Jeremy Cowart

At STORY2026 in Nashville, photographer Jeremy Cowart did something I'm still thinking about.

He had the house lights turned off. Then he asked everyone in the room to turn on their phone flashlights and point them at themselves.

He took a photo. The light was harsh, everyone looked alone, and the whole shot was dark.

Then he asked us to turn our lights toward the people around us.

He took a second photo. It's the one above: warm, bright, and everyone lit up together.

Same room. Same people. Same phones. The only thing that changed was where we aimed the light.

Thank you, Jeremy.