If you live in Atlanta, you‘re probably familiar with the incredibly talented photography couple, Aaron Coury and Cleo Coury — even if you don’t realize it. Aaron is one of the founders of the #weloveatl Instagram community, with more than 50,000 followers and almost 600,000 tagged photos currently under its belt. The community took a life of its own after a 2012 art show at Young Blood Gallery and has hosted various exhibitions since. Cleo is a photographer as well, with a knack for capturing children’s joy through her lens.
The caring duo recently traveled thousands of miles to Africa in hopes of using their gifts to impact the lives of others. They reached out to Oasis For Orphans, a non-profit in Kenya. “It was honest, and raw, and abundant,” Cleo says about their trip to visit the children at the orphanage and photographing them.
Here, CommonCreativ talks to the couple about the land they fell in love with, how art can help heal and more.
CommonCreativ: When did you move to Atlanta?
Aaron: I was born in New Philadelphia, Ohio. I moved to Atlanta in 2005.
Cleo: I was born and raised in Cape Town, South Africa. I was on a two-year contract with an Au Pair exchange program. I started in San Francisco, and things didn’t really work out at all, so I ended up moving to Michigan (yowza!) in the heart of winter. The host family I was with in Michigan was somewhat worse than the first, and just as I was about to give up on America, a host family from Atlanta reached out and took me in on June 2013.
CC: How did you two meet?
Aaron: We met at a #weloveatl event through a mutual friend, who was actually interested in my roommate. Then we saw each other again two weeks later at a wedding I was shooting and Cleo was singing at, and the rest is history.
Cleo Coury
CC: What inspires you?
Aaron: New perspectives, locations, and faces. Traveling to places I’ve never been to before opens up what feels like a new world to capture. I love the challenge of new.
Cleo: Nature. Music. Silence. I have a very dramatic imagination and I feel things very deeply, so any of those three things are bound to get my wheels turning.
Aaron Coury
CC: Do you have any upcoming projects in the works?
Aaron: Well, I just recently got a drone, and so I’ve been spending a lot of time flying and learning how to edit video clips. I’ve also really been immersing myself in cinemographs. Those have been keeping me busy expanding my tool set, but I’d love to get some collaborative work going very soon.
CC: How did you get connected with Oasis for Orphans?
Cleo: At the beginning of last year, Aaron and I started dreaming about what it would look like to marry our passions — mine being children’s photography and his being landscape and portraiture. We thought about reaching out to some nonprofits, and then we remembered that we have a very good friend who works for Oasis For Orphans. We sat down with the director and really hit it off with them. It was definitely supposed to happen.
CC: Why is Oasis for Orphans important to you?
Aaron: To know that I have the power with a simple camera to bring light to an organization that is helping educate, clothe and feed kids in need in Kenya — it’s of utmost importance.
Cleo: I resonated very deeply with the heart of the organization and even the missionaries in Kenya, it was like I’ve known them my whole life. They have a very passionate and sincere desire to give hope to the hopeless, and the job they’ve done so far with those kids is remarkable! I think meeting the kids and seeing the manifestation of the staff’s hard work with them was inspiring and stirred up a lot of gratitude. They’re bridging the gap.
CC: How can others can get involved?
Aaron: There are lots of ways to get involved, from making a one-time donation to sponsoring a child on a monthly basis to actually going over there for a short-term trip and loving on the kids. Knowing the people who run the organization, I know they would be willing to collaborate on innovative ideas as well. We were unable to give financially at the time, but were able to use our gifts to help bring exposure.
Cleo: If you’re unable to donate financially, you can be a part of it by running. They have marathons every year that you can sign up for and get a t-shirt and all the funds are poured back into the organization. It’s also tax-deductible.
CC: Do you have any plans on going back to Kenya?
Aaron: We hope so! There have been talks of another trip, but nothing on the books as of yet.
CC: Aaron, how did you come to be one of the co-founders of #weloveatl?
Aaron: My friend, and one of the other co-founders of #weloveatl, Tim Moxley reached out to me through Instagram and asked if I’d like to help curate a show that would allow the people of Atlanta to show what they love most about their city through photography. I loved the idea and jumped on board, and #weloveatl was born just a few weeks later.
CC: When did #weloveatl start? How much has it grown?
Aaron: It started in October 2014. We now have over 56,000 followers on Instagram, with over 565,000 images tagged with #weloveatl. But those numbers don’t account for the friendships formed over the years through our Instameets, collaborations that have happened, and new communities born. We hope and believe that it’s helped shape and push Atlanta’s photography and arts scene, and will continue doing so for years to come.
CC: What are your favorite subjects to shoot?
Aaron: Landscape is how I initially got interested in photography, but I’ve fallen more in love with making portraits of people over the years. But Cleo has definitely become my favorite subject to shoot by far.
Cleo: My favorite subjects are definitely children, my goal is to capture their playful nature. They remind me to not take myself too seriously.
CC: What are some of your favorite local projects and artists right now?
AC: I’m a huge fan of Benito Ferro’s work and have loved following his journey over the last couple years. His building murals are some of my faves. Kyle Brooks is another favorite, I always enjoy seeing his happy signs all around town. I also loved the concept for ColorATL and was super impressed how well it turned out.
Follow Aaron Coury and Cleo Coury‘s adventures on Instagram.
