Sometimes people ask me how did I get into photography and it’s a complicated answer not filled with the normal, I imagined that it was destined for me, I was called for because it wasn’t. It started for me in a dark part of my life. But as We Know some of the greatest things are born from the dark and from the Shadows.
Born with yellow jaundice I spent the first week of my life fighting for my life. The fight changed a number of years later with the by the byproduct of cocaine, Crack cocaine epidemic. I watched as my 11 12 13 14 and 15 year old friends Behavior change, their parents were using or they were using I lost them all by the age of 17, the poverty level was appalling and as a young man I always try to help my community, with sports, theater with singing, dancing anything to help me get through my environment without those detrimental factors leveraging themselves upon my dreams.
I saw the murders of friends then and even now I’m still witnessing the murders of my friends children hard to deal with very hard to deal with. I couldn’t afford a camera my first camera was my mother’s Polaroid instamatic camera I would take it to school I would take it everywhere and take pictures of black people even though that wasn’t hard around my time everyone in my city was black. After all those pictures where I lost I ended up giving up photography until I joined the military where I took photos a different events different black history events because we didn’t have a photographer back then nobody thought about photograph and what we were doing. after my discharge from the military I lost my love for photography again. And then just like my own existence in the beginning of this story my daughter was born and I picked up a camera again. Never having a professional camera just small point-and-shoo Polaroid’s and a idea. I will take pictures of everything that she did no I did not get a chance to photograph her first steps. fast forward again to one of my previous businesses the point and shoot camera worked okay but the volume of the business required something that could help me take faster pictures. I purchase my first DSLR and work on private portraits in various lighting situations and props. D 3200 I believe. almost simultaneously a begins again calls to come and do photos for reelection bids with no experience I went turn my camera on auto and I did what I thought a photographer would do., needless to say it turned out basic I was doing major events just showing up just pushing my way through the door. I was never invited but I was always welcomed, after I realize that the portrait photography wasn’t for me, I focused on civil injustice and poverty now equipped with more equipment but I will never probably learn how to use I’m able to gather the world’s condition through my eye in the world’s technology.
Yasentertainment 