Identify Yourself

GetYour Shot in Shikotsu, photo by Ewan Keenan

A journey begins with the first step.

And after, follows the ups and downs of said journey. I’ve taken it upon myself to begin this photographic journey for many reasons. I love photography and the process of creating, but perhaps this journey came to me more as a process of elimination.

I started out as an actor and director for theatre, but quickly discovered that I couldn’t hack the constant hustle, side jobs, and rejection that came along with it. I moved on to writing and directing my own short films and loved the ability to create without needing approval from someone else to be able to do so.

This was short lived, however, since I knew virtually nothing about the technical side of shooting and editing. I remember even asking my friend and producer, “What’s a prime lens? Why can’t we just zoom in?” I did manage to produce several projects by communicating my vision to the other departments, but with my nomadic lifestyle up to this point, it was not sustainable with the rebuilding communities each time I moved.

I should probably mention that I am from Philadelphia in the United States and have lived in Australia, Japan, and Taiwan. I make a living as a teacher and am currently the Head Teacher at an International kindergarten.

After a handful of projects in Tokyo and then more in Taiwan, I moved to Hokkaido, Japan. Much to my surprise, the artistic community that I took for granted previously, was almost non-existent in my new home. I landed in a town with less than 1,500 people. I realized that if I wanted to continue to create visual media, I needed to do it myself. But how? With little expendable cash to buy gear, a family to provide for, and no community, I waited.

I’m not on the first step in this new adventure anymore. I’m a few paces into the journey. In the last 3-4 years, I’ve been lucky enough to build my kit and work on a few video projects. The pandemic has been great for my photography as it is pretty easy to socially distance when taking photos. For the first time in my life, I can call myself a photographer. I feel confident enough that I have an eye for compositions, a basic skill for using my instrument to capture those compositions, and a cinematographer’s heart for capturing stories.

You know when you are going to hike a mountain and generally the beginning of the hike is on flat land? Then the trekking starts to get steeper and steeper? Yeah, that’s where I am. I’m at the beginning of the steep part and I can’t see the top yet. So much unknown ahead of me…but therein lies the adventure! I recently watched the film, Tick, Tick, Boom with Andrew Garfield and the moment of transition for the character, Jonothan Larson, was marked with a song call “Why.” The song lyrics reveal him deciding to take on all the burden that goes with being an artist because the joy that he gets from it is worth it. I understand that better now. “What a way to spend the day!”
I feel confident now in identifying myself. I don’t need to wait or need someone else to do that for me. I am a photographer and a videographer, and I can think of no better way to spend the day.