Meet Kabir Animashaun | Photographer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kabir Animashaun and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kabir, how do you think about risk?
Risk taking has played a vital role in my life and my career. I learned very early in my life that in order to make strides in this world, in order to make an impact, taking a risk is very very essential. Every successful person I studied had to take some sort of risk in order to reach the position they were in. Learning this helped me realize that I had to be ready to take risks. This knowledge has continued to play a vital role in my career, whether it’s making huge investments in camera equipments, or creating works that are nothing like the what is majorly on social media at the moment, or unapologetically incorporating my culture and tradition in my work. It has also helped me come to terms with failure, and understand it more. I learned that failure does not have to be a gut-wrenching experiencing. Most times when we fail at something, we falter. Instead, I learned to approach failure as learning experience and as fuel to motivate myself to succeed. Failure makes me want success even more than ever. To simply put, that is what it’s all about, that is what this journey called life is all about. The ups, the down, the highs, the lows, the journey. This is the role taking risks has played in may life and my career.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work mostly focuses on black people, black culture, African culture. One of my main goals is to emphasize the importance of us black people all around the world. We need to be reminded that we are ROYALTY. We need to reclaim our true identity, I try to use my work as a medium to help remind others like me. This is one of the main goals I have set for myself. Pictures are powerful and important. In fact, the way that we are portrayed by the media plays a huge role on the we are perceived by many different people in America. We are portrayed so negatively, as criminals, in chains and so on. This is why we have to take it upon ourselves to change that perception, not just for perceive us positively but most importantly for us to perceive ourselves positively, to reclaim our identity.

I am most proud of the people I have met so far since I started this journey, the connections I have built, the family. Photography gave me that. I am also proud of how much I have grown as a person since I started doing this, this journey helped me learn so much about life and people. I am most excited about what the future holds for me and the people around me. I can not wait to see how successful we all become, I am so proud of everyone, there is no shred of doubt in my mind that we will all go places.

I got to where I am today professionally through hard work, consistency, getting out of my comfort zone, talking to people, asking questions, determination, etc. So no, It wasn’t easy at all. I overcame challenges by changing my mentality, changing how I viewed challenges. I read a book called “It’s All In Your Head” By Russ. This book changed my view on a lot of things, including challenges. I approached challenges more positively so even when it was difficult, I always looked ahead, I was always certain that I would overcome. It took a while for me to get this stage mentally but I am glad that I did.

The most important lesson I have learned along the way, is that it is all about the journey. The high, the lows, the ups, the downs, all of this is what makes it worth it. Most times, we are all too focused on attaining success and we neglect all the beauty in the struggles we face, the little moments, the small wins and so on. I applied this to my life as well, I appreciate every moment with my family and my friends, because that is really what matters.

I want the world to know that I started from literally nothing. So wherever I am whenever you are reading this, I want you to know that you can achieve whatever you it is want to achieve. Nothing is impossible. Just keep believing and keep going, you can achieve literally anything you want. Consistency and believing in yourself is all you need, the sky is the limit.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I wouldn’t be able to be at this stage I’m at right now without the help of a lot of people. First of all, I would like to thank Allah. Secondly, I would like to thank my girlfriend, Tobi. As much as I might sound like I don’t ever have my moments where I doubt myself, I do have those moments. It is in these moments that she’s there for me to reassure me. I would like to shout her out for that. In this lane, there’s nothing that is guaranteed, you could be high today and be low tomorrow. I would also like to thank my mentor, Mr 69 views, Jimi. If I started to talk about how much this guy has helped me out, this would be a 10 page essay, so I’ll keep it short. I appreciate you my brother, the GOAT. I also want to shout out my sister, my brothers, my mom for all the words of encouragement and prayers. My brothers, Stanley and Antonio, and so many other people. I appreciate ALL of you so much and thank you for being apart of my journey.

Website: kabiruloya.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kabiruloya/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kabir-animashaun-601544131/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/kabiruloya