Hello, and welcome to my website! SplittingImagery.com!

My name is Genesis Tillman, and I’m a black non-binary photographer based in Atlanta. I occasionally write when I actually find the time, but mostly I take pictures and just leave it at that.

Originally, I started out with nature photography back in 2020. I’ve always had a creative interest when it comes to visual media in general. When I was a kid I wanted to animate, when I got older I would make videos with my friends in College. Now? Now I take pictures because it’s my happy medium.

With Nature photography, I always found it to be peaceful, it was a nice escape to have during COVID, and dealing with feelings of shame or inadequacy from my life coming to a halt. In a way, it became a somatic process for me to express and release my emotions, rather than intellectualizing them. When the lockdown lifted around 2021, I started to become friends with all kinds of people, roaming into random events, taking short little road trips with my camera. I learned that there’s truly no right or wrong way to truly do anything. Art of any kind is no exception to this. Especially with the introduction of AI in creative spaces, and how it, and its creators seem to be emphatic on simulating creativity, rather than attempting it.

I never really went into photography with any projects in mind until 2026, or any set goals when it came to photography, really. I got into taking pictures solely because I love and enjoy it. That’s not to say I don’t have anything major to say with the photos I take — or have taken in the past, I definitely do. Part of the reason why I do mostly black and white images is to focus on what’s going on in the image, focusing less on distractions with color, more about the placement of subjects and objects. What’s still in frame and what’s in motion. I occasionally will write about my experiences, but if what I have to say is not more beautiful than silence, then I prefer not to say anything at all.

Authenticity to me is more important than appearances — I hate masking, I hate pretending to put on a performance in order to be someone I’m not. We all put up with that in school, work, other hobbies, photography is the one thing I will not compromise that on. This is the one thing for me where I can escape expectations, where I can truly just do what I love without the need to be technical about everything all the time.

There’s this book I’ve been reading about Daido Moriyama, it’s called “How I Take Photographs,” by Takeshi Nakamoto. In that book, Daido is quoted saying “For me, capturing what I feel with my body is more important than the technicalities of photography. If the image is shaking, it’s okay, if it’s out of focus, it’s okay. Clarity isn’t what photography is about.” I enjoy the technical aspects of photography — composition, color grading, focal lengths and their separate uses, it’s all good fun. But I don’t take photographs for other people, I don’t take pictures to establish myself as the “thing” that I do. I don’t document others lives for the sake of a good shot. I’m multi-faceted, I do a lot of creative things. It just so happens that I love this particular one the most.

No, no, I take photographs for myself. I do not perform, I don’t compromise on my values, and I don’t play pretend to get what I want. I photograph, because I enjoy it. That’s all there is to it.

What do I like to photograph you ask? All sorts of things. Nature (of course), documentary, planned shoots, events, etc etc. I do all of it. I’ve even done some gonzo journalism when it comes to finding niche communities and finding the people responsible for them, and seeing what makes them tick, or why they came up with what they did.

I’ve always had a deep respect for people doing more with less, personally. Focusing less on corporations, and leaders. More on what individuals can do. Currently, I embody that philosophy, as I use mainly M42 lenses paired with a Sony A7III. “Do you do that for the unique looks these lenses make, or because no one else uses them that often?” Nah, I use em because they were cheap, and I wanted to do more with less. That is my philosophy.

Doing more with less, it is art.