Celebrity Photographer Dominates TwitChange Auction

By Cara Davis | March 15, 2011 at 5:15 am

TwitChange ended another successful celebrity auction for charity this past weekend – but this time the leading auction didn’t feature a celebrity. It featured entertainment photographer Jeremy Cowart.

As the auction began to build, Cowart couldn’t help but laugh knowing people were scratching their heads as to who he was in the company of Kim Kardashian, Zachary Levi, Eva Longoria and other stars.

He tweeted:

“RT @stellarvelocity: @DavidBlue the highest bid is $5100! Who the hell is Jeremy Cowart?! // You’re not the only one wondering that. ”

We talked with Cowart about the auctions, which raised more than $12,000 toward educating women through CARE, a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty.

How did you come to be part of the auction?

Jeremy Cowart: Well, that’s a great question cause obviously I’m not a celebrity. A friend of mine, Shaun King, actually founded TwitChange. Shaun and I have worked together in our efforts with Haiti. So after watching a couple rounds of TwitChange, I came up with an idea for a future campaign. I called Shaun and pitched him the idea. He said “Well, it’s a great idea but if we’re going to do it, you need to be a part of a TwitChange campaign.”

I said, “What do you mean by be a part?” He said “people need to bid on you so you can experience it firsthand.” I said “You DO realize I’m not a celebrity, right??” I thought he was crazy and wondered who in the world would bid on me? After a couple times of us going back and forth, I finally gave in and agreed. So that’s how it all started.

What do the winners get?

The basic prizes are all Twitter-based so fans can get followed, retweeted or mentioned by their favorite celebrities. But most celebrities give additional prizes in addition to the Twitter prizes. And some celebrities match the winning auctions and donate that money to the cause. So in my case I decided to give away my LifeFinder DVD and a photoshoot for each auction.

Were you the highest auction? How did you feel about your auctions being higher than notable celebrities?

Yes, as far as I know I ended up being the highest auction. It is truly and I mean TRULY bizarre to beat all these other celebrities. I was shocked to say the least. I guess people really want photos??

Can you tell us what one of the winners has requested?

One of the winners wants me to photograph her daughter who is an aspiring model. Should be fun.

What causes are you passionate about?

I’m passionate about what we’re doing with Help-Portrait. I’m also interested and/or passionate about adoption, child abuse prevention (especially being a parent), and figuring out inventive ways to help out with natural disasters.

What’s next for you?

Hopefully developing some iPhone apps, I’m speaking at TEDx Nashville (April 9), lots of photoshoots and a couple more trips overseas this summer. Oh, and a move to LA with my family. No big deal haha.