This is the first installment of our ongoing series of conversations and interviews we will be holding with a variety of people from all aspects of life and society. We decided to use the medium of photography as a starting point for this collection. It’s commonly said that photography sings a song of life and we celebrate this statement whole heartedly. Whilst browsing the internet late last month I stumbled upon the work of Emily Burtner by chance, I instantaneously found a deep interest in her photography after only seeing a small proportion of her shots. Her body of work seems to echo this aforementioned song of life so I decided to find out her story..

Let’s begin standard procedures, tell us a bit about what makes you who you are?
The people I know – my family and friends, the internet (no joke/duh), punk/DIY, lately I’ve been a slave to my job at a cafe/sandwich shop which isn’t the most fun, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do.

Where are you in the world right now, what do you see?
I’m in my bedroom which basically also functions as my studio, in Baltimore, Maryland. I’m staring at a tiny hand drawn calendar I taped to my wall for reference and it’s bumming me out – lots of work and little fun these days.

What was your first passion?
Probably ballet, or maybe The Monkees.

So can you tell us about your beginnings as a photographer?
I found my mom’s SLR at some point early in high school and was devastated with the results from a trip to the beach, everything was underexposed or nothing but splotches of lightleaks (which may be exciting to me now, actually). Regardless, I was enamored with the mechanics of the camera, so I took a couple black and white darkroom classes and figured out how a camera was supposed to work, snuck into the abandoned steel mill in town with some friends and got a few good shots. after that, it became expected that I’d have a camera with me through every adventure (or non-adventure).

I recall you graduated from Maryland Institute for College & Art last spring, how are you finding the transition from academia into what you’re involved with now?
The transition has been strange (although I know I’m not alone in this feeling of strangeness), I feel lucky to have been able to keep myself actively working since finishing my formal education. I wish I was doing more work in the field I studied (design), but I’ve kept busy with making and I’ve been getting back into reading. I like the idea of being a life-long learner and for now I’m just trying to find a balance in self-learning, actively making work, and working (to pay the bills).

You suggested that getting out of education means you’ve got more time to do what you want to do. Do you find it beneficial to finally be free of the restrictions that academic study brings?
I wouldn’t say beneficial as much as timely. I’ve had a really great experience at MICA, but it ended at the right time for me. I like being able to work on my personal projects at my own pace. In school, most projects or assignments ran at 2-4 week turn around, but now sometimes I’ll work on a project for three months or sometimes I’ll throw it together in one night and it can all feel equally finished if I think I’ve done it right. I don’t have a set process for working, it’s all arbitrary.

As the punk community seems to revolve around a free thinking ideology, I was wondering whether or not you have an opinion on the grassroots movements and community driven initiatives that are arising throughout U.S? From the groups of individuals cycling from state to state giving seminars on raising awareness of environmental issues to the globally recognised ‘Occupy’ movement?
I’m not particularly involved or knowledgeable of all of the issues challenging the U.S. and the world at present. Honestly, I primarily get my news from The Daily Show and what my friends post about on facebook :-/ (that isn’t to say I’m not concerned with these things, there’s only so much depressing news one can take in throughout a day). That said, I find it really encouraging to see people doing something about their discontentments. It’s not a new thing by any means, but I suppose it feels new to our generation because this is one of the first times many people our age are getting upset and trying to do something about it. Again, I’m not the most knowledgeable person, but I’d say these movements are steps in a better direction, in general.

Your photographs present an obvious appreciation of the natural beauty within your country. As saddening as this is, there’s no doubt that the environment is being destroyed at an alarming rate primarily due to deforestation. What do you think can be done to protect the remaining Nature Reserves in the U.S?
hah, again, I’m not exactly the most knowledgeable and I certainly couldn’t suggest any new way to reverse the destruction taking place, if there’s one thing an individual such as myself can hope to do, it’s to instill an appreciation for what remains- a desire to preserve and protect it. I hope my photographs (along with those of many, many other talented photographers shooting similar subject matter) can help inspire people to get outside and fall in love with what’s left of the nature in this world. I also feel very strongly about “take only pictures, leave only footprints” and I even go so far as to try to carry empty bags to collect the trash of other more careless visitors. (side note: doing that has also helped me get out of trouble with authorities when caught illegally swimming in a nearby reservoir!)