What are the three most valuable lessons you have learned traveling?
1) Money is a tool, not a token for happiness
2) You don’t need a lot of material goods to be happy at all, just enough to survive honestly
3) Anything is possible with the right mindset
Is there any artist/photographer who has inspired your art? Can you name three?
I have always found myself more inspired by mindset and personality and work ethic as opposed to just the creative output. With this in mind, I think the people who have inspired me to be a better version of myself are the ones who have ultimately inspired my art.
Julius Kahkonen (@visualsofjulius)
He is my number one inspiration, without a doubt. Julius is a good friend of mine, who I was lucky enough to meet in Thailand in 2018 for the lantern festival. This guy is so young, and so accomplished, and SO hungry and driven. It’s insane! Being in his presence even just for a week made me feel even more goal oriented and made me want to work harder!
Sam Kolder (@samkolder)
This guy is an inspiration to me because of what he has done, which is something that I have always kept in my sights as an end goal. He has created a brand around himself, his name and his work style and quality, that people now pay/work with literally just for association. Most companies with content needs would love to work with Sam Kolder, because in doing so, they know that the exposure that would come from his name and brand being involved alone, would benefit them greatly.
Josiah William Gordon and Sasha Juliard (@josiahwg & @sashajuliard)
These guys are both friends of mine, and inspire me equally in different yet very similar ways. Not to say that I know everything about them or that we have hung out hundreds of times, but I have spent a fair amount of time with each of them, enough to have a personal opinion about them which I can then compare to their “social status” if you will. They both have a super admirable lifestyle in my opinion, very different but both equally admirable. They are both true photographers in my opinion. At the moment there are so many people who call themselves photographers just because they bought expensive gear and have an Instagram account. These guys have such an incredibly curated and talented eye for good photography that it scares me. When seeing them shoot, it is so obvious the passion that is behind it, and they are also both very talented portrait photographers, and each have a clean yet unique editing style.
Any new projects coming up or countries you will be visiting soon?
Always projects in the making, but I am heading to Malta on Friday (in 4 days) which is a destination I have never been to. Also going to Nice in France which I only saw for a few days many years ago (never with a camera), and then off to Hungary and Austria too which are also places I’ve never really seen properly. All before heading to Indonesia in mid-August and then it won’t be long before I head to Australia for the first time ever too! Always so many things in the pipeline, which is another reason why I love this lifestyle, literally always things to look forward to.