SU student integrates hip-hop and fashion culture into photography

The Daily Orange – The Independent Student Newspaper of Syracuse, New York

For Larson Bodden, life has always looked better through the lens of a camera.
The New York City native was first introduced to photography in high school while working on the yearbook staff. Now Bodden is an active fashion photographer at Syracuse University, but he didn’t realize his hobby was actually a passion until his sophomore year.
“I started off shooting places and then transitioned to people,” said Bodden, a senior exercise science major. “It gives me the opportunity to meet new people and experience new places and new things and make a connection with people.”
With the passion came a need to practice. Since New York City hosts a significant artistic landscape, standing out among up-and-coming photographers took more than just snapping a nice picture. He practiced portrait photography in his city and with the diverse people who live in it.
“When I go back to the city, sometimes I leave the house 8 in the morning and don’t come back until 9 at night, and I just roam the city going around and shooting,” Bodden said. “I’ve met people while shooting. It’s like a connection. You have a camera, I have a camera — it’s an automatic conversation right there.”
It is that desire for a connection that made Bodden shift his creative inspiration from architectural structures to people. He started taking portraits of friends and has had the opportunity to photograph University Union concerts with artists like MadeinTYO and Russ. Since changing his vision, Bodden has started to expand his portfolio by practicing photography whenever and for whoever wanted to collaborate on his photography explorations at SU.
But for Bodden, it was hard to deny the realm of fashion photography. There was an overwhelming demand for photographers from models and fashion enthusiasts on campus. It took only a few photoshoots for his inbox to be ...

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