#151 - All Humans Outside with Tommy Corey

Tommy Corey’s eye for outdoor portrait photography landed him front and center in the hiking community during his 2018 PCT thru-hike when he began posting fashion-esque portraits of fellow thru-hikers under the project name “Hiker Trash Vogue.” The photo project captured the attention of major outdoor brands and was even featured in Outside Online. Tommy received high accolades for his work, but it was also pointed out that his subjects did not represent a range of diverse backgrounds in the outdoors.

Tommy went to work studying and trying to understand better what “diversity” and “inclusion” meant in the outdoors and in 2022 found himself once again on a trail headed north along the Continental Divide Trail. It took him 800 miles of hiking to realize he was not doing what he set out to do by documenting diversity in the outdoors so he left the trail to pursue a new and comprehensive portrait project he calls “All Humans Outside.” The idea is to be able to open a book of 100 portraits and stories and see someone like yourself represented in the outdoors.

This podcast episode is a conversation between myself and Tommy about his CDT realizations, his upcoming project, and what “diversity” and “inclusion” really mean in the outdoors. This is a topic I often find to be tough to nail down at times, not to mention for some, emotionally charged. Those terms along with ones like “community” are thrown around like candy these days and I find myself sincerely wondering where it all leads and how to approach it.

Conversations like this one aren’t meant to solve problems. They’re meant to discuss them and gain perspective which is exactly what I personally achieved.

Please enjoy this episode with Tommy Corey.

Show Notes

Catching up with Tommy after Hiker Trash Vogue

What happened on the CDT in 2022

What Tommy was seeing and NOT seeing on the trail

The creative process on the trail

The idea of thru-hikes as a Pilgrimmage

What the PCT meant to Tommy

Tommy’s new BIG project

Understanding what diversity and inclusion actually mean

Tommy’s creative process

What diversity and inclusion means

Thoughts on what “community” is

Takeaways from Tommy’s interviews

Taking on such a big photo project

Experiencing how others enjoy the outdoors

Understanding the “why” behind your actions

Details on the release dates of the photo book

How to follow the project

Links

tommycoreyphoto.com

All Humans Outside on Instagram

Personal Instagram

By Land Links

LEARN HOW TO BACKPACK: https://www.learnhowtobackpack.com/

YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChSSISEgIfwYz2cc0aHQj3g

JOIN A FACEBOOK GROUP: https://byland.co/facebook-groups

INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/emory_by_land

LEAVE A TIP: https://byland.co/donate