My name is Jeff Costlow, for 10 years I have been doing photography and video production in the Washington,DC metro area specifically in Arlington,VA. I'm currently in the process of re-locating to the Wilmington,NC area. While in the DC area I have practiced many genres of photography and have maintained a Flickr gallery and a Youtube channel.
From 2005-2007 I studied Photography at Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria and from 2006-2007 I studied video production at Arlington Independent Media(A.I.M.). I returned to A.I.M. in 2012 to study more video production this time specifically in (HD) High-Definition production and in digital editing. Outside of Photography courses I also attended Northern Virginia Community College from 2007-2009 for Criminal Justice.
Throughout my life I have often had to defend the right to take photographs and to film especially while in public spaces. This is a 1st amendment right under the U.S. Constitution recognized nation wide and is a matter of Free Press and Free Speech.
I advocate for civil rights in all situations but have found without reason and without charge that many photographers around the country face many challenges by police and government for documenting a variety of things with cameras whether its everyday people and places or especially recording government and police officials. I myself have been unlawfully stopped and illegally detained dozens of times for simply utilizing my right to photograph and to video record a variety of subjects in multiple scenarios, none of which would be against the law nor constitute being stopped/detained by police.
In 2008 I met a beautiful local model while out taking photos who directed me to use a site called Model Mayhem to connect with local models to work on portraits and a wide range of "people" pictures. I have been on Model Mayhem since and have found it to be a helpful site to link to local talent and to explore building portfolios with them. My account there can be found at www.modelmayhem.com/jeffcostlow.