Darnell McCown “discovered” photography when he was about 12 or 13 years old. Photography, for him, was always about looking, seeing, and creating a redefined view of the world. He never had a darkroom and was never a yearbook photographer. He poured over the works of famous photographers such as Stieglitz, Steichen, Cameron, Curtis, Cartier-Bresson, Brassai, Adams, Arbus, Michaels… the list goes on. A year and a half into college, Darnell first changed majors and then, later, universities in order to pursue photography. He dropped out after a couple of years but eventually went back to graduate from Texas A&M Commerce with a BS in photography. He then worked the sales floor in a camera store, freelance assisted, assisted full-time, and, eventually, went out on his own. Darnell has, at times, grown weary of photography; there was a period in his life when he didn’t touch a camera for over a year, but has always come back to it because he believes that he has a talent for it. Darnell thinks some of his abilities are inherent, but he also thinks a great deal of it is the result of hard work, persistence, practice, experimentation, and failure, as well as being able to honestly assess his own work and being able to listen to criticism while still being able to trust his own instincts. For the last 30 years, Darnell has worked in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in his own studio, at Fossil, and at Heritage Auctions, photographing small products, primarily jewelry and timepieces, for advertising and catalogs. During that time, he has had the privilege of working with a great many very talented people. His photographs have been used locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally, and have been published in magazines such as InStyle, Veranda, JCK, W, Town & Country, and Vogue.
