I had an interesting conversation with a group yesterday about the journey of healing vs maintaining and cultivating new relationships. In short it really comes down to caring. Caring enough to understand yourself and be 100% real in that. Even if that means you need to take a solo training arc.

(Shot from a music video visualizer) 
Kit used : - > ​https://www.manikkrealm.com/kit.html 

One of the more challenging things to attain is a peaceful , unfiltered self belief. It's not a matter of capability going into the future, but the ability to just accept that you're already "it". We're conditioned to seek a reflection to quantify our validity, but I don't entirely believe that it's necessary if one's motivation comes from another place.

I think it was in some table talk with a couple of business owners and rappers, but the idea was about setting different benchmarks. Personally the act of creation is completion. I learned this when painting and drawing back in art school. Essentially the piece should be finished at each stage. If you can attain this both in craft and in mind, then you'll be pretty much okay. 

Along with this post I'm sharing a bit of art that a friend and I made. It started off as a vague idea for a visual paired with a song, and then turned into something a little more. I listened to the track and storyboarded something. Aside form visuals I spend a lot of time dancing. Finding that it's a more comfortable way of expression, I choreographed a sequence of movements to represent the words of the song but also the flow of emotion. 

There are two versions. One initial and one secondary that links in spoken word as a character piece. 
The artist Desiire shared his mind state at the time. 

A year ago things were a little simpler, but this year is much clearer. 
Shot on 35mm / Kodak Gold 200 / Nikon F3 / Nikkor 50mm f1.8 

Kit:
ISCO Red 2x
Rapido FVD-16A and FMJ
Nikkor 50mm f1.8
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k
​

Red ISCO Anamorphic 2x
Taking lens: Nikkor 50mm 1.8
Camera - Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k ​

​Testing lenses and looks with my nephew.
Red ISCO Anamorphic 2x
Taking lens: Nikkor 50mm 1.8
Camera - Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k (3.7k anamorphic mode) 

Walking around the city for the first time in a while. 
​Fuji X-T3 , Tokina 11-16. 

Testing a new anamorphic lens with my nephew.
ISCO Red 2x
Nikkor 50mm f1.8 Taking Lens
Rapido FMJ and FVD
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k
#horror #cinematography #blackfilm ​

Today I assembled a blended anamorphic kit. 
ISCO Red 2x
Rapido FMJ, and FVD
​Nikkor 50mm F1.8 as a taking lens.

More to come.
Also for a full gear list , click here  ​www.manikkrealm.com/kit.html