We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Claudio Eshun a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Claudio, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Elegant Alien, a work-in-progress project that started in graduate school while I was at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

The most vivid memory I have of myself in Ghana is when I was a small child, propped up in front of a vibrant African textile for a photo shoot my mom planned. I wasn’t smiling in the photo. Maybe I was too aware of the photographer and everything else that was going on. I just wish I could remember who that photographer was. I continued to dream about that day for the next 9 years that I spent in Vicenza, Italy as an immigrant. Back then, the United States seemed like a faraway dreamland. Nonetheless, my mom Becky made the bold decision to move to America. After one trip, she brought my siblings and I to visit Worcester, MA twice before making the final decision. Her ex- husband (my father) did not think she had it in her. I will never forget what it took to get us here; false words from immigration lawyers and then three guards escorting my mom, siblings, and I to a cold, isolated, unauthorized room at Logan Airport.

Looking outward through the eyes of my mom, my lens on the world became more graceful as a young teen. The challenges of others put my personal, familial, and judicial hardships in perspective. With the conversations I have with family, friends, and people in my community, we are collaborating through picture-making.

Claudio, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I bought my first camera with my summer job money back when I was 14 years old. I wanted an outlet as I found out what it meant with my legal status as a DACA recipient. I became more introverted and reserved as I had no idea who else was dealing with a situation like mine and no one to connect with. My mom made sure to keep me around the church to spiritually stay aligned with myself. Her graceful approach to raising 3 children shifted my perspective on how to view the world. As I developed my eye, I learned the techniques to make an image, worked with various people, and then made post edits to finalize the images. As it all started coming together at 16 years old, I was ready to be a freelance photographer and share my creative skillsets to the world.

The types of services I started providing were portraits for LinkedIn or Instagram, event photography for small weddings, church events, family functions, and my friends’ small businesses. My initial pricing began at $20 per session but that changed quickly as I raised prices to $50 for 12 edited images. (I clearly didn’t know how to charge, but wanted to get my foot in the door). Besides being TOO affordable, my honesty took me far as folks saw I cared about the medium and my passion came out when it came to directing. A combination of passion, reliability, and being affordable I was attracting the right clients in Worcester, MA and beyond.

I carried that into my undergraduate college years as I was still shy but with a camera not so much. Once I arrived on campus after a year, with a friend from Worcester we were able to get hired by on-campus organizations for events. It helped brand wise and also I was able to understand where I wanted to go next with my career in photo making. One of my biggest proud moments was being open and willing to make images at Bridgewater State University.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Before I wanted to be an artist, I wanted to help people with medicine. I thought I wanted to be a doctor or researcher for the rest of my life. Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in helping people, but I shifted my mentality as now I am a huge supporter for STEAM (Science Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics). On campus I was known as the science guy and I was sure I wanted to take that path.

I made this this pivot in 2018, when I had a year left of my undergraduate college career after exploring a few internship opportunities. I kept gravitating toward storytelling, problem solving, and collaboration that after 4 years of freelancing, I knew my calling and destiny. Since then I haven’t looked back. I skipping a few missing pieces of the story.

This type of confidence to pivot would of not occurred if it wasn’t for the support of Deniz Zeynep Leuenberger, Chief of Staff at Bridgewater State University.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The Journey!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.claudioeshun.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/donclaude__
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/donclaudee
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/claudioeshun/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@donclaude994

Image Credits

Desdemona Kusi
Carolina Porras Monroy
Timor Raz