Amber Law – All Roads Lead to Home

Maya Angelou said, “I long, as does every human being, to be at home wherever I find myself.”
For Amber Law, the concept of what it means to be at home is a driving force behind her
current work. Law traveled far from her native home of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to pursue a
Master of Fine Arts degree at East Tennessee State University. It’s a journey that has led her
down her current artistic path as she uses the lens of her camera to take snapshots of similar
travelers on their own journeys. Her goal is to explore what it’s like for a generation on the
move and ask just what home means to a new generation of world travelers.

Law had a conservative and rather sheltered upbringing, with her family often worried about
the outside world and the harm that could come to her. But as a self-described rebel, Amber
has always tried to test her limits. After initially attending nearby Southeastern Louisiana
University to pursue a degree in drawing and painting, she fell in love with photography. While
preparing to graduate with her bachelor’s degree from Southeastern Louisiana, she was told
about ETSU’s graduate program by a professor who was familiar with the program. While she
was initially looking into moving to the Pacific Northwest region, things fell into place for her in
Johnson City as she was accepted into the master’s program at ETSU. For Law this became a
chance to step even further outside her comfort zone.

Coming to ETSU became a liberating experience for Law. In addition to leaving her comfort zone
in a literal sense, Law also branched out in her photography. When she first began, Law
photographed herself as a way to show an individual in a state of change. “For me that derived
from growing up Pentecostal and starting to question my beliefs,” Law said. Eventually, this
series of photographs became more about identity. However, when she came to ETSU, her
professor urged her to break away from that and explore something new. That’s when Amber
joined the International Buccaneer Buddy program.

Finding new subjects to photograph is not easy when you come to a place where you really
don’t know anyone. Law said she has had friends who were international students for years,
and even when she was back in Louisiana, she felt she could relate to them well. Knowing that
she was experiencing many changes after moving 12 hours away, she wondered what these
international students were feeling after moving much further to attend school. As she
befriended several international students, Amber began feeling comfortable enough to ask
them if she could photograph them in their home. This would be the seed that would grow into
her current “Wanderlust” project.

“I decided I would just photograph international students; then it was just going to be women;
then just international women. And now I’ve broadened it to anyone who travels often,”
explained Law of how her project grew to encompass a larger scope. Law believes that this
generation of college students has really embraced a more nomadic life, and she wanted to
examine how that impacts them. She photographs her subjects in their beds wherever they are
currently staying — whether it’s in a dorm room, apartment or hotel room. She was inspired to
explore the question of what home really means to people after meeting an international
medical school student from Ghana who attends ETSU while his wife and children live in
Arizona. In some way, all three places he visits during the year are part of his home. “The whole
thing about home is where your heart is … that implies that it can only be in one place and have
one home when, really, you can have several. And if there are several homes, does that mean
there isn’t a home at all.”

One of the biggest things that Law wants to highlight in her work is underlying tension. She says
that often she sees work that seems very nicely staged but lacks the key element of tension
that brings a personal perspective. When she speaks about her favorite artists, whether fellow
photographers or painters, she speaks about how they convey emotion so well. That is why Law
says light is so important, along with how the area is staged. Law comes into each room and
rearranges it in a way that is most conducive to conveying the tension between being
comfortable in a space and, at the same time, slightly uncomfortable due to unfamiliarity. The
biggest obstacle to achieving this can sometimes be the subjects. Amber explains, “It’s hard to
strip a person down to be themselves. As soon as you put a camera in front of someone they
change.” That is why she often will talk with them and get them comfortable, and once they let
their guard down, she is able to get more natural pictures. Law says she is “stealing pictures of
them,” so she never wants to come across too imposing or demanding.

For Law, the “Wanderlust” project — which will serve as her thesis project — is an ongoing and
changing process. Next up is a trip to Europe to connect with people she has befriended who
live there now. Her hope is to get shots of some of the people she has photographed elsewhere
as well as connect with fellow travelers who can serve as new subjects. While exploring
unknown places can sometimes be an anxious or scary experience, Amber believes that is what
makes an artist’s work great. “If you are ever comfortable in your art and your work, then
something is wrong.” She says the best work often comes when you are either terrified because
it’s completely new or you are excited because of the possibilities. She credits Professor Mike
Smith for challenging her to be a better photographer by doing things she would never
otherwise consider and leaving her safety net behind.

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