Capturing a Real and Honest Life

“Going to see Warped Tour in like 2007, at the height of being a teenager, I don’t think I could be any happier. Surrounded by hundreds of your friends, hundreds of people who are like you, listening to good music in the middle of blistering heat,” is one of Gregory’s best days.

Gregory Cross, whose pronouns are he/him and they/them, told me they do in fact go by Gregory but will respond to Greg as many people just assume that’s what they go by. They were born on July 7, 1988 in St. Louis, Missouri. “Which makes me about to be 33? I try to not think about it.” They were born and raised there, but moved away and traveled for some time before going to college, but the sentiment that once you’ve lived in St. Louis you can’t seem to escape it (if you know, you know), rings true for them as well and they now live there again.

As a child, he looked up to Mario Lemieux, a hockey player for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and wanted to be a hockey player himself which clearly “that didn’t pan out, because I’m not in the NHL right now.” He loved going to school but didn’t go all the time because “my parents had too many kids to keep track of.” As a teenager, Gregory had “a billion” jobs. Right after graduating from Pattonville High School he joined the workforce in response to needing to help his family. He had already worked throughout high school, so he continued in his line cook job and worked his way up to a chef. He did this until it wasn’t fun for him anymore. “If I didn’t like something, I’d be like, I’m out of here,” so there weren’t many he didn’t enjoy.

They were almost sued by Lady Gaga once. They used to work as a screen printer in established print shops, but they also bought their own machine and worked out of their home. They made things such as uniforms for local teams, but they also started making fan merch for a Lady Gaga fan account on Tumblr. It was fine at first, but then they got a “really mean and aggressive” cease and desist letter from Lady Gaga’s lawyer thinking they were running a big giant business when they were really running this out of their own home. “I asked him if I could talk to her,” but they were met with a resounding ‘absolutely not.’

He started his college journey at St. Charles Community College. “It was terrifying.” He didn’t think he’d be able to go back to college; he thought he was too old for it. But after two years there and completing some general credits, he later transferred to Saint Louis University, majoring in communication with an emphasis on media and journalism studies, to further his career interests. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March of 2020, work slowed down for him, and that was the driving force for him applying to SLU.

When Gregory was a kid, Jerry Naunheim Jr., a photojournalist for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, followed their family around to do a story about their younger brother and they were captivated. “He kind of planted the idea of photojournalism as an option. When he was around I was just obsessed with watching him work, watching him take photos, learning from him." They cite Jerry as the real inspiration of their life. They were around college age, 21 or 22, when they bought a video camera to capture their travels around the U.S. They found how much they liked it and was soon offered a job shooting videos for a construction company.

When he lost his younger brother and his best friend in the span of a few months, it was life altering. It was a wakeup call. “I need to live life better, I need to not be so scared, it could end at any time. I should go out and do the things that are scaring me.” After this he went on his first road trip with friends and when he came back, he started applying for jobs he would never dream of. He cites this as ultimately what led him to be a photojournalist.

The conversation flowed and right they were in the sentiment of them saying if anyone who knew them as a teenager would think it was a joke that they interview people as part of their job now. “We have to hold his hand when we go into a restaurant, there’s no way he could do that,” they imitated what people would say. Gregory has anxiety. I would have never guessed it, but that’s something people work towards and is something I and many others can relate to personally. Them opening up was something of a gift; it gave new light and perspective on them.

Now that Gregory has found journalism “it’s definitely something that I want to do.” He currently works as a freelancer, and one of his current jobs is for a St. Louis area high school covering their sports. This is by far his favorite thing to cover, and in particular, he loves to cover basketball. He’s most proud of the major publications he’s been in because he never thought he’d be “in anything significant at all”. Some he loves that most are a photo published in a National Geographic article online and a photo featured in a New York Times article from when he worked as a photographer for Six Flags. His dream camera is a Hasselblad XPan, a film camera that they no longer make, but you can buy used for the small price of around $4000. I asked him about his dream story to cover. As a child, he lived specifically in Bridgeton, Missouri up until eighth grade when the Lambert International Airport bought out the area he lived in. It displaced so many people. He said he “would recreate people’s houses in their lot where they grew up. Because people really miss it. Some people can go to their childhood home and walk through it and see it, but I can’t, and a lot of other people can’t”. He would use his dream camera to capture these moments.

On top of his career, Gregory is also recently engaged. He and his fiancé went to the same elementary, middle, and high schools, but were a few grades apart. And despite having a lot of the same friends, never really talked or hung out. They “eventually met, you know the old-fashioned way, on tinder” four years ago. He was originally supposed to propose to his fiancé in Italy on a trip as they love traveling together. But that was in March of 2020; the pandemic hit, and all plans were thrown off course. So, a few months of his girlfriend being antsy because she had a feeling it was going to happen went by until they took a trip to Thanksgiving to Sedona, Arizona and there he proposed. Together, they have two dogs and a cat that he was reluctant to mention because it hates him, but he says it all with a smile.

I was tasked with profiling Gregory, and they told me much about themself. I asked them to describe themself from many points of view. I asked them about what a movie about their life would focus on, “the most interesting part of my life. Early 2000’s I went to probably a concert or a show every night. Those five or six years where I lived at venues.” They jumped on stage and danced with Pete Wentz at a show once. How they want to be remembered: “real and authentic. If I was remembered like that I’d probably be happy”. If there’s life after death: “I hope so. I hope we all get to hang out in the afterlife and have a big party, whatever the afterlife is. As long as we’re all happy”. And why we were here: “to continue to exist. I try not to think about it. Is there a reason? Maybe there isn’t one”. And they were all wonderful answers as you read above.

But to be selfish, as the person whose byline appears on this story I’m going to give my own description; Gregory Cross is someone you want to be friends with, someone who you want to keep asking more questions to because his life philosophy and how he has lived is something captivating. He’s resilient, funny, a jack of many trades’ past and many more to come, and has seemed to have lived a thousand lifetimes already. “Real and Honest” is how he described himself. And to be really honest, he’s absolutely correct.