David Farmerie

Background

A career that began in 1978, in the genres of Fashion, and Music, has evolved greatly. After three years working within these two genres, I left to join the coveted worlds of Photojournalism, and Documentary, which remains my primary focus today. 

 Along this journey I also ventured into other genres, from time to time, to hone my overall skills as a shooter, but mores to expand my experiences for life and knowledge. Among these genres were Advertising, Corporate, and Product Photography. I also spent six years with a world class ballet company as my client, as well as the Broadway Series, and BBC Television. My work with BBC led me to assignment work with American Motion Picture Companies as well, having garnered seven major films to my credit.

 As a photojournalist I have covered three U.S. Presidents, as well as numerous world events, that changed history. My Documentary career began in the 1990’s with my inaugural project: A Mountain Dignity, which was the story of the Appalachian Culture of southeast Kentucky. 

My assignment work has taken around the globe, but my areas of specialty have been with indigenous and vanishing cultures; among them the Maya culture of the Yucatan Peninsula – having worked on seven photographic documentaries thought the peninsula, over a span of nine years. 

Over the past decade I have also documented the culture of the Native Americans, including the Lakota, the Wichita, and the Dine’ (Navajo). While working among the Lakota, for three years, I was also assigned to cover the No DAPL protests at Standing Rock, in North Dakota.

My current work also includes forays into the genre of FineArt, working from time to time with conceptual pieces – as a means of bringing balance, and creative expertise to my other work. I have been awarded The Most Influential Southern Photographic Artist, by the Huntsville Museum’s Red Clay Survey; and I have been afforded two museum commissions for one-person exhibitions. Too date I have also been afforded 13 one-person gallery exhibitions of my work. 

Over the decades I have been a prolific lecturer, and teacher – on photography, as well as on cultures. Because of my extensive work with the Maya cultures of the Yucatan Peninsula, and my work with the Masai, and Samburu cultures of east Africa, as well as the Appalachian culture of southeast Kentucky, I was instrumental in developing cultural education programming for the University of Pittsburgh.