Cornell
Watson
What up, fam?! I’m Cornell Watson, a dope-ass Black photographer based in Durham, North Carolina.
It’s low-key surreal writing this bio as a teacher for Illuminate. When I picked up my first camera years ago, I found myself taking courses here. Since then, I’ve photographed national ad campaigns for companies such as T-Mobile and I frequently contribute as a freelancer for national publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post. I’ve learned so much on this visual storytelling journey, and I’m excited to share and inspire.
There was a time when one of my biggest fears was showing up with my camera and not being able to create anything I’d be satisfied with. What’s changed since then is that I have more control over my photos by being able to recognize and play with the different elements of composition. Now my anxiety is less about making good photos and more about whether my joints will be sore the next day.
If you’re curious about what I’m doing when I’m not creating photos, being the best spouse in the world, or writing bio’s while my three-year-old daughter is coloring the walls with non-washable crayons, you can find me passed out from exhaustion on the living room couch.
Cornell’s work has appeared in national ad campaigns for companies like T-Mobile and in national publications such as the New York Times and Washington Post. Cornell was also the 2020 recipient of the Alexia Foundation grant for his award-winning photo series “Behind the Mask”
