Shaun: A visionary in the making

Every once in a while the world is blessed with an artist, musician, actor, public figure and so on that changes reality and shakes up culture. Their style, vision and individuality adds a NEW to the every growing NORM that swallows society whole. From a photographer/videography standpoint, artists like Standley Kubrick, Tarantino, and Richard Avedon have brought different perspectives to their mediums. Their styles have propelled visuals and rocketed imagination into a new world. They inspired countless artist and changed filmmaking and photography for decades. Today; however, a lot of people have similar styles. Photographers, and videographers use the same backgrounds, the same locations, and the same set up. They are dull and can't be told apart. But wait, before you lose all hope and rant on twitter about how all the good artists are dead, let me introduce you to someone who is the difference needed in today's visual world. His name is Shaun, a 23 year-old photographer/videographer from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands who is currently living in Atlanta.

Shaun is different because unlike most photographers, he isn't concerned with trends. His work, from the way he edits, to the way he shoots, is stylized to his liking. No one is really doing what he does the way he does because it is authentically him. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the typical photography style out today, it's nice, but because so many people are doing it, it has become boring. Shaun differs from the status quo by staying true to his roots and going in the opposite direction of the crowd.

He does this with his natural lighting technique, unique composition, and editing. With each image the viewer is sucked into a mini world; one that is muted in color yet vibrant and electrifying.

Every photo feels like it's been ripped out of a feature film. There's a grainy, minimalist, wonder like quality to his images, that makes them feel like a familiar yet alternate world. Shaun captures the emotion of a scene with a still image.

He got his start at a young age. "I got into photography when I got my first laptop at the age of 13 or 14. At first, I took webcam photos of myself and edited them on Picnik. Then, when I got my first iPhone that's when I got deeper into photography. I found myself taking tons of random pictures and being super excited to edit them. Later on, in life, I said: "If this is my hobby and I like doing it, why not pursue it and make money off of it?"

Shaun has been shooting seriously for 3 years now and so far he's making a name for himself. He's passionate and he’s a student. I stress the word STUDENT in my articles because you can’t do anything without actually studying the greats that came before you. Shaun puts his love for what he does in his work, and he's putting that same love and style in his videography.

"My goal is to become one of, or at least the greatest visual director there is whether its photo or video. I want to be a businessman, philanthropist, and so many other things."

Of course, he's just starting and has a long way to go, but he's adding something different to the Atlanta photo scene and I think he will go far in the future.