot of people do it and and look for age range. Um, and just Yeah, I. I would love to do a major project on it and also kind of go into the studio and show the comparison of how someone is in the studio and how they are, um, to show people in and out of their comfort zone. So, after completing this project, have you gone on to do any other kind of queer related photography? Uh, no, not yet. Hoping to I we That was the last assignment of the year. Finished. And then I just went to New York for a couple of weeks. So I'm I'm back now, so hopefully, um, I'd love to do something like that. I did take photos at a march. Um a couple of months ago, and I really enjoyed that. That was that's something I'd love to do. So And what kind of march was it? Um, it was, uh it was Oh, it was to legalise adoption, and, um, gay marriage. Um, so not just having a civil union basically being able to have the same same rights and equality as the straight people do being married. So what was that, like, taking photographs of, uh, a very fluid situation. Uh, it was It was great. It was You get kind of a little adrenaline rush from it because I was kind of amongst the crowd and taking photos of people and, you know, photos of people that are really fighting for something that they believe in it really. It leaves you with a good feeling. And you just mentioned briefly that you were in New York. Yeah, I went to a mass. He did a, um, a New York trip in November, and I went for two weeks and then spent a week in California, So I had an amazing time. How was New York? Um, after being kind of more comfortable with your own identity, how How did you find that I felt really alive in New York? There's just something very freeing about it. And you just I don't know if it's because there's nobody you know there or anything like that. But it's just there's something about that city. It just kind of makes you light up. It's It's an amazing city. Were you doing a lot of photography over there? Uh, yeah. I was there for about three weeks. The total trip, and I I took over 3000 photos, which is a bit extreme. My parents told me it was a bit, you know, a bit too much, but, um, a lot of it was, you know, I was in some photos and a lot of it was Street. I love street photography. And yeah, I probably took way too many photos. But you know, how often are you going to go to New York? So it was It was a great opportunity. Is there a difference between taking street photography in a place where you might never have been and maybe never go to again, as opposed to, say, doing something in Wellington where you're there all the time? I shoot in Wellington a lot. I love to go off my camera. Um, take photos of of people and just the city itself. And you always You always find something new. But I guess New York was you just saw something and you just took take. I took about 400 photos in one day, and I said, OK, you got stop. But you just you constantly see stuff, See stuff you've never seen before. Um, just Yeah, why do you make yourself stop? I mean, if it's digital, it's, you know, like you run out of space pretty quick, had a couple of memory cards. I mean, I did if I saw something I want to take a photo of, I just took it and we got lost from each other quite a few times, because with a bunch of photography students, everyone was just taking photos. You know, I'm imagining every student would see it completely differently in terms of what they're photographing. Yeah. I mean, we didn't I haven't had a chance to look through everyone's photos, but someone else took a photo of something and you thought, Oh, I didn't think to take a photo of that. There's a lot of advertising in New York, So I took a lot of photos of of that kind of stuff and I went and saw rent, which was absolutely amazing. It was It's off Broadway now, but it's in a small theatre in a very intimate kind of setting, and it just it blew me away. I've never seen anything like that before. So, uh, from Messy, third year to New York to messy fourth year. What's next for Steph? Hopefully something big. Hopefully, it's a great year. It's, uh, you know, it's my honours year, so it'll be be a lot of work. But, um, we have an exhibition. We'll have an exhibition at the end of next year. So I think in October. So your whole year is basically coming up with something to to show and hopefully you get people interested in your work and you get get outcome from it, and good outcome for you is what a job. Hopefully, hopefully something I'd love to go overseas and and work. Um, you know, it's another another year from now, so just try to live in the moment. The full transcription of the recording ends. A list of keywords/tags describing the recording follow. These tags contain the correct spellings of names and places which may have been incorrectly spelt earlier in the document. The tags are seperated by a semi-colon: 2010s ; California ; Coming Up ; Job ; Out Proud ; People ; Space ; Stefanie Upchurch ; Stuff ; The Trevor Project ; Wellington ; adoption ; advertising ; arts ; bisexual ; change ; clothing ; coming out ; community ; confidence ; connections ; crying ; difference ; directing ; documentary ; dress up ; email ; equality ; exhibition ; face ; fashion ; film ; gay ; hit ; identity ; images online ; internet ; lesbian ; love ; march ; marriage ; media ; nude ; opportunity ; other ; parents ; photography ; press release ; proposal ; queer ; reflection ; rent ; sexuality ; shooting ; smile ; time ; transgender ; university ; visual arts ; work ; youth. The original recording can be heard at this website https://www.pridenz.com/stefanie_upchurch.html. The master recording is also archived at the Alexander Turnbull Library in Wellington, New Zealand.  For more details visit their website https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.1089200. Please note that this document may contain errors or omissions - you should always refer back to the original recording to confirm content.