Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Kaire Umoja. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Kaire, appreciate you joining us today. Do you have any advice regarding quality control and maintaining quality as your brand grows?

Quality is a non negotiable that I aim to uphold with my brand and myself as a creative. As the brand grows, I want to create a standard that matches my creative output. With my photography I look to prioritize art over content. When I create, the goal I always have for my work is for it to be art. I see content as product with the destination being only social media. When I capture photos, I visualize them as more physical than only meta. Shooting portraits I imagine seeing my work in a magazine or clothing store, nature/landscape I envision it being framed and hung up in someone’s house or office as a centerpiece, sports I envision Slam Mag or Sports Illustrated. The destination I have in my mind for the photos I take keep me motivated to strive for the best quality I can uphold and from that I’m attempting to match that drive with my brand entirely. Having my social media presence maintained and up kept so that it matches my output of work is my main focus now. In doing that, it forces me to grow outside my bubble. Treating this as a business forces me to be more consistent with creating, I can’t post every three months and expect to see growth. To have quality pieces on display consistently that can establish and lead to more clients and connections is something I have push myself to do because I can’t expect the outside to see what I think is quality art if I don’t hold my own self to a high quality standard of how I execute it.

Kaire, 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 Kaire Umoja, I’m a photographer from Baltimore, Maryland. Right now I’m a junior at Fairmont State University majoring in Graphic Design Technology and minoring in business. The main type of work I focus on providing is portrait and streetwear fashion photogrpahy, but I also indulge in nature, sports, and car photography. When working with clients, creating aside ,my top priority is providing a safe, comfortable, and cooperative environment. Creating projects are a relationship between the artist and client that has to value communication and being on the same page on all paramaters. When working with a client, though content is being created, it is art above all things and the quality of it will be treated as such.

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

Definitely the process of concepts becoming reality. I think that artist across all mediums have key perspectives or a sense for something that they can ‘see’ that not everyone can. Photographers have an eye for certain compositions, musicians/producers have an ear for sounds, fashion designers an eye and feel for fabrics/ textures, a chefs nose for food, etc. When it comes to photography, I start to conceptualize when knowing the model, location, and weather. Once I have multiple components, I’ll visualize the angles, create boards for reference and to get a sense of the shots I want. Come the day of shoot and getting the shots you visualized, for me it’s an exhilarating feeling. Seeing the image start in my head and pop up on the display, being able to show the client the result and seeing they’re reactions to what we’re creating is unparalleled.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

Evolving as a creative is never-ending journey that can be seen, but isn’t always understood sometimes. Anyone can pick up a camera and take a picture, but it’s a craft just like anything else that requires practice; however photography is also an art which within itself is something that can be purely subjective, so there isn’t one right pathway to travel down to practice and improve. The evolution of the art will be seen, but only the creative and their peers can truly understand how meticulous it can be to improve vast or even minimal things within one’s work.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kaisimages/
• Other: https://www.behance.net/kaireumoja