Today we’d like to introduce you to Xander.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
You could say it started back when I was a young kid. I always found movies interesting and wanted to create something of my own. When I was in elementary school my mom had bought me a small Sony camcorder which I used to record things like skits with my brothers and friends. Around that time, I had discovered YouTube as well, which got me recording and editing videos for many years. That all slowed down as I was about to graduate high school and I had to figure out a career path. I felt that college wasn’t for me so I’d have to follow a passion to make it work. I picked up the camera again but instead of being in front of it, I was the one behind it. Just like many photographers, I started out taking portraits of friends and family just trying to learn the camera a bit more and getting the idea of what photography really is. From that I just became obsessed. I found myself breaking out of my introverted shell and shooting street photography. I loved the discussions and interactions I had with random people that I would’ve never talked to if it wasn’t for the camera in my hands. I discovered that Detroit had a community of photographers as well so I spent my time networking. Since then, I’ve been shooting or editing just about every day for the past 3 years.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not. I’ve done a majority of building my brand and teaching myself everything I know which obviously comes with faults. I think having the ups and downs makes it all around a better experience. I’ve had struggles with things on the business aspect, trying to figure out how to market myself, how to talk to clients, how to keep up with finances, etc. If you do plan on working for yourself, I highly recommend learning about LLC’s and finances because that will save you lots of troubles down the road.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I wouldn’t say I exactly specialize in anything in particular. I definitely find myself gravitating towards street photography just because I’m in love with the process. With today’s social media there’s millions of people creating and with that there’s tons of inspiration going around. I see a lot of people either re-creating or making exact replicas of art from others that they’ve seen. With street photography, you can’t necessarily do that. The world is your canvas and it’s very unpredictable. It all depends on the weather, the subject and character in frame, and tons of other little details.
At this very moment, I would say that I’m known for my photography. But I would like to be known as a diverse artist through many mediums. I eventually plan to branch out with music, clothing, film, business, and whatever else I find worth pursuing.
I don’t really have anything that’s physical to be proud of. I’m more proud of myself in being able to just create and make enough to get by doing what I enjoy so early in life. I grew up making videos on YouTube and writing music here and there but nothing ever seemed to really work. But I knew I had a passion for creating. Finding photography right when I got out of high school was a huge blessing for me personally. I’m happy to feel that I’ve found my purpose in life doing something that I love and hopefully being able to help others through that vessel.
One thing I’d say that sets me apart from others is that I’m constantly trying to innovate. I like to take trends but add my own twist to them and create my own style. I don’t really look at work too much through social media just because I don’t want to subconsciously re-create or draw too much inspiration from others and copy their work. I mostly critique myself off my own work and always think what could have been done better to improve the piece.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
Learn the balance between catering to your audience while creating art that you personally love and are proud of. Getting caught up in numbers will never bring you the pursuit of happiness.
Contact Info:
- Email: contact@artxsify.com
- Website: www.artxsify.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/imxndr
- Youtube: www.youtube.com/artxsify
Image Credits
Louisa Clare
