A simple glance at the work of David Schrott and it's difficult to believe that he only started taking pictures as a senior in high school.
"I shot a lot of film that year," jokes Schrott about his days working for the Lancaster Christian School yearbook staff. "Sometimes the editors were getting mad at me for shooting too much. I just had a lot of fun doing it."
While Schrott fell in love with photography that senior year, he wasn't sold on making a career out of it when he initially went off to college.
After spending two years studying at Drexel University, the Philadelphia resident decided that he wanted a change of pace, so off he went to Boiling Springs, North Carolina - a place he describes as a "one stoplight town."
His time in Boiling Springs was short-lived and Schrott soon returned home. While working to pay the bills, he decided that he wanted to start taking pictures again, so back he went to Drexel to finish his photography degree.
"As soon as I went back, I kind of had this weird, instant success with my pictures," says the 25-year old photographer. "My pictures all of a sudden went from being just okay to really good."
That light switch being turned on was due mostly to S
chrott realizing that photography was what he loved the most.
"It took a long time for me to figure out that I really enjoyed it," he says.
One of the turning points for Schrott was going off to New York after his junior year of college to intern for famous photographer Rodney Smith.
"That was a lot of fun," he says of his time working with Smith. "My earlier work when I went back to Drexel was definitely influenced by him. I'm still influenced by him to a degree. I think the way that I compose my pictures is a lot like him."
Schrott says that one of the most important lessons that he learned from Smith was learning how to relax while at work.
"He told me to just make good pictures and not get concerned with anything else," he explains. "He said that as long as I was making good pictures, they would speak for themselves. I think that was one of the most important things that I took away from him."
- Comment
