Today we’d like to introduce you to Atticus Hohman.
Hi Atticus, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Since I was a child, I’ve always gravitated toward making films and videos. I grew up in a house where my dad worked a lot for the theme park industry and my mother was an art teacher. Growing up I never was too good at drawing; my mother would try to sit me down and get me to make things but I always wanted to get up and do something else and she knew right away to let me go and explore what I wanted to do rather than force something on me. I continued to make narrative videos through high school with my friends acting as the director, cinematographer, and sound mixer, a whole one-man crew.
I had always had a camera with me at all times since about middle school, whether it was taking photos of me and my friends doing suburban shithead adolescent stuff like jumping off our roofs into pools, riding our bikes across town, smoking weed, skateboarding in schools, and lighting off fireworks in public places. I set out to plainly document my adolescent childhood as much as possible. Middle school was when I discovered shooting photos on film, something about that medium felt so much more special and powerful than shooting on DSLRs or iPhone cameras. Getting those prints and negatives back from the lab reminded me of the previous weekends of what we all did; I knew I wanted to always have these memories with me because I knew this time of my life would prove very special.
Once I began to really establish that all I wanted to do with my life was to create things I made sure to pick up and learn as many creative fields as I possibly could. I started with making films and ended up making clothes, making music mixes, learning graphic design, writing, drawing, and taking lots of photos. If I saw something I really wanted to try and do, I would try and do it.
Once I got to college, I felt like I really established what I liked and what I hated. So, I continued to work on as many creative projects as I possibly could, this was also the time I really began to do more artwork. During my freshman spring term of college at UCF, suddenly we were no longer allowed to sit in a classroom anymore, we weren’t supposed to leave our homes, everything was being moved online, and spending time with people with who you didn’t live with was now a risk. Suddenly we were all home quite a lot now, and I had a lot of free time on my hands. This was when I really began to do a lot more artwork and I discovered collaging. I began trying to get a piece done once a week in order to improve but also pass time.
I pretty quickly began submitting my artwork to contests, magazines, and galleries. I got denied a lot but eventually, I started to get accepted to group shows and a couple of magazines. I never knew people wanted to see my photos or my artwork, I simply continued to do them because I was passionate about documenting and also expressing my inner thoughts.
A little bit later I began to discover the power of travel and seeing whole new worlds and communities with my own eyes, this provided me with so much inspiration once I discovered traveling by myself and what I could do and where I could go. This and the extremely cheap covid airline prices I was going all over the place during the year of 2021. I began realizing the complexities and intricacies of Americans as I truly began my love for people watching and sparking small conversations with strangers. I traveled by train up the east coast from Orlando to Boston and documented my entire journey, talking with people, taking photos, and writing down my thoughts as I got a FastPass of seeing part of this country I had never seen or experienced before.
This is where I began to realize I wanted to create videos documenting people here in Florida and what they do. Getting tiny glimpses into their lives and their little subcultures. That summer I filmed three mini-docs for a youtube channel I started called We Got It Good. I followed a graffiti writer, a dirt bike rider who does tricks on public roadways, and a guy who goes and documents abandoned properties all across Florida. I never realized until recently how much more interesting documentary filmmaking was to me than narrative work. Some of the most interesting and thought-provoking things come from real life and not some fictional narrative. While I continue to go to school and get my degree, I’m also attempting to continue making these short documentaries documenting these people who I’ve met during my time spent living in Orlando who I feel deserve some sort of spotlight in their lives and should be able to be shown to the public what they do and why they do it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’ve had quite a few friends die recently and seen some pretty traumatic things happen pretty early on in my life and childhood but it’s nothing that would ever stop me from pursuing and continuing to do what I feel like I need to do with my life.
I care very deeply about my friends, in fact, it’s one of the things I most truly care about because without my friends and I’m truly nothing. They are the root of many of my inspirations and continue to play such an influential role in all aspects of my life. I hate to see my friends struggle because I’ve been so lucky my whole life not to have too many things to technically really worry about. I want to help my friends as much as I can but there is only so much, I can do.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
As of right now, I focus on telling these short-form mini-doc stories of people I meet who live in Florida and have an intriguing career or pastime that I feel needs to be documented. I produce these videos either as a one-man crew or a minimal 2–4-person crew made up of my friends.
I also continue to work on my art, whether it be mixed media pieces or photography projects that are ongoing. I currently have a zine project that I’m preparing to wrap up this summer titled Train Trippin that follows my journeys cross country via the amtrak talking and speaking to people along the way and showing the journey through my photos. It’s important for me to always be working on something. Always be creating, it’s what I feel like I have to be doing at all times.
I am also currently pursuing my BFA in Film at the University of Central Florida as I try to juggle all of these creative endeavors. It’s been difficult but I feel like I’m able to balance these projects pretty well, always seeking out that moment of feeling finished on a project you put a lot of time and effort into is always the prize I’m chasing.
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
Pretty early on I was always eager and motivated. I always wanted to work on something, do something, and create something. I’ve always been described as being very motivated but I’m not entirely sure where it all came from; I just feel very hungry and lucky to live the life I live and I want to accomplish and do as much with my life as I possibly can. I’ve also been told by people that I’m a very chilled out mild-mannered type of person which I feel makes it easy for people to talk to me, I’m always all ears and ready to spark a conversation with random people. You learn so much about a person when you simply speak to them and ask questions.
Contact Info:
- Email: atticushohman27@gmail.com
- Website: https://atticushohmanfilms.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/atticushohman/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/atticus.hohman/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVYnf_I1hWYal64kOX00QMQ
Image Credits
Hayden Church
Sadie Phillips
Aggie Foster
Harryson Thevenin
Michael Raffoul
