Malik Sharp started with a simple premise — walk in faith, create memories. Now he leads a team of five, offering world-class photography and videography services for Memphis-based weddings, senior sessions, portrait shoots, and corporate events.
Anyone can point a camera and capture appearances. Sharp aims higher. Great photography captures feelings, intangibles and details an untrained eye or subpar camera might miss. This is especially true during the emotional milestones of life. Sharp’s company, Featherstone Photography, strives to capture those details in all their fleeting, momentary glory, mindful that joyous moments pass quickly but photography has the power to preserve them in time.
Sharp makes copious use of the natural splendor in and around Memphis, capturing his subjects amid fields and in the backdrops of trees, bathed in natural light. Nature coaxes an innocence and playfulness out of his subjects, whether it’s a gaggle of groomsmen, a prancing toddler or an elderly couple renewing their vows.
Browsing his blog, it becomes easy to remember that the photographer plays as much of a role in a great photo as the people being photographed. Sharp presents his subjects, from engaged couples to graduating seniors, with the brimming enthusiasm of a proud papa, half-giddy on the romance of the moment. He seems positively thrilled to be a part of these pivotal moments, and he’s serious about his role in making memories that last a lifetime.
Some photographers regard wedding or portrait photography as their “day job” that supports their “real” art. Sharp seems to harbor none of this pretense. Some of the greatest art was made within the parameters of a commercial commission. Every portrait is a chance to capture a unique subject in unique surroundings. In doing so, Sharp walks in the footsteps of master artists who made timeless images out of commissioned portraits of rich nobles. He does it with a difference, though — Sharp follows a distinctly American tradition, bringing this kind of timelessness to ordinary people, capturing the noble human spirit in every Memphian who hires him.
That passion for service is also the stuff of good business. We expect Sharp’s star to continue to rise in the Memphis firmament.
