Photographer Hunter Armistead’s story is a fascinating one. From the very beginning, self expression through art and creativity was not a luxury for him.

“I am someone who lost his childhood due to severe PTSD. I don’t have a stick of  paper, drawing, recording, or any evidence of the artist I came to be as there was  none to begin with. I came to art as a senior in college through a jazz dancing  course. 

The freedom of expression and the fact that I was outside the confines of  any expectations or knowledge of my conventional family and peers turned me  loose and got me thinking. It was an escape from normalized society which I had  no idea how to authentically navigate. 

From that point I became a really good club  dancer in the disco era. From that I bounced to photography to film school to  having my own rock band. I returned to photography after a successful 17 year  career as the front man for that band.” 

One could say that he sort of stumbled upon photography.

“I sort of fell into it! A testing  service when I got out of college recommended Photojournalism as my best  choice– even though I’ve never picked up a camera! As soon as I bought one and discovered I had some kind of a knack for it I was happily surprised.

 I worked hard  on it for about a year and a half but got sick of the dark room and abandoned it for  20 years until I brought my camera with me to Nepal, where I spent the summer in  2000. While I meant to use it to document my stay, the work actually sold  extremely well and I realized I could probably make a career out of it. 

It still took me around five more years before I began as a photographer in earnest. That was 2006.”

We asked him about what and who inspires him and he simply said: “my main inspiration at the  stage in my life are those artists who imbue meaning and purpose in work which  provokes and inspires others. 

There are a number of artists in Germany,  especially Gregor Hildebrandt, Jaro Straub, and Wolfgang Tillmans, whose work  fascinates me. So damn smart, clever, deep, and well-executed. I also follow a  number of artists on Instagram who continuously raise the bar. 

I also am inspired by great poets such as Rilke and Yeats as well as numerous musical geniuses like John Lennon and Bowie.” 

His artistic purpose is slightly shifting, he confesses:

“I’m entering  a new phase in my life where I want to be more autobiographical and focus less  on solely aesthetic images. The idea and context is most important, but of course  the execution has to match. 

My overriding message will be authenticity and  showing things which are uniquely me. Hopefully that will inspire and provoke others.”