The MOOD Podcast
In The MOOD Podcast, Matt Jacob, renowned cultural portrait photographer, dives deep into the world of photography and the visual arts, with guests from all around the creative industry, across all parts of the globe, sharing inspiring stories and experiences that will leave you wanting more. With years of experience and a passion for storytelling, Matt has become a master of capturing lesser-told human stories through his photography, and teams up with other special artists from around the world to showcase insights, experiences and opinions within the diverse and sometimes controversial photography world.
You can watch these podcasts on his Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mattyj_ay.
You can also follow Matt's work on his Instagram @mattyj_ay and his website: https://mattjacobphotography.com.
The MOOD Podcast
Ask Me Anything: Everything You Wanted to Know About Life & Photography - Moments of Mood, 2.8
I’m answering your questions about photography, creativity, and what keeps me motivated in this AMA.
We dive into the real stuff. What inspires me, the struggles I’ve faced, and how I’ve grown as both a photographer and a person.
No filters, just honest thoughts and insights.
_________________________
(00:00) Intro
(01:42) Favorite genres of music or video games?
(03:46) Favorite Tiramisu Recipe?
(04:47) How do you stay connected to your purpose when no one's watching?
(09:57) How did you first get into photography?
(11:46) How did you first take interest in art?
(13:27) Do you believe artists are born or made?
(16:34) What inspires you?
(20:40) What are your travel plans?
(22:45) What does success mean to you these days?
(26:36) What's one belief you've outgrown that shaped you creatively?
(30:36) Are you rich?
(35:02) What do you think about humanity?
(37:57) How’s your adventure going?
(41:38) Do you ever get into an editing slump?
Message me, leave a comment and join in the conversation!
Thank you for listening and for being a part of this incredible community. You can also watch this episode on my YouTube channel (link below) where I also share insights, photography tips and behind-the-scenes content on my channel as well as my social media, so make sure to follow me on Instagram, Twitter, Threads and TikTok or check out my website for my complete portfolio of work.
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Welcome to a special episode of Moments of Mood, our first ever AMA, and I want to start by saying thank you. Whether you message me often or simply listen in silence, I really feel your presence. I see the names returning, I feel the quiet support and I just want you to know it means something to me. Thank you. You'll notice I don't usually ask for subscriptions or push the numbers really Gets a little bit icky. But if you've ever found value in this show, if it sparked a thought or helped you feel seen or simply made your day better, subscribing, following or leaving a comment it really really does help. It keeps this space alive, visible and growing. That said, I want to be honest. This podcast is still independently run. I have an amazing team behind the scenes, certainly with production, but it's not funded by sponsors or subscriptions Not yet anyway. I've thought about both, and one day it may head in that direction, but for now, as long as it feels organic to the process, I'd rather keep it free and I need your free support to do that. So thank you truly for being here Now. That being said, the internet is full of noise and I definitely had to wade through a fair bit of madness in the questions submitted, but I think I've pulled out some gems, some really thoughtful, weird, funny and a few that go deeper than expected. So let's dive in. Raw, unrehearsed and honest. Just you, me and a few good questions. I haven't seen these before. So let's start with BallerBrandon135. Some of these names just I mean, okay, you're a baller, cool.
Speaker 1:Favorite genres of music? Or video games Well, I don't play video games. I haven't done since I was a kid and I don't really understand why it's so appealing, to be honest, when we have the whole world to explore. But I guess we're kind of heading in that direction and I don't want to judge anyone that does do that. But that's not for me. Favorite genres of music I pretty much love everything apart from heavy heavy metal. I just I can't. I haven't found a space in my life for that genre of music yet. But I'm a big.
Speaker 1:I grew up on classical music and jazz and as I kind of got a little bit older and started going out drinking, making friends and having girlfriends, I would be in the party scene. So I can't really got into dance music. Having girlfriends I would be in the party scene, so I can't really got into dance music, house music, funky house music, um, but some of my favorite artists would be the band Jamiroquai. I love their kind of musical soul. I listened to classical music pretty much every day when I'm working or when I, you know, need to focus on something and I need to settle into a bit of um, inner peace, um, all of the big names. We're actually going to see Hans Zimmer next month in the US. I'm so excited by that. Yeah, modern day kind of classical music, I guess, but such a pioneer in his field, so many artists and bands here.
Speaker 1:We listen to a lot of indie music, a lot of grunge, certainly in the cafe, here and in the studio. Um, we listen to old school rock and roll, doors, stones, um, we listen to. I love pop, you know, I do. You know there's there's definitely a stigma attached to the label that is popular music, but I love all music. I think music is arguably the best thing we have in life, um, and I don't go a day without listening to some type of music. But, um, hopefully that answers your question.
Speaker 1:All right, uh, at iron underscore, mambo asks me what's the best tiramisu recipe? No idea, don't cook. I used to cook quite a lot when I was younger and I had less money. Now I live in Indonesia and for those of you who've been here or do live here, it's pretty cheap and easy to get food delivered to your door every day. But actually we have a meal provider who gives us healthy, balanced meals Doesn't give us we pay for it, but delivers healthy, balanced meals to our door every day. I would have no idea where to start with tiramisu and I don't even. I've never given that question, a thought which I'm guessing is why we included that question to throw a little curveball in there. I'm sorry, I can't help you. I'd just use Google or ChatGPT. See where it goes from there. All right, at Wandering Echoes, good username.
Speaker 1:How do you stay connected to your purpose when no one's watching? Now, this is when you need to stay connected to your purpose the most, and it's difficult because we live in a world of abundance. We live in a world of ease. We can just literally pick up our phone and get distracted and consumed for hours on end. We can or in my case and in the West we can order food whenever we want. We can just do whatever we want. We live in so much abundance Netflix, streaming eBooks, real books, um music wherever we want, whenever we want, um. So it's it's really difficult and I get that there are temptations that all the time to not kind of stay connected to one's purpose. I'd argue to, you got to figure out that purpose first.
Speaker 1:It took me best part of 40 years to really kind of settle on a belief that I had a purpose and what that purpose was. I'm not saying it's true, and purpose gets thrown around a lot and it's a little bit cliched, but it can change. Meaning and fulfillment can change as we evolve as human beings or as professionals or as artists, whatever it might be. How do you stay connected? A lot of inner work, a lot of honesty with myself. I've stopped lying to myself.
Speaker 1:I spent so many years of my young adulthood lying to myself and performing for status and validation and ego and through much kind of test and turmoil, I found a way I'm not saying perfect in that, in any stretch of the imagination, the ego is always on there on my shoulder, talking to me every second of every day. But I think it's so important to understand the value of honesty with other people of course, but especially with yourself. And so if you are going to sit and watch crap on Netflix for a few hours or for a whole Sunday which I do sometimes then be okay with that. Your purpose is always there and you can get connected with it anytime you want. I think it's important to be okay with some of those things in yourself, but also be honest and truthful to when you can be more connected to a purpose or to your purpose or to someone else's purpose.
Speaker 1:And, um, the way I do it is I have a morning routine that really sets me up for every day, and when I miss that morning routine, maybe I'm flying overnight or I'm just I. I have the ego and the demon on my shoulder take over more than I think it should and I just want to stay in bed and eat crap and watch crap. Then if I don't do that morning routine, I really feel it not just in that day but the subsequent days, and my productivity goes down and my general motivation and happiness I should say maybe that's the wrong word, but enjoyment of trying to reach something that's more than me really falls by the wayside. So I think I always talk about one percenters. The one percent things you do every day will help you stay connected to a purpose, especially when no one's watching, because your purpose will really come out of you when it really matters and when other people are watching. So if you do the work in the dark, if you do that shadow work and you do those one percenters and try and find a way to enjoy it when no one's watching, sitting and doing a 20 minute meditation every morning and you're the only person around, then no one would know if you don't do it right or if you don't. You know kind of really commit to it, but you will know and I've stopped being able to live with that. I don't know if that answers your question, but I think kind of a little.
Speaker 1:I'm 50-50 with routines generally. I think if we, it depends what you do. If you travel a lot, like I do, it's almost impossible to stick to a routine. So I like to kind of I don't want to ever be reliant on a routine, because if life sometimes just gets in the way and throws stuff at you which it inevitably will that's just what life is. Then if you are tethered to a routine, you may not be able to be flexible enough to adapt and evolve with whatever life is throwing you. So I don't know why I'm talking about routines, but I think morning routine for me is an important way to stay connected to my purpose, just to remind myself, even if it's just a two minute breathing, breath work, or two minutes journaling, or two minutes sipping my espresso.
Speaker 1:For those of you know me, I'm obsessed with coffee and I'm sitting on top of our coffee shop here and I love the process more than I love the taste. I love the aftertaste more than the taste. So, um, I could talk about coffee for ages, but so, even if it's like making a coffee or drinking coffee, just being connected in that, in that moment, um, and taking the time to to do that, allows me to remember what I'm, you know what I'm here for and what I'm I'm doing. That's basically to enjoy the passage of time and and to hopefully inspire other people and to, um, enjoy myself in the process. So, my goodness, that was a long answer. Um, I hope it's answered.
Speaker 1:Your question At Patty shoots asks me how did you first get into photography? What made you pick up the camera? Great question, patty. Thank you for asking. I presume that's your name, patty.
Speaker 1:Um, I got into photography very slowly and almost by mistake. Um, I was traveling a lot as a pilot, traveling to some incredible and amazing destinations. You can watch more of my origin story. I have a video on my origin story. I'm not very good with links here, but it'll be in the description. You can hear my whole story about how I got into it.
Speaker 1:But, to cut a long story short, I was traveling a lot and I wanted a way to showcase where I was. It was very much ego-driven, and this was before the advent of social media or was around when social media was starting to come alive. And, um, you know, I wanted to put on Facebook Matt is here and here's some photos, and so the intent behind it was really not so great. But, um, I was getting paid well and I could afford a camera, so I bought a camera and then really that toy and those gadgets fascinated me. I was, I've always been, into gadgets and pressing buttons, arguably why I became a pilot in the first place Um, and so I figured out and mastered the technical side of photography as just kind of like a little challenge. And it was not until I understood kind of the creative and artistic side of photography, um, when I I started to take it a bit more seriously. Um, so really I I would take my camera onto on work trips and onto holidays and safaris and stuff like that and I just enjoyed it. I enjoyed seeing the final result more than I enjoyed the process. But eventually that flipped, as I kind of understood how to create photos rather than take them. That flipped as I kind of understood how to create photos rather than take them. That kind of really took me to the next level in terms of a desire to do it more than just as a hobby.
Speaker 1:At IDC underscore, colin asks me how did you first take interest in art? Well, I guess I kind of answered that a little bit as I started to involve myself in the photography scene. It really opened my eyes. I went on workshops and really understood actually that photography has very little to do with the technical side of things, which disappointed me because I was really good at the technical side of things. I understood light. I understood how cameras work. I understood settings, the theory and the work. I understood settings. Um, you know the. You know the theory and the technical and the scientific side of photography, how a computer works.
Speaker 1:Essentially, I didn't quite, you know, I was missing such a huge piece of it, um, and I was trying to run before I could walk. So, uh, my interest really was sparked from seeing how other people got results that I didn't know. Didn't know how to get results just by using technical nows, and so this was through workshops. This was through starting the podcast, essentially like years ago when I was doing Instagram lives and just reaching out to other photographers because I was just interested in other individual photographers but I was interested in the industry. It's like how do people get these incredible photos? How do people create something that looks so artistic? Um, and I was just curiosity drove me, um, so I just started involving myself and saturating myself with there wasn't really YouTube at the time and there there was, but it wasn't. There wasn't really like photography tutorials. So I'd buy courses, I'd go into workshops and learn that way, and that's really where my interest in art really kind of went to the next level, at Moody Monk good name, moody Monk, underscore.
Speaker 1:Do you believe artists are born or made? That is a great question. I think we're all made. I think we are given a set of genetics that are conditioned and are sculpted based on a million environmental factors, certainly early on in our lives. And then it's about how, the propensity we have to be susceptible to certain influences and certain environmental factors as we get educated, as we go out into the world. So I think artists are made and there's nothing special about artists, right, some obviously have talent with certain things and certain skill sets. But talent is also learnt. Talent is not like this God-given gift Everything we have in our lives has been sculpted, not by us, but everything that's around us. So you know, you obviously have genetics on one side of the spectrum we have no control over that and you have environmental factors on the other side of the spectrum. And as we grow up and as we become adults, and before our kind of prefrontal cortex is even formed, before the age of 25, um, we don't really know who we are and we're just kind of figuring out stuff and we are a product of our conditioning, we're a product of our environment. So I think most things can be, I believe most things can be drawn back to a source, rather than just a birth given right or a birth given talent. Our propensity to exude that talent and to to capitalize on it is something else entirely. That is essentially DNA. We are conducive to certain things rather than others, depending on what our genes and DNA looks like. But that still means we have to have the environmental factors to impact and bring those propensities out from potential into reality. Great question, I don't have the answer, but I guess that's what you're asking is my belief. So, yeah, I think we're more made than we are born.
Speaker 1:Actually, I'm a good example. I honestly wouldn't call myself an artist, but I like to think I'm an artist, whatever that means, whatever your definition of that is. But I was born into a very middle-class family who gave me an extremely great, comfortable upbringing. I was huge into sport. I was excellent at maths. I became a pilot. None of that is art. That's a lot of that science, strategy, structure, rationality, and so I had to really work hard at that kind of artistic side of photography and I've loved every second of it and that that's what has made me, I think, a better photographer.
Speaker 1:Um, so I guess I'm kind of a walking example of of what I've just explained. At gong calv, underscore I that's a ridiculous username, but um, um, okay, what inspired you? What inspired me for what I mean? There's so many, so many ways I could take this question. Um, if we're thinking about the podcast specifically.
Speaker 1:I still have many inspirations and you probably know most of the most of the inspirations on a podcast level, but I don't really think podcasts in terms of who. What other podcasters do I look up to that I want to be inspired by or emulate, I think, of public commentators. Um, my biggest inspiration probably in life in the external, from my family, friends and and loved ones um, you obviously have to throw my wife into that. She's, she's such an inspiration in so many ways. But when it comes to the podcast and photography and general commentary and the way I philosophize about life and what my belief system is, certainly in the last decade has been Sam Harris and quite a polarizing figure, which surprises me, but he's evolved as well as a human being, but as a philosopher, I guess, or at least a public commentator.
Speaker 1:I asked my wife this question the other day who out there outside of your inner circle that you read or listen to or watch makes you feel comfort as soon as you watch them or listen to them or read them? The only person that I could think of is Sam Harris, as soon as I listen to his podcast or I see him on TV or I read. I've already read all his books, but if I reread one of his books, mainly listen to his podcast every time it comes out. He makes, he does the way he talks, his rational belief system, coupled with his spirituality and the experience he has with mindfulness, neuroscience, his really kind of just down to earth opinions and views on life I resonate with so much and he inspires me to get out there and speak my mind but also learn more, read more and try and understand the human mind more.
Speaker 1:And this is kind of this, um, really, I guess is infused in the podcast a little bit as well as my photography. I really really want to understand the human mind more and consciousness and why we all do things the way we do it, but, more importantly, why we think the way we think and why is their opinion so different to my opinion. Why is their perspective on something and talk about perspective and perception a lot. That is the essence of photography in my, in my opinion and art. Their perspective on something is so different to mine and that's that's what we should be celebrating, not fighting against, against. And I think Sam Harris is a huge inspiration in in that aspect and he's got absolutely nothing to do with photography.
Speaker 1:I have so many, obviously, photography inspirations. My first one ever was probably Joey L. Had the privilege of interviewing him on the podcast a few years ago, early days in the show, and, um, you know he's, I love him, he's he's uh really set me up with understanding photography, understanding storytelling, understanding portraits, understanding lighting, but also understanding how to carry yourself as a photographer, how to speak to people, how to hold yourself with integrity. Um, I think he's a he's a model um ambassador for for photographers all around the world and, would like his work or not, I think we can learn a lot from the way he carries himself and the way he uh handles himself as a photographer a very successful one as well and, uh, I would encourage all of you to go and celebrate his work wherever that might be. Okay, at skipvfx, bbc British Broadcasting Corporation. Yeah, we're going to skip past that question. Who put that in here? Okay, tribal Touch Tours yeah, I know these guys.
Speaker 1:When are you coming to Ethiopia? Um, I'd love to come to Ethiopia. I'd love. There are so many places I still haven't been. I've. I'm so fortunate to have traveled so many places around the world, but, um, the sub-Saharan Africa is is somewhere that is so close to my heart, but I've never been to Ethiopia and I really, really, really want to. I do fear on a tourist and photography level it's been over farmed and I don't know. You guys can tell me how that's affected the demographics in your country, how it's affected nature in your country. How has it affected the general, I guess, ecosystem and climate around, the authenticity and ancestry of your country? I'm not judging it at all. I hope that it's all for the better. I hope that it all benefits the local population there. I'd argue that it hasn't, but I don't really want to be part of that.
Speaker 1:So if I do come and I will definitely go to Ethiopia at some point, it's not that I'm not going to go, I'm desperate to go. It's been photographed so many times. I would want to go having a unique plan in place and with an open mind and not as a tourist. But, as I mean, obviously I'm a tourist and I'm part of the problem, but I'd want to do it as ethically as possible. I don't want to get my high horse about it, but that's probably why I haven't been yet and I'm just waiting for an invite and for someone to pay me to come. I'm joking, I will go at some point. I would have to think about a story or at least a reason why I would go with a camera and what I would do there with a camera, because I can go as just a tourist, right, but I can't not go with my camera these days anywhere. So, yeah, send me a proposal, give me a. Uh, obviously I'm joking, I will come at some point. I'd love to go. Okay, at soulframejpgjpg.
Speaker 1:Uh, what does success mean to you these days? Great question, something I try and ask as many guests as I can, because everyone has a different answer and, um, I won't buy someone's financial answer to that. It's, you know, make a million bucks by the age of 30. People can have those success metrics. Of course, I think they're more goals than they are definitions of success. But to me, I mean I have varying definitions of what I think success should mean to humanity, but also what success means to me.
Speaker 1:Now, for me, success is formulated from time and money freedom. Time freedom especially, and money freedom is nothing to do with wealth, it's more options. So I don't want to be cornered into having to do anything or having to do work, and for me that's money freedom, and money and time freedom kind of go together. But you know I want to spend my time maybe working or doing something that earns money, a couple hours a day. You know, none of us want to be working 8, 10, 12, 14 hours a day. So I think success. 10, 12, 14 hours a day so I think success.
Speaker 1:The goalposts do often change slightly, but success to me today means time and money freedom and that's defined by having options on any day of any week to do whatever I want. I know it can be a pipe dream, but it's there. And when I get that and I have ways that I think I's a. It can be a pipe dream, but it's there and, uh, when I get that and I have ways that I think I can measure it um, when I get that, I can honestly say that I'm. I'm successful in that goal. Right before it was be a corporate jet pilot and I achieved that and I ended up not getting fulfilled from it. So I I'm very reticent to kind of throw these success metrics and these goals around, because I know that they really shouldn't be achieved, because we're trying to pursue something and it's in the pursuit where you find success, happiness, peace, it's not in the end result. So I never try to place too much emphasis on the end result. I think it's good to have goals and direction, of course, but if you have this big dream of success and the definition of success and this huge, when I do this, I will be happy. It doesn't exist, it just doesn't exist. So success means for me that I can in everyday, I can get up healthy, um, still married, still happy, still with four dogs, two cats, and, um, I'm able to support them and and spend time with them. And, uh, that sounds a little bit mushy, I guess, but uh, that's all we have at the end of the day. Okay, uh, at unknown underscore. Person underscore 977.
Speaker 1:Bro, do you watch anime? I don't think we filtered these questions well enough. No, I don't watch anime. I do appreciate it for his art form, um, and I just never, kind of never got the attraction to watch it even. Um, even cartoons, you know as a kid, great now, like Simpsons, family Guy kind of got into quite a lot. South Park, I mean I really hilarious, but I don't really watch much Like. I love watching documentaries and if there's a good we just finished watching Yellowstone, my God, so good. The problem is I have quite an addictive personality, so if I start something, I'm all in. I want it every day. That's probably why I eat too much sugar. Okay, quiet or bit At quiet, or bit Quiet or bit.
Speaker 1:What's one belief you've outgrown that shaped you creatively?
Speaker 1:Oh, what a fantastic question.
Speaker 1:Oh, what a fantastic question. What's one belief you've outgrown that shaped you creatively? One belief you've outgrown that shaped you creatively, as in the belief shaped me creatively, or the outgrowing of that belief shaped me creatively? I think it kind of goes back into the previous question about success. I always thought success was.
Speaker 1:I used to put so much effort into social media because I wanted to have the status of followers likes validation, as well as grow an audience. I knew the value of an audience. I know the value of talking to you guys now and I love being able to connect with everyone out there, even if it's through this camera. But I think I did have a belief that a a photographer, successful photographer or media person or podcast host, whatever, whatever label we want to put on, whatever I wanted to be at the time, um meant that I needed to have a huge audience immediately and it was just a matter of working really hard to get it. And I'm not saying that's not true, but I don't think it's right for me and so I've kind of outgrown that belief. I'd still.
Speaker 1:We obviously still post on social media. We understand the importance of it as a tool, but we don't focus on the metrics. We pay distant attention to what reels do well and what people kind of. What people think about my photos, I don't really care. I love all the love and I love all the hate. Like I don't, I just don't really care. I do it for me.
Speaker 1:So I think that's flipped and I've outgrown that belief that I need to do it for an audience. I need to do it for you guys. I need to make sure you're happy. You know that kind of old concept that the customer is always right and they're not. Most of the time customers are fucking stupid right. Most of the time customers don't know what they're talking about. Most of the time customers I'm not saying this is the same for everyone, but there's everyone watching and listening to this knows how ridiculous the online world is. It's not only decimating our society, but it's letting really, really, really stupid people have a say that don't have any information or any education or any background on a specific topic, and now I've really gone down a rabbit hole and this is a subject that's close to my heart, but I think I don't do it for other people anymore, whereas before I did and I do everything for myself.
Speaker 1:Now the reason I'm sat here in front of you guys is because I enjoy. I enjoy these. Some of these questions are great. I enjoy answering these things. For me, this video just stays on a hard drive. It stays on a hard drive. We don't post it. Don't post it. I'm enjoying this process. Right, and this is what I want to continue. Doing is to get questions from people that make me think you know the art of conversation, one frame at a time. How do we break down the art of conversation? How do we actually have a conversation that isn't full of hate and disrespect for people's opinions? And even though I've just slashed everyone online, I think you know what I mean. So I don't know. I think that's probably the best thing I can give you guys for now.
Speaker 1:If I have time with this, I could probably think of many other beliefs that I've outgrown, that have shaped me creatively, but this belief that I've outgrown has really liberated me creatively, right? I always thought, oh well, I'm this type of photographer that I have to stay in this lane, right, or I'm. I'm this type of podcast. I want to start at this podcast I only had photographers on and like, why am I just having photographers? I'm interested in other things. If I'm interested in other things, there will be other people interested in other things. So I learned that there's an audience for everyone and I think kind of breaking down those belief systems has really shaped me creatively and just let me have more freedom in a creative aspect. At ty underscore, ty, rail, ty underscore, ty, rail.
Speaker 1:Are you rich? Define rich Monetarily? No, no, not at all. I don't uh, you know I don't bring in any money from this podcast. I don't uh get much money, I guess, from photography jobs. Uh, I have other diversified business portfolios which, um, I work really hard to try and maintain, none of which brings in, you know, an amount where I would call it rich on a monetary basis. I enjoy spending money, I enjoy investing money, I enjoy investing in myself and, um, and that, I guess, is rich. You know, I'm rich in so many. I'm rich in my health. I'm rich in the people around me. I'm rich in um in just having the privileges that I do have where I live, what we do, being able to just do this right Um being able to have the people around me that I have I'm extremely grateful for, and that's, uh, that is in in my, my, my definition and my kind of interpretation of it. That means I'm rich, um I would, I would argue it's kind of wealthy right I'm. I'm wealthy in that aspect, um plenty of way to go to get that time and money freedom, um. So monetary goals are always up there, but they're definitely not the priority of everyday life and I would argue they should never be Okay.
Speaker 1:At abduraman, your opinion on the statement traveling makes us more creative than ever before. Traveling makes us more educated than ever before. I don't know. I mean, the more educated you are, the more your brain is able to um empathize and understand different perspectives of how different cultures work, how different um areas of the world operate, the struggles they have, the successes they have, the differences we have, yet we're all connected in one tissue. So I think, by default it probably does make us more creative than ever before, but I'd actually argue the other way as well.
Speaker 1:Put yourself in a dark room for a day. You'll come out more creative than you ever have done in your whole life, assuming you haven't done that type of thing before. I still have a dream of going on a silent retreat one day, but the thought of sitting and meditating all day just gives me backache. So I haven't done that yet. But I think, knowing through experience, that, having traveled the world a lot and also spent as much time as I can stomach sitting trying to be bored, it's in that boredom, you know, remember life. For those people my age and older, we remember life before internet. We remember life, of course, way before social media and improvising and innovating to come up with things to do.
Speaker 1:And it's not just my opinion, it's a fact that the less we have to do, the more imagination and more creative we become. So I wouldn't say traveling helps with that. But traveling definitely is a big, big proponent of traveling for the education side of things. By no stretch of the imagination it makes us better humans. The more we can travel, the more we can meet and experience different. And I don't mean going to sit in a hotel, five-star, all-inclusive hotel for a week. That's not traveling. That's just going to sit in a hotel for a week. That's not traveling. That's just going to sit in a hotel for a week in the sun. Traveling, actually experiencing other cultures, makes us better humans Fact, it's as simple as that.
Speaker 1:Whether it makes us more creative or not, I think we can be inspired, obviously, and we can kind of get other kind of opinions and philosophies and ideas and ideas, like I said, with life and what we want to do. But creatively speaking, you could probably do 10 times as much just by spending one day in a dark room, bored, okay, at Angara Endui, angara Endui, I don't know what do you think about humanity, jesus, angara, and I don't know what do you think about humanity, jesus? Well, that's going to be another few hours of me talking to camera, but I only know humanity from really being awake in the last five or six years, and when I say awake like very mindful of myself, my place in the world, my effect, effect on other people, my effect on myself, doing a lot of inner work and being very cognizant of how the world operates. And I was such an immature young adult? I didn't really. I was so just in my own little bubble young adult? I didn't really. I was so just in my own little bubble, and so I really I've only kind of learned or formed theory of mind about humanity of the last five or six years and, um, I wouldn't say it's good.
Speaker 1:Uh, we are obviously distracted and bombarded with the digital sphere of just morons and um you warriors and um, just people just polarizing echo chambers, right, and this was created by humans themselves, and so I can't really kind of call humanity in that aspect, um, anything other than um, demonstrative. But I think, generally speaking, and seeing, mixing with people all the time, traveling the world and working with teams and meeting other people on the other side of the screen and actually meeting with them, actually talking to them face to face, the majority of people are good people. The majority of people want to see good things in the world. There is this huge dissonance and huge disconnect between what we see, what is funneled and fueled by media, whether that's social media or legacy media, independent media less so, but everything has a narrative, everything has a spin and we bombard ourselves with that every day, right, so we think that's reality. But when you go out there and you just walk around and you know I'm fortunate to be in one of the kindest places on the planet in terms of the local population and the indigenous people that live here. Most people, whether that's in the cities of New York, if you can smile at someone, most of the time they're going to smile back, or if you talk or bump into someone accidentally and have a little chat, most of the time okay, maybe not New York, but most of the time in most places people want good things for other people as well as themselves, and people don't want to see the world imploding. So I still have faith and I still have hope that humanity will save itself, but it's not looking great.
Speaker 1:Is it All right? Atwildrosecaptured? I know who you are, my friend. It's good to hear from you. How's your adventure going? Well, I think I've probably explained how the adventure is going in all of the previous questions, but it's going. You know I don. I've probably explained how the adventure is going in all of the previous questions, but it's going. You know I don't slap labels on these things too much. I always talk about people, always talk about. You know how is it? It is, it is. There is no such thing as good or bad. There just is, and so my adventure is going. It's, uh, it's great.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, obviously it goes better than other times, and, um, but it really is an adventure and I'm learning so much about myself and other people along the way, um, even with my, my mentorship, right, the, the people, the students in my mentorship, who I value so much and they all have so, so much value to give. But, um, I, I've learned so much about myself and how I might be able to help people, um, and for me, that is, that is such a, it is an adventure, but it's such a privilege, I guess, to be able to be in that position, and so I'm just grateful to have an adventure. I'm so grateful to be in the middle of this adventure, um, whatever comes my way and I'm, I'm fully prepared for, you know, people, um, things and problems and stuff to to get thrown at me, which is going to happen, right, um, but it's going to make the adventure more, more of an adventure, and it just is. It just is we've got to find a way to not have to label everything and we've just got to find a way to be present and just experience these things, and so that's what I'm really trying to do, trying to do and, um, you know, my situation is different from it was last year and it was different from the year before and the year before and the month before, and so constantly evolving and constantly changing. And so I'm trying to enjoy, enjoy the adventure Okay, At yogurt or yogurt, if you're American and taxes.
Speaker 1:When do you feel most at peace with yourself? With myself, I mean every morning. My mornings are sacrosanct to me. They are. You know, we usually get up between 6, 6.30, depending on when we went to bed, and we spend the first two hours basically just spending time drinking coffee, spending time with the dogs, maybe taking them for a walk, or just stepping foot outside meditating, journal, just chilling, before we do exercise and start the day. And I think those moments are where I feel most at peace with myself, as well as helping others, when I know I've been able to make a difference with someone and give them my experiential advice and it's really helped. I find peace in that. But peace is actually something I do search for and I'm trying not to search for it, but peace is really, for me, the secret to happiness. I don't think you can have happiness without peace and, um, kind of finding that equanimity is is so important to me and I haven't got there yet, but I guess I would add that onto the as a third metric of success. Um, if I can have some element of peace every day, I'll be a happy boy, okay, last question At pattyshoots, underscore, do you ever get into an editing slump where you just don't want to edit?
Speaker 1:Yes, all the time it reminds me I need to do some edits. Yeah, photography generally, actually, like I, I definitely do photography in waves and I'll do a project and then I'll sit on that project and the edits for a while. I think some of that is, um, a conscious decision. I want emotional space. I think, personally, it's good for me to have emotional space from being in that moment and kind of getting shots that I want to get and then sitting in front of a computer screen and editing them or being in the dark room and and dodging and burning or getting it through the scanner, whatever it might be.
Speaker 1:I always get a little bit scared, honestly, about seeing my images, so I kind of put it off. I don't really want to look at them in case they're bad. Um, and that's just. It was just silly, obviously.
Speaker 1:But uh, yes, I don't necessarily have slumps, but I do go in phases and, um, I think sometimes that's important to just like sit with them for a bit so you come to those edits with a very, very fresh perspective. Cause, don't forget, you're editing with a perspective, you're editing with how you actually perceive those images on that day at that time, after the sleep that you've had, after the food that you've eaten, after the coffee you've drunk, etc. Etc. Etc. They'll change every time. So, when I do edit, I take multiple attempts and because I want to create, uh, you know, timeless images, and so they're only going to be timeless if I can edit them properly.
Speaker 1:But, yes, I get into editing slumps, sure, I get into everything. Slumps. Um, that's just human nature and I would argue, if you, if you don't have a slump every now and then you're just going to burn out. So, uh, yeah, look guys, thank you so much for your questions. I hope I've done them service. I hope I've done you guys justice with with answering those questions.
Speaker 1:This is my first attempt at it, so I don't know if this is of value to you. Um, I hope it is, because I enjoy hearing from you guys and I enjoy answering your questions, and a lot of these questions are so great They've really made me think so. Thank you. That wraps it up for this week. I will be back next week with another guest episode and please don't forget to follow, subscribe, give me a thumbs up, give me comment, reach out to me. Um, I will be here all the time watching, responding, replying to comments and hopefully engaging with you guys. But until then, um, thank you once again, love you all and look forward to seeing you on the next one. Happy shooting.
