Dear God (003) - 988

This episode was very hard to do.

During chemotherapy my mind would hit different pockets of darkness. I’d have moments of sadness and loneliness. After chemo was done things began to settle for myself. Mentally I’m phasing it out and saying to myself “okay cool, no more chemo sessions. I get my life back!”. No. It doesn’t work that way. Sorry, it’s not that easy. Constantly trying to figure things out for myself like when am I going back to work. Medical bills. Health insurance. CT Scans. And what the hell am I eating today. I am constantly screaming at myself in my head. And I just want to get away. Like sit secluded without worrying about anything. But life doesn’t work that way.

So in episode 3 of my Dear God series this was a result. Or what was about to be a result. My mind went completely dark and I was drowning in my thoughts. I wrote in my journal that morning and afterwards I began to write my final letter to my family. That’s how far it went. And I’m so happy and thankful for my mom and dad picking up that FacTime call (thank you God) before things went left. Never in my life has my mind went that completely dark. So why now? I have so many questions that I need to find answers to. And I’m not sure if it’s because of chemo. But I’m sharing this to let others know that you aren’t alone. I’m living it right now. This very day. I’m fighting the hell out of depression. And I’m fighting for hope.

New Documentary Series: Aspire to Inspire

I’m here today to introduce a new documentary series I’m working on called Aspire to Inspire. If you’ve been following me, you know I’ve been saying this for quite some time. But I feel like now more than ever it’s time to take that quote up a notch. I was diagnosed with Stage 4 Stomach Cancer last year and it’s something no person should have to go through, but life happens.

My goal with this new series is to just inspire others with HOPE. Let me be your neighborhood HOPE dealer and slang this HOPE, lol. No but seriously, I want to change the world and touch as many lives as possible! Life is so precious and our mind is so powerful, it just needs a spark.

I ran a DTG print company with my best friend Brett (thank you for the ATI logo) and we are closing up shop and now I’m sitting on some garments…about 1,000 pieces! All brand new blanks with no prints. My goal is to partner up with an organization and give these away to those in need. I’ll be making some calls in the next few days to a few organizations I had in mind to collaborate with and hopefully we can get something together and change some lives for the better.

I would love to do something with other cancer patients. I know how difficult and mentally draining it can get losing all that weight during treatment. I’ve lost over 50lbs myself and still struggling to build that weight back up. But it’s okay, it will be okay. I don’t want you to worry about buying clothes only for it to not fit anymore the following week. If I can save you a few dollars then so be it.

Please help me spread the word and get some eyes on this campaign. This is all real-time, happening now. Aspire to inspire. Let’s spread some HOPE together.

Thank you and God bless!

Dear God (002) - Pray

These episodes are getting harder and heavier to edit. I’ve planned out the first 6 episodes but man, it’s difficult as hell reliving these moments. The footage you’ll see was taken 2 days after my fifth round of chemo. I was going through it mentally. Mind caving in, drowning in my own thoughts. I took these photos in between round 5 & 6 which explains that void I was feeling during this stage. This was the start of a dark journey for myself that I’m still struggling today.

Episode 3 will take some time as that one discusses some dark moments during my cancer journey. And to be honest, I have no timeline on when that will air but when it does, just take a deep breath before pressing play. Sure many will relate.

Thank you for taking the time to be part of my journey by simply pressing play. Peace and love ya’ll.

leica! Leica! LEICA!

I’ve been uploading quite a few visuals lately to my outdated YT Channel. My Dear God series was pretty heavy so I wanted to break that up and just drop some simple stop motion stuff. It’s been heavily centered around Leica cameras, Q2 to be exact. Someone dm’d me few weeks ago asking about my POV setup so I figured I’ll make a top down video of it. I’m all for simplicity so enjoy the new video below.

I set a personal creative goal for myself, produce 1 visual a week and to just stay consistent. Simple and doable goals. Currently wrapping up episode 002 of my Dear God series so be on the lookout for that. Subscribe to the channel if you haven’t already and pardon the mess as I figure things out.

Dear God...(Series)

Throughout my cancer journey I’ve been journaling to help with my mental health. I know I wanted to do something creative with it. Documentary of some sort. I came up with this idea researching action cameras one day. So I grabbed a GoPro Hero 10 and mounted it on my Leica Q2 and here we are. First episode of my new YT Shorts series entitled Dear God. I’ve been sitting on my YouTube for over ten years. I usually use Vimeo but it’s time to build this community on that side. Please feel free to subscribe to the channel, check out some of my older work and just build with me. This is going to be a new fun journey I’m taking. Look forward to growing with you on there. Anyways, check out Episode 1 here or press play below, and as they say - like, comment and subscribe, lol.

Wish You Were Here Series Part 1 (NFT DROP)

FUUUUUCK! I FINALLY DROPPED MY FIRST NFT! I’ve been working on this series since March and I’m finally able to share it with you. Legit almost shed a tear last night because THIS is an exciting journey that I’m proud of and such a huge leap forward. Fun fact, WYWH 001 was the cover of my good brother Gilbere Forte' album for Pray

My first NFT series is titled “Wish You Were Here”. This ongoing series depicts absent moments and disconnection. I’m hosting it on Rarible with unlockable content that includes original photo in .tif format, NFT in .PNG and .MOV, and a signed 1/1 print (13x19”). Part 1 of my series will feature 3 NFT’s (001-003). Links to purchase the NFT’s are below along with the accompany visual showcasing it.

Wish You Were Here 001/003

Wish You Were Here 002/003

Wish You Were Here 003/003

Golden Hour

We have been trying to make it to the sunflower fields around here for quite a while. We almost didn’t make it because someone (ahem, me) forgot to buy tickets to the fields. Luckily we were able to reschedule for the next day because it’s been a rainy week and now all tickets are sold out until September. Back in my prime shooting days I would photograph nothing but sunrise and sunset shoots, so it was such a thrill to finally be able to do a golden hour shoot again. This time, with my favorite models. I had about a 30 minute window to get some shots down. A few of my favorite gems below. Can’t wait to print these out for the home!

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Store Update

What a successful week! The store is now officially out of stock of my first series prints, BLM Series Volume I. Final sales goal that will be donated to the Excellence in Education Foundation for Prince George’s County Public Schools is $1450. I like to thank every single person that contributed to this major success. Truth be told, this is the first time I ever did anything like this. To put together a photo series and release a magazine at the same time is an amazing feeling. I finally was able to let the procrastination behind and actually do something for myself for once. Damn, it feels good. And I’m excited to begin my next photo journalism journey. Details later but it is already in the works.

In the meantime, I have hard copies of my magazine that will be going out to a few people within the next week or two. And I’ll be mailing out some special collectible thank you cards over the weekend. Again, I can’t thank you enough for the support. All the shares, likes, the conversations. Let’s keep it going! Much love and respect.

BLM Series Volume I (Living in America)

I’ve been working on this Black Lives Matter series for a few months now. I held back on numerous release dates waiting for that right moment. Wondering how should I package everything. Wondering what others may say. Finding the right organization to donate to and so forth. My good brother, DeNiro, sent me this track by Sault , “Living in America”. Told me to give it a good listen and once I pressed play everything started to click. I would have this song on repeat throughout the day wondering what can I do to better myself and my community.

With that being said, I've put together this series that includes 6 fine art prints and an introduction piece to The Raw Files tour shirt. I want to say thank you to Pistol “Young Choppa” Pierce for taking my alley-oop and finishing strong on this piece. You truly brought my vision to life times a million. I also want to thank my wife for holding me accountable to go out to shoot as much as possible. Thank you for your continued support and holding down the family at all times.

Proceeds from this collection will be donated to the Excellence in Education Foundation (EEF) for Prince George's County Public Schools. As a product of PG County, I look forward to finally giving back to my community with this series. The youth is the future!

Release day will be Wednesday, 29th at 7pm EST. Stay tuned tomorrow as I make an introduction to the pieces that will be up for sale.