We were lucky to catch up with Harrison Cosby aka Mr. 201 recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Harrison, thanks for joining us today. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

Although I’ve been an athlete my whole life playing basketball and running track, with photography on the back burner. I would say that the biggest risk I’ve taken in life is launching my business and actually sticking with it. My business name went from 201 Productions to 201 Visuals, to finally 201 Lifestyle and my official photographer name becoming Mr.201 or just 201. At the early stages of business I didn’t really take everything as seriously as I do now because it was honestly still just a hobby for me. I was still focusing on track and accumulating more and more offers and took pictures on the side. Everything for my business changed in 2020, the year I graduated high school and the year the world went into complete lockdown because of Covid-19. In August of 2020 I started my freshman year of college at Kennesaw State University, with no track, no in person classes, just me myself and I in my dorm every day. Of course I had friends out there from high school and talked and hung out with them regularly, but all the restrictions and not being able to run track was a huge burden on my mental health. I got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore and just decided to drop out and take my photography business seriously. Deciding to drop out and do photography, videography, and drone operation full time was one of the most nerve racking, but pivotal points of my life. There were times when I slept on one of my best friends Kerrell’s couch for weeks at a time, exhausted from trying to work closer to the city and network with different people. Everyday I was trying to make a name for myself and staple the 201 brand into peoples minds everywhere. Of course my parents didn’t really agree with me dropping out at first or even me being a photographer full time, which discouraged me a lot. There were times were I questioned myself and my art, asking myself if I my work was good enough to continue to inspire others and support myself with my art. This big jump and risk that I took had its up and downs, depressing times and times were I felt on top of the world. All in all, this was the best risk I’ve ever taken in my life and the hard work I put in despite others opinions paid off and is still paying off to this day. I love what I do and I love to inspire others with my art. I’m only 20 traveling the world, making great connections, and shooting with people I would never imagine, all because I decided to take the risk! This is just the beginning of my story and trust me, Im far from done,

Harrison, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

My name is Harrison Cosby known as “Mr.201” or “201” by many. I am a photographer, filmmaker, and drone operator as well. I’ve always taken a liking to photography since I was a little boy. My mom would always get me the disposable film cameras from Walgreens or Walmart and I would have a blast with them. Back then it was just a hobby and just something fun to do with my mom and when traveling. I didn’t pick up an actual camera for myself until I was 16 and even then I still treated it like a hobby, I just loved taking pictures. I would take pictures of nature, my dog, and other animals just for fun. When I posted the pictures I took just for fun on Instagram I would get great feedback all the time, but it still didn’t move me. After a few months of just shooting for fun and people telling me that my work was really nice, I made the jump and became an official photography business owner. I went and got my LLC for 201 Lifestyle and took off from there. I started off just doing the sports events at my school from basketball to football to the band, I did it all. After a while I got tired of sports and got into editorial and portrait style photography really heavy. My first time stepping in a photography studio was at CamKirk Studios in downtown Atlanta, back in December of 2018. Being in the studio sparked something in me that I never knew was there and I fell in love with my camera and creating. I now do editorial style shoots, weddings, industry commercials, music videos, magazine covers, campaign shoots, any and everything you can think of pretty much (except for live sports) My work has grown so much since I’ve started and I’ve traveled all over the world doing what I love. I have done a few destination weddings as well as documented business trips out of the country. I will always provide my clients with what they want and more from my work. I love traveling to create, no destination is too far for me! Clients can always expect the best plus more from Mr.201. Rather we are in the studio, at a location, on a vacation, in the country or out the country I will provide for my clients always!

How did you build your audience on social media?

When I first started my photography business I Went by 201 Productionz, which was also my Instagram name. After a few months I had a couple hundred followers, but felt like my work could be way better and reach a bigger audience as well. At the time my personal page had about 2,000 followers and only pictures of myself. I made the decision to merge both of my pages back in 2018 and that was one of the best business decisions I could have made at that time. I archived all the pictures of myself and began to regularly post my work, this was the beginning of “Mr.201.” I set up a posting schedule for myself and always set reminders to post work at certain times on certain days. In my opinion social media is all about algorithm and what works for you, making art that fuels your soul. I would and still do often times post questions and polls on my story to see what my followers would like to see from me as well. Although, I create for myself and main goal is to make myself with happy with the art I create. I inspire other people and they love to see the work that I create so I have to make sure I cater to my followers as well. I’ve found that taking my time with developing my art and ideas allows me to create in a timely manner, putting out the best content for myself and my followers. Building socials is all about having a balance of creating art for yourself, satisfying your artistic needs and catering to your followers as well. Following my posting schedule and taking my time with my creations had gained me over 13,000 followers and counting. There’s no set way to grow your followers or grow your interaction. Find what works for you, stay consistent, and perfect your craft to the best of your abilities.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being creative in your experience?

For me the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is inspiring others. I get different messages almost every week from people telling me how I’ve inspired them to create in general or start their photography or film making journey. I always take the time to respond any questions or inquiries people have. I pride myself on being accessible in that aspect because I know I was in that exact point when I first started my business. I always wanted to learn more, reach out to people and ask questions. It makes me happy that I am able to inspire people and have them comfortable enough to reach out wanting to learn more from me and my way of working.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @mr.201_
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxdQvF5HSokcJFGNKWHl6yA

Image Credits
All featured pictures were taken by myself, Harrison Cosby