Today we’d like to introduce you to Brian Cook.
Hi Brian, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Born an raised in Muskegon. Come from a family of artists, carpenters and machinists. Art was encouraged at a young age. Using your imagination and hands to create something was something i developed a love for early on. My grandfather was a photographer and he passed down the passion for taking pictures.
I received my first camera when I was 13 and fell in love with capturing the world around me.
This passion would eventually lead me to Art College in Chicago. Though this was a short lived adventure. I never stopped using cameras.
When I was 15 I began experimenting with drugs and alcohol . By the time I turned 18 I was a full blown alcoholic. Drinking occasionally turned into everyday and a way of hiding how I felt inside.
By 19 I found myself hooked on benzodiazepines. What started as a way to deal with anxiety became my new love, Being high was way better than being drunk.
In my my 20s I became addicted to Fentanyl. This would last for 7 years. Most with an addiction to fentanyl dont survive. Some how I did.
Through all of this I was still practicing photography and creating the best I could, but never amounted to much.
After 13 years of addiction and wasting my life I found the long road to sobriety. I am now 13 years sober. Sobriety opened my eyes to what I could actually do with my art and photography became my new addiction.
When you go from long term addiction to nothing cold turkey your life becomes very plain. Photography became the new most important thing in my life.
With a new lease on life I began spending free time volunteering for Habitat for Humanity in their Restore. I still volunteer multiple times a year. Habitat gave me a new direction. One that was based around the idea of giving back. I have since then used my art to help other artists and musicians develop content to further their art.
In 2024 I was given the chance to do something for a whole community. The city of Muskegon gave myself and my friends the opportunity to build a DIY skatepark. The past two years have been spent creating something for the Skateboard community. Developing A place for people to go who have been lacking a skatepark in our area. This project was a way for me to truly give back something I felt I owed everyone else for the years of mistrust and addiction.
What I try to accomplish, on a daily basis, is to give back what I took during those years of darkness. I will never be able to fully repay this world for my life being spared. So i will always try my best to be a better person.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The road has never been easy, From a young age I began dealing with mental Illness. As I grew older it grew worse. When I was 19 I was diagnosed as being Bipolar and schizophrenic. The years prior to this diagnosis I dealt with my problems by binge drinking on a daily basis. It hid the problems. And only made it worse.
By the time I was 21 My life became complete disaster. Drug addiction became a way to deal with my problems. I lived many years dependant on Fentanyl and copious amounts of Valium. My brain and dependency to one substance or another brought me to levels of great low.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a documentary photographer. I document the word around me, Whether that be sports, motion, live music or architecture. I try to create a picture of the things that interest me and create a visual story to tell it.
My current focus is skateboard photography. I also occasionally work with musicians. I spent close to 8 years working with local and national acts all across Michigan and the mid west. When Covid happened all shows ended and my direction had to change. Photography keeps me sane. So once all the venues closed I started working with local skateboarders and developed a new love for something that I had been photographing since I was a teenager.
My photography is my way of giving back. My mental illness is something that prevents me from living a “normal” life. Always has. But art has given me a way to thank those around me.
Art is the driving force behind everything i try to accomplish. Im known for being that person who comes out only to create. Capturing something that gives back to those in front of my camera. Art is my favorite medication and without it i wouldn’t be who I’ve grown into
Alright so before we go can you talk to us a bit about how people can work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
My work is available to be seen on my social media. Im always open to work with someone new.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @briandcookphoto
