About Derek
The Photographer
Derek Goodwin (photo by Selena Dittberner)
I am a photographer and media-savvy artist who splits his time between Northampton, Massachusetts (known to some as the Pioneer Valley), and New Orleans, Louisiana. I graduated in 1996 from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a BFA in Fine Art Photography and began my photography business in 2000 specializing in weddings. I have photographed over 200 weddings since then. I love to photograph people, animals and events. I photograph families and children, as well as senior portraits. I love photographing musicians, bands and live performances. I also photograph models, head shots, glamour and boudoir. I of course have a special place in my heart for companion animals (known to many as “pets” – I prefer a name that implies less ownership and more friendship).
I am also known for my photographs of fire dancers, poi spinners, hula hoopers, and burners (those whose lifestyle includes activities like one might find at the Burning Man Festival. Basically people who like to dress up and play with fire. And of course belly dancers!
On weddings:
My favorite compliment from one of my brides was that I am a “calming presence”. Considering the stress levels on a typical wedding day I think it is the best thing a bride could say about anyone who spends much of her day with her. I believe that the reason that I am a calming presence is that I am engaged in the events that I photograph. I am not only there working but I am tuned in to the emotion and the rhythm of the day. In each moment I am looking and thinking and reacting. I have done this many times, each one different, always open to new possibility. I am a guide through the transitions from dressing to ceremony to pictures to reception. I am in love with my craft the way the bride and groom are in love with each other. I want the photos to be nothing short of amazing. I want people to cry when they look at them, from the emotional connection to the frozen moment.
The Vegan Activist
polaroid grid of Derek Goodwin by star drooker
I went vegan on New Year’s Day 1996 with my then-partner and now best friend Megan Shackelford and have never looked back since. By 1998 I was enmeshed in the Rochester vegan community and was serving on the board of directors of the Rochester Area Vegetarian Society (RAVS).
Moving to Northampton, Massachusetts in 1999 I began to put my talents as a photographer and web designer to work for the movement. I created the web site Veganica.com which launched in 2000 as an online community for vegan artists and musicians. The site is still popular to this day (and will be getting a much needed upgrade soon!). In 2001 I began photographing events and animals for Farm Sanctuary and also became the photography advisor for VegNews magazine. My photographs of sanctuary farm animals have since been published in dozens of magazines, newspapers and books all over the world. Many of the them will be featured in the new book Ninety-Five: Meeting America’s Farmed Animals in Stories and Photographs by No Voice Unheard press.
In 2005 a community radio station called ValleyFree Radio launched in Northampton and I decided a show about veganism would be just the thing. In October of 2005 Vegan Radio made its debut and featured me and my co-hosts Megan Shackelford and Scott Lahteine. Together we covered news stories and events, interviewed vegans and animal rights activists, and played music by vegans. The broadcast shows were digitized and made into podcasts. Vegan Radio was one of the earliest vegan podcasts and remains one of the most popular today. In December of 2005 I received Farm Sanctuary’s Outstanding Activist Award.
2006 was the year that I got the Good Egg Award from Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary and the “Friend of Farm Animals” Award from Farm Sanctuary, honors I will cherish for the rest of my life. I also began to work part time as a vegan baker and vegan brunch chef at Cafe Evolution in Florence, MA, which I continued doing until the end of 2009.
In late August of 2006 I went to the Burning Man festival and was inspired by the amazing artworks and abundance of creativity among the participants. This event grows in size and scope every year and is shaping culture and art all around the world. I realized the potential that bringing a vegan message to the event could have and in an epiphany came up with the concept of a veggie-powered school bus that would be a vehicle for doing education and outreach about veganism – the Vegan Bus.
In April of 2007 a group of vegan friends and I began fund raising and by August had purchased a full sized school bus and converted it to run on waste vegetable oil (WVO). We took the bus on its maiden voyage of 6000 miles (round trip) from Massachusetts to Nevada to attend the 2007 Burning Man Festival, where we joined with an organization called Vegcamp that did outreach and education at the event.
Most recently I have co-founded a non-profit organization called Evolvegan that will help fund the Vegan Bus, Vegan Radio and Veganica. It is the culmination of all of my dreams and schemes. Our mission statement is:
To use art, performance, and media to increase public awareness about the connections between dietary choice, personal health, cultural ethics, and globally sustainable ecology.
I moved to New Orleans in January of 2010 to help establish a southern base for the Vegan Bus Project. I am hoping to keep the bus and myself here in the colder months, and run tours up and down the east coast. Since moving here I have also gotten a job as the New Orleans Vegan Food Examiner. I am also involved in starting a vegan baking collective in New Orleans to get better options into cafes.
