My body was policed, shamed, and ‘dirty’ long before I could formulate a full concept of what my body is.
Here’s the needful…
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What happens when every goal you set as a marker is actualized? What happens, when you get the top of the first hill, but find yourself at the bottom of a new one?
A year of learning, a year of becoming new, a year to evolve. Learning to accept the parts of me I didn't know existed, the parts of me I didn't want to accept, and the parts I didn't even know I could accept.
The decision to the begin this life path was born from a need to survive. I didn't realize that I had forgotten myself. As I grew, my life demanded more of me, my mind, my energy, my focus… In focusing on these demands, I forgot who I Am.
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Since I was young, it has always been my natural inclination to rebel and go “against the grain”. For years my parents, teachers, coaches, administrators worked hard making attempts to curb that inclination with discipline to no avail. As I look back, it was likely due to my feeling of discomfort with the standard we are all taught to go along with. A few positives came as a result of this personal realization: I realized that it helped to eliminate any inkling of having a fear of missing out and I also realized that it allowed me to find comfort in taking risks that challenged the status quo.
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A dream doesn't become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work. Success, therefore, isn't an accident but a result of rigorous preparation. A lot of people in this process adapt the mindset of practicing 'tunnel vision', an act of ignoring anything outside of the task at hand & removing the ability to get distracted by outside interests. In the process of creating and pushing towards your dream, it is instead easy to get distracted by the perception of our feet always in motion and be blinded by the fact that we aren't actually getting closer to our goals. How do we then prevent this creative stagnancy while remaining focused on our intended goal? I'm finding that the answer is a lot more complex than I was taught growing up.
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We all enter the creative world with hopes of carving out our own lane and crafting a unique style that stands apart from everyone else. We look at the Basquiat's & Lichtenstein's, whose legacies have glamorized the artist lifestyle, as examples of remaining individualistic throughout their rise to stardom. One of the biggest oversight's in this thought process is that most of the artists that are glamorized in pop culture didn't receive their recognition until their time of death. The trick is finding that individuality without losing yourself but also elevating simultaneously.
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I've been thinking for months now how to dive deeper within myself to reflect in my art and how to really go about it. With that, I have asked myself a range of questions, tried to step out of myself to really see other's perspective and really just allowed myself the space to remain honest about my process. At the beginning of it, I realized that I didn't really know where to start or what to ask myself in order to supply answers that would allow me to dive deeper, so I started first by asking other people.
Read MoreContent. Content. Content.
Read MoreTraveling is about enjoying yourself, right? It's about being present while the water washes your feet as the sand secedes back into the shore, right? As true as that may be for most, our purpose as creatives was a little different. Our biggest goal was capturing content. Content. Content. Content. In the midst of the content capturing process, we did get lost in the moment and enjoy ourselves as well but the priority was always focused on creating.
Read MoreI mentioned it last time but this shoot in particular is what truly showed me, Faith is great at what she does. So unafraid to move and extend herself, it really shows her dedication to her craft. The movements being so fluid and natural but still being able to hold composure and not loose her model-self in the images is a skill. Looking forward to our next shoot for sure.
Read MoreLove to Sunny Los Angeles. Big shoutout to the team behind this set.
Alison Norris (@alison.jn)
Jazmine Brinkley (@jazmine_brinkley)
Thank you Reah (@beeazyreezy on IG) for always trusting my visions and allowing me to capture you as vulnerable as you've ever been on camera. This shoot was great for me to explore but also to truly understand what it is that this camera can allow me to provide to both, culture & art.
Read MoreI love shooting with Jaz (@jazmine_brinkley) because of her willingness to create something deeper than surface level, we always aim to provide substance to our audience(s). So this shoot, in its fine art styling, are a testament to something we have been building towards for the extent of our collaborations. Her skill as a creative director are unmatched and I look forward to sharing more ideas and concepts that we create in the near future.
Read MoreFor all intensive purposes, I ended the past year chasing larger format shoots based on themes that peaked my interest. I set out to tap into topics that lied deep below the surface, while simultaneously, creating images that even satisfied the viewer on first look. The result was a series that I deemed, Idle/Angels.
Read MoreWe are officially 2 weeks into 2018 and already the year has started off with a bang. I started off the year with some golden opportunities and great news and still yet, I am still angry and driven to reach for me. As I've mentioned before, that feeling of wanting to as good as you envision is a natural one and is important to pushing yourself beyond your limits but it is also important to take a breath in the moment and enjoy it.
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