Today we’d like to introduce you to Drew Miller.
Hi Drew, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Hey there. My name is Drew Miller and I am the owner and operator of Cullen Studios. Along with commercial and lifestyle photography, I specialize in audio and video work. I am based in Savannah, Georgia.
In 2012, I left my hometown of San Pedro, Ca for Brunswick, Ga. Here, I attended classes and worked at the College of Coastal Georgia. I helped run their student newspaper that churned out tons of content. We released physical and digital issues, video blogs, podcasts, social media content on a tight deadline. During the evenings I was moonlighting as a head banquet bartender for a resort. On the side, I was the sound producer and camera operator for a media company I co-founded. The mornings were reserved for classes. It felt like I was living my life as though my hat was on fire.
A few years after graduation, I meet the love of my life and move to Savannah two weeks before the great quarantine of 2020. At one point in the year, I was working two jobs again where duties include taking pictures from time to time.
Sometimes the answer is staring at you right in the face and you don’t even see it. Every job that I have had in the last decade involved me doing camera work in some capacity, and I was taking pictures for fun and as a freelancer as well.
In such strange and uncertain times, I realized photography served as a constant through-line that I could rely on to help keep my sanity in the literal sense, pandemic or not. I finally began to acknowledge my old friend and decided to start my own business.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are loads of fears and anxiety living rent-free in our heads and floating about the world already. Inevitably these elements transpire when starting a company and sadly, the pandemic amplifies this for businesses that aren’t tied to a major corporation. Almost everyone in the world has been through the wringer the last few years, so I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge this looming fact. Everyone has been affected in ways that we will never fully grasp. A dumpster fire is just another way to get warm compared to what 2020 was and continues to be.
This fact coupled with poor mental health has been brought out my biggest obstacle: myself. The Imposter Syndrome is strong with this one. It has always cast a long shadow of doubt over what I do in regard to dreams, goals, and accomplishments. With that, I was too worried about moving forward with what made me happy.
Therapy was a game-changer. It still is. It has given me the clarity of mind that I hadn’t had in years. Reaching out for help is scary because we make it scary. Being vulnerable is terrifying in this world and it should not be. Therapy is dope. Everyone should go.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Firstly, I love capturing photos and videos of people. Then comes commercial work. All I really want to do is get out there and connect with artists, makers, small businesses, and young entrepreneurs. There is an abundance of under-showcased talent in this city. I want them to have access to clean and polished representations of who they are and what they are about in the form of media.
My proudest achievement stemmed from a collaboration with said folks. It is both a somber and joyous achievement. I lived in Brunswick, GA for nearly a decade. It’s the kind of town where if you forgot what you did yesterday, the neighbors can tell you. Everybody knows everybody, somehow, some way.
Ahmaud Arbery is a name that is forever imprinted on my heart. He was from Brunswick. The absolute tragedy of his murder sent shock waves across the world and the epicenter of it all was/is his family and our little community. What do you do with that kind of shock? I don’t know. I don’ think I ever will.
A few friends from the area and I started working on a project trying to document what was happening through the eyes of a local, I suppose as a coping mechanism, and as a way to try and understand what can’t be understood. Artist Elli Perry wrote and recorded a song about the situation, while photographer MJ Johnson and I gathered footage over the course of half a year.
At the same time that we were piecing together this project, a group was forming named YOUth Speak Justice. They are an organization founded and led by youth from Glynn County, Georgia in response to the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. Their mission is to engage young people in social justice work and community lead activism and to amplify the critical role our youth can play in the fight to dismantle systemic racism. This group is absolutely unreal. They have a board of directors where the oldest is somewhere around twenty-four years old and the youngest is around nine if I remember correctly. They are doing the Good Work.
As if it were kismet, all of our paths converged at the completion of our project. Initially unsure of what we were to do with what we made, we took our project and set up a donation page through Elli’s website. People can view the project and pitch in. 100% of the proceeds go to the YOUth Speak Justice in perpetuity.
I am forever humbled by the experience and opportunity to work with amazing people that were creating a glimmer of light in the face of such a dark tragedy. Things may seem grim and upside down most of the time, but there are great people doing great things out in our communities working toward a common and shared humanity.
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: cullenstudios.com
- Instagram: cullenstudiosmedia
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cullenstudiosmedia
Image Credits
Cullen Studios
