This is Kalen

On Saturday morning, I had the sudden urge to watch a few of the music videos I made almost 10 years ago. You might not know this, but before I was a photographer I was a cinematographer and director.

I usually avoid looking at the work from my past because it has a way of making me cringe. I can be hard on myself.

But to my surprise, I was impressed. As I watched these videos from a decade back, I was awestruck by how that younger version of me came up with so many creative ideas.

It might have taken me 10 years, but I finally felt able to appreciate my old work in a way I was not capable of at the time.

This experience made me wonder, “Why was I so hard on myself?”

What would have happened if I took 10% of that critical energy and poured it into encouraging and supporting myself?

I really appreciated Kalen’s message in this video to his younger self. This was certainly a message I needed to hear too.

Thank you, Kalen, for stopping and for taking a few moments to make art with a stranger.

Big love,

D

PS: If you want to see the behind the scenes video of me approaching Kalen and taking these photos, check out my Instagram or my TikTok.