Passion for Photography
Left: DESIGN INCORPORATED: Photographer and designer Jessie Frary poses for a headshot. Frary, a Clarke Central High School Class of 2009 graduate and former member of ODYSSEY/iliad program, now works at Zaxby’s Corporate and enjoys when she gets to design for her job. “I have learned so much even within my job because I'm constantly having to troubleshoot (problems) and so I feel like I've really honed in Photoshop a lot more over the last couple of years,” Frary said.
On November 3, graphic designer, photographer and Clarke Central High School and ODYSSEY Class of 2009 alumna Jessie Frary visited the iliad/ODYSSEY production class to teach editors about design. iliad Editor-In-Chief Kaija Gilbertson Hall spoke to her about her experience with photography and design.
Kaija Gilbertson Hall: How did (being in ODYSSEY) (introduce) you to the world of graphic design?
Jessie Frary: It was definitely a big foundational building block for what I do today. I started in graphic design when I was a freshman here at Central back in 2005. Then, I attended the (Governor’s Honors Program) for graphic design in the summer of 2008. From there, I got pulled into the ODYSSEY and had dual roles of being a part of the news staff (doing) photography and graphic design. So I've always kind of been involved with graphic design, and I continued to study it in college. I have used it in so many formats and for so many reasons. It helps with web design and with ads that I've had to build for various businesses that I've worked for in the Athens area, and obviously I use it now in my current job (at Zaxby’s corporate on the franchise training team).
KGH: That's really cool. What is your favorite part of design in your job at the moment?
JF: So, I don't really do design at my job just for art-based reasons, it's more instructional. So, I kind of reserve the things I do on my own as being the more artistic thing. I do a lot of photography and sometimes I'll do heavy photo manipulation and so I'm in Photoshop a lot for that. There was a time that I was running my own online music magazine, I did that in college, and had to do a lot of web design. So in a way, that was kind of like graphic design, too.
Left: SPOOKY SHOTS: Jessie Frary takes a photo on Oct. 24, 2021. The theme of the photoshoot spooky in anticipation of Halloween.
Right: The result of Jessie Frary’s photo is shown on the right.
KGH: What made you want to start your own online music magazine?
JF: Music was my thing. I randomly found a business card at a coffee shop down at Georgia Southern (University) where I went to college and it said Vinyl Mag in big letters and a contact and I was like, “I wonder if she needs any writers.” I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I reached out to her and she's like, "Hey, it'd be great to have you as a writer and a photographer." And so that's where I got my feet wet with music journalism. Then I went on to build my own (magazine called Good Night Mag) and oversaw a bunch of writers and photographers. It turned into a huge production, but it was really hard to keep up with by myself. And all of us were volunteers, obviously. It was just so cool to go and interview these artists, take pictures of them performing and listen to new music that hadn't been released yet that we got to critique. It was the coolest feeling and now I'm trying to ask some other people in the industry that I've gotten to be friends with through doing that and I'm like, "Does anybody need a writer?" because I like to write every now and again.
KGH: Do you have a design project that you are proudest of from any point in your life?
JF: I don't know if you're familiar with The Gashlycrumb Tinies. So it's this story, it's an abecedarian book written by this guy named Edward Gorey. It's from the 1960s, he wrote an illustrated this book about children and their whimsical little lives and the mundane ways that they could possibly die. It is super morbid, but if you read this book, it's absolutely ridiculous. I thought the coolest thing would be to make it into a coffee table book with photography, so I had this huge undertaking that I did back in 2018. I was like, I'm gonna go for it. My photography business is called Hexenwood and I have a friend that would handle the makeup for me and a friend that would handle the hair for me so I hired them on. I had this little team, and over a period of a couple of weeks, we would just knock out (the photoshoots) all of these people that wanted to be a part of the book and we would dress them up as their respective character. And it was such a huge Photoshop undertaking. I was like, I know I'm biting off something bigger than I can chew right now, but I'm gonna try it. Seeing that completed and having it in a book, oh my god. It was such a fulfilling thing. It was so cool to see the finished product.
Right: SPOOKY SHOTS: Photographer Jessie Frary took this photo on Sept. 22 of a friend in her backyard. Frary enjoys improving her Photoshop skills through various projects. “(The subject of the photo) was in this big old antique wedding gown and we had a mirror on the ground. I had her on this big step stool and she's got a huge veil over her face and this creepy pose with her arms up and everything,” Frary said. “ I Photoshopped out the stool and fixed all the lace and everything so you couldn't see the stool at all so it looks like she's floating and coming out of the mirror.”
KGH: What advice, artistic advice, or even just (general) advice, would you give to high schoolers?
JF: Don't be afraid to not fit in. I know, it’s so cliche. But it's true, looking back, it sounds so cocky and I don't mean it to, but like I feel like I didn't super struggle with the need to feel like I fit in. I definitely was like, I'm going to do what I want and I don't really care what someone else thinks. I think there's a lot of intimidation in high school and I think teenagers should learn to just let that roll off like water on a duck's feather. It's not that big of a deal in the long run. I think individuality and uniqueness is amazing. And I wish more people embraced that. And don't sweat the small stuff because I promise you in 5, 10 years, this will be small stuff.
KGH: Anything else that you would like to add?
JF: Use your resources while you have them. (In college,) I wish I'd dug a little deeper. Whatever plans anybody has beyond high school, just definitely use your resources. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Don't be afraid to expand. Yeah, I definitely do regret not digging deeper when I was in college, and utilizing my teachers to do what they do best. So again, cliche, maybe even a little nerdy, but it's true.
Story by Kaija Gilbertson Hall