Today we’d like to introduce you to Corlon Evans.
Hi Corlon, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m originally from Houston, Texas, so storytelling and culture have always been in the air I breathe. I attended Sam Houston State University and was the campus camera guy. Always recording, always shooting, always in the middle of whatever was happening. I’ve always had a love for history, for capturing moments that matter before they disappear. That instinct drove everything. And people noticed. Organizations I was part of started tapping me to document their events, their milestones, and their memories. It wasn’t just a hobby anymore. It was a calling.
After graduation, I went to New York City. And that’s when everything got real.
I had the privilege of interning with Viacom and BET, working on the legendary 106 & Park, one of the most culturally significant shows in Black television history. I was in rooms learning from people who were already operating at the highest level of production. One of them was my internship coordinator, Nneka Onuorah, who would go on to become an Emmy Award-winning director, known for Lizzo’s celebrated docuseries “Watch Out for the Big Grrrls,” among many other landmark projects. At the time, she was investing in people like me. That’s not lost on me.
I also had the honor of working on the BET Awards and contributing to specials including the Alicia Keys retrospective, “The Story So Far.” To be in those production environments, around that level of creative excellence and cultural weight, it didn’t just teach me the craft. It confirmed what I already felt. This was exactly where I was supposed to be.
When I moved to Austin, I was doing video production. That’s where my roots are. But somewhere along the way I had a realization. Filmmaking, videography, cinematography, and photography weren’t separate disciplines. They were two sides of the same coin. One still. One in motion. Both capturing the truth of a moment, or creating entirely new worlds to step into and experience through the lens pointed at them.
That’s what film does. That’s what a great image does. They don’t just document. They transport.
So I wasn’t pivoting. I wasn’t strategizing. I was just sharing my gift in every form it wanted to take.
In 2021, I made the decision. No more freelancing. No more operating like a solo contractor with a camera bag. I was building an agency. Foundry House Media was born from that commitment.
Today, FHM is a full-service commercial brand photography and multimedia agency operating across Austin and Houston. We work with corporate business entities, nonprofits, and the high-visibility professionals inside them. Executives. Founders. Attorneys. Leaders who need more than a photo. They need imagery that moves across media, anchors their brand, and communicates authority at every level.
Our work has reached beyond the session room. Portraits we’ve created for clients like Carissa and Kenneth Stephens, founders of the luxury wine brand Pur Noire, have been published in Black Enterprise and Essence. That’s what we mean when we say the image is an asset. It doesn’t just live on a website. It travels.
The aesthetic we bring to every session is rooted in luxury editorial. Think Vogue. Harper’s Bazaar. Forbes. That cinematic, magazine-ready quality isn’t reserved for celebrities and runways. We bring it to every executive, founder, and professional who walks through our doors. Because that’s the standard they deserve.
Luxury editorial portraiture. Video production. Brand creative strategy. All of it, under one roof, built from a calling that started long before anyone was paying me for it.
Faith first. Family is the fuel. Business as the vehicle.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Smooth? No. Necessary? Every bit of it.
The earliest challenge was market fit. I was passionate about luxury editorial portraiture and personal branding work, and there was absolutely a market for it. The problem was that my immediate network wasn’t there yet. Small business owners who wanted to elevate but weren’t yet positioned to invest at that level. The aspiration was real. The budget gap was too.
So I had to think strategically. I leaned into corporate and commercial work, not as a compromise, but as a bridge. And what I discovered was that the corporate world opened doors I didn’t expect. The executives, the founders, the decision-makers I was now serving at the organizational level were exactly the same people who needed high-level personal-brand portraiture. The corporate relationship became the introduction to the individual one.
The other honest challenge? Consistency. Marketing. Networking. People’s follow-through. My own follow-through. Building a business is a daily discipline, not a seasonal one. I’ve had to develop systems, sharpen my focus, and hold myself to the same standard I hold my work. I’ve gotten significantly better at that. Still growing. Always will be.
The road wasn’t smooth. But every detour taught me something the highway never would have.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Let’s be real. Most people with a camera call themselves a photographer. I call myself a creative director who happens to shoot. There’s a difference and it shows in the work.
I specialize in commercial brand photography, creative editorial portraiture, video production, and brand creative strategy. But what I actually do? I help people and organizations amplify who they are through the art of visual storytelling, and then tell that story in a way the world can’t ignore.
What am I known for? Bringing a luxury editorial eye to commercial work. The kind of imagery you’d expect from the pages of Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar, or Forbes, but built for boardrooms, campaigns, personal brands, and product launches. Every frame is intentional. Every image tells part of a larger story.
What sets me apart? I don’t show up and shoot. I show up and think. Every project gets the full creative director treatment, strategy, narrative, execution. The camera is just the last step.
What am I most proud of? Building something real. From a kid with a camera on campus at Sam Houston State, to BET and Viacom productions in New York, to running a full service agency across Austin and Houston. That arc didn’t happen by accident. It happened by design.
And we’re just getting started.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Success is never a solo act.
First and always, my wife Chelsea Evans. She has stood beside me through every season of growth, the breakthroughs and the building blocks, without wavering. Her support is the quiet force behind everything Foundry House Media represents.
My mother, Dr. Jacqueline Moore Evans, is one of the first Black female chiropractors in the state of Texas, a graduate of Texas Chiropractic College. She didn’t just encourage me to dream. She showed me the traps to avoid along the way. Growing up watching her break barriers in her own field taught me more about building something meaningful than any business course ever could.
And to the good friends who have shown up, checked in, believed in the vision, and kept it real when it mattered. You know who you are. This is for you too.
Pricing:
- Professional Brand and editorial photography sessions start at $1100
- Corporate and commercial packages built around scope, team size, and deliverables
- Video production and brand strategy priced per project
- Custom quotes for campaigns, launches, and long-term partnerships
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Fhmediapro.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/foundryhousemedia
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/corlondevans
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@foundryhousemedia
