Stacy Pearsall, Owner of the Charleston Center for Photography

Stacy Pearsall is the owner/director of the Charleston Center for Photography. During three tours in Iraq, she earned the Bronze Star Medal and Commendation with Valor for heroic actions under fire.  After being wounded in action, she was medically retired from service.

As a combat photographer, she is one of only two women to win the NPPA Military Photographer of the Year competition, and the only woman to have won it twice. Her work has been published in various media to include Time Magazine, New York Times, CNN, BBC, LA Times, USA Today, Soldier of Fortune, Sports Illustrated, Bahrain Times, Oscar nominated PBS: Operation Home Coming and GQ Magazine: This is Our War. Most notably, she was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and also featured in national magazines, Pink, Popular Photography and Newsweek, where she shared my experiences as a female combat photojournalist.

Pearsall’s project titled Birth Control Glasses was featured at LOOK3 Festival of the Photograph. The Halsey Institute of Contemporary Art presented a selection of her photographs in an exhibition, War on Terror: Inside/Out. She has also been exhibited in Washington D.C., Hollywood, New York City among other locations. Her portrait collection titled, The Veterans Portrait Project: South Carolina Edition, is on permanent exhibition at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center and was featured during the 2010 Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival. She continues to amass portraits in other states and has a goal to photograph veterans from every state across the United States. She continues to travel the world on assignment and conducting photography workshops.

Some of her clients include the Air Force Recruiting Service, Army Recruiting Service, Associated Press, Barnes and Noble, BBC, Boeing, CNN, Columbia Museum of Art, Department of Defense, DSM Dyneema, Femmes Universelles, GQ Magazine, LA Times, Lockheed Martin, McDonald Douglas, Medical University of South Carolina, PBS, SKIRT Magazine, Soldier of Fortune, and USA Today.

LowcountryBizSC:
How did you become involved in the military?

Stacy Pearsall:
I come from a long military lineage on both sides of my family, so joining the service at age 17 seemed like a logical choice.  My great grandfather was a Marine in World War I, my grandfather on my mother’s side was in the Navy at Pearl Harbor, my grandfather on my dad’s side was in the Army during Korea and my dad was in the Navy during the Viet Nam era. In fact, my sister was the first A-10 aircraft crew chief in the Air Force.  Pretty much everyone in our family has served in the military. 

I grew up a military brat and moved around a lot.  I graduated from a high school in South Dakota and because I was always interested in the arts, in particular drawing and painting, I decided to pursue an arts degree.  I earned my Military Photojournalism degree from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Growing up in the military helped me develop an ability to adapt to different situations and make new friends.
LowcountryBizSC:
What did you hope to achieve with your combat photographs?

Stacy Pearsall:
I spent the first four years of my enlistment as a U-2 spy plane intelligence film processor at the US Strategic Command and then in the European Command. When I entered Combat Camera Squadron in January of 2002, I didn’t have much experience behind the camera other than as a personal hobby.

My goal as a military photographer was to share the trials and tribulations of the soldiers on a personal level, to convey the emotional roller coaster ride they go through every day of their lives.  From missing their wives and children to seeing friends die in combat, it’s not an easy life.  I hope the personal touch in my photographs is what sets apart my body of work and gives people in the United States insight into what soldiers go through. 

LowcountryBizSC:
How did you become the owner of the Charleston Center for Photography?  What is the Center’s mission?

Stacy Pearsall:
I was wounded twice in action, in 2004 and again in 2007; the second injury that put an end to my military career.  When I was in rehab, I started thinking (and worrying) about what I would like to do next with my life.  I started volunteering first and then began working part-time at the Center for Photography in Charleston and in 2009, the owner, local photographer, Jack Alterman, offered me the opportunity to buy the business.  Since then I have grown the Center and expanded its mission.

LowcountryBizSC:
What is the Center’s mission?

Stacy Pearsall:
Our mission is to promote and teach photography.  The Charleston Center for Photography is a 5,600 sq foot facility that offers photography classes and workshops, digital and wet-process printing, studio rentals, youth art programs, photo galleries, photography services and more – to everyone from raw beginners to professionals. We draw people from all over the world to the Center.  Being located in Charleston is a huge asset.  People love coming here because they can combine learning about their craft with tourism. 

The Center has allowed me to stay in touch with my friends in the industry at major publication such as National Geographic and Sports Illustrated and invite them to come to Charleston to give seminars and workshops. 

LowcountryBizSC:
What is Center’s business model?

Stacy Pearsall:
Our business model is paid memberships and workshops.  Professional photographers can make use of this space to meet with clients etc, and we also offer general memberships.  Members are given discounted rates on classes, workshops and printing services that we offer.  Our workshops can last anywhere from one to three days and our classes are six weeks long.

LowcountryBizSC:
Talk a little about the challenges that photographers face in the digital age?

Stacy Pearsall:
Everybody has the ability to take photographs these days, and everybody loves the instant gratification of being able to send pictures directly to local newspapers, or social media outlets.   One of our goals is to educate our members on the importance of owning their own images, the value of their photographs.  We try to teach them about the business and ethical side of the profession.  Still, it’s a challenging time for photography as a profession. The upside is Charleston still has a great need for photographic talent. 

LowcountryBizSC:
Recently you were nominated to be on the board of Wounded Nature – Working Veterans, a Charleston-based non-profit that combines a commitment to the cleaning up the environment and also getting veterans a job?  Talk about the importance of giving back to the local community.

Stacy Pearsall:
The Center for Photography is heavily involved in giving back to the local community.  We provide free educational outreach to local school at all levels, elementary, middle and high schools. 

I am lucky to be alive; I have friends that weren’t so lucky.  As a survivor, I feel as though I have an obligation, the honor, to advocate for veterans who might not be able to advocate for themselves.

When I see the high unemployment of veterans, the homelessness, the suicide rates, it is very disheartening.  I play a pivotal roll in changing and writing new policy regarding women veteran’s rights. I’m involved in disabled veteran outreach and recovery care coordination. Plus I advocate for the VA, DCoE, LifeQuest Transitions and AF Wounded Warrior Program. I’m an active member of the American Legion and lifetime member of the DAV and VFW – all with the interest of returning veterans.

I was approached by the founder of the Wounded Nature about serving on their board and was immediately attracted to both sides of their mission – jobs for a wounded veterans and a strong concern for the environment.  Employers often don’t want to hire veterans figuring that soldiers will bring their problems such as post traumatic stress disorder into the workplace.  Being military my whole life, I know that there are attributes in each and every one of us that an employer would be lucky to have.  Wounded Nature is a great way to help put wounded soldiers on a path to success because it gives them a chance to foster the talents that they learned in the military that they can them bring to potential employers.

LowcountryBizSC:
How do your injuries affect your ability to function in your new business roles?

Stacy Pearsall:
Aside from my physical wounds, I suffered a traumatic brain injury that at times causes me to lose my train of thought and I might jumble my words at times, but I am okay. Having this disability gives me a chance to speak firsthand to the type of challenges our returning veterans’ face to the average American who wouldn’t otherwise know, especially to small business owners.  I love what I am doing at the moment and feel very blessed to be where I am.

LowcountryBizSC:
You’ve achieved a great deal in your life thus far.  What are you most proud of?

Stacy Pearsall:
I am very proud to have co-written a song, God Challenged Me, that will help raise money for wounded warriors.   Other than in the shower, I have never actually sung, so it was a project where I just had to jump in the deep end and swim.  The song can be purchases on iTunes under the Faces of Freedom Album. Also, I recently completed a 200-page book, which features a collection of combat photographs and written vignettes that will hit the shelves on October 2012.

I could not do all of this without the support of my husband, a 22 year military veteran and also a fellow photographer.  I am doing my best to help out veterans through the Center, the board of Wounded Nature, and through many other ways that I am involved with the community.  I will keep doing that until I draw my very last breath.