As I get older, I find it harder to believe in “coincidences”. I worked as an intern at a law office in August ’17. I’d taken photos since ’13 and met Brad thru Tumblr & Instagram. He talked me through 2FA and showed me the social media blockchain, HIVE (STEEM, at the time), my first crypto.
I went to school that year hyped. I found a platform to share my photography- one that helped me make more. No disrespect to web2, but since I didn’t ask subjects for pay, I had to work to make ends meet. Web3 helped me reclaim my work.
I showed Jared & my roommates Banking on Bitcoin, my crypto blog & Binance. I sounded like a maniac, but I knew I was onto something. Might’ve been early, but I couldn’t help but get excited about shifting paradigms. Forget user generated content- hello tokenization and aligned incentives!
Now, I heard of Crypto Kitties in ’17, but didn’t get Ethereum at all. Only reason I had any was cuz Acidyo showed me Gods Unchained. (Thank you.) Making my own NFT’s sat much further away.
In ’18, thanks to help from a mentor, I held a gallery on campus of my career of 5 years in photography. An interesting pattern emerged: isolated subjects in unique settings. I considered their significance to the work and myself.
You see, early on, I risked it all to climb to rooftops. Through those adventures, I trained patience and perseverance. Many times, you don’t get up on your first attempt. What’s more, lagging behind could land you in a ham with The Man.
In time, I found the highest views did not fascinate me much more. Often, I focused on capturing subjects in unique settings with candor. Chris fixed on his subject, or Jenise looking off in the distance during a fashion shoot; even Sen looked for away like my many subjects. I feel we have the same “look” when we ponder.
I aim to capture more through my study of individuals. I can see periods, figures, styles… I see so much ahead, which I cannot wait to share. Thanks to aesthetes like MikiPixel who collect my work, I can produce more of my best.