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

Abdurrahman, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.

I thank the Lord Almighty everyday that I am blessed with the loving and supporting family that I have. While growing up, my father always told me to go into a career that would make me happy and content in life. He sat me down one day and told me this:

“Son, when you choose your career path be sure that it is something where when you wake up in the morning it doesn’t feel like you are going to work. Make sure it feels like you are having fun. Choose something that you would do for free but your getting paid for it anyway. As long as you go to school for something you love to do and it is Halal (Islamically permissible), then I will support you 100%.”

My father kept his word.

Whenever I went into school to pursue engineering, I realized that it wasn’t what I was passionate about. My grades were good and I met amazing people in that program but whenever I would study or go to class I didn’t feel the same spark I felt whenever I went into my media classes. During my first semester of university, I decided to take a film class and everyday I would show up for class I felt rejuvenated and electrified. It was the passion my father was telling me about. Whenever I told him my plans of switching majors to film, he completely understood and was very supportive. Even to this day, whenever people will try to question or belittle what I do my father is quick to defend me and make sure everyone knows that he is extremely proud of his son.

Truthfully, my mother didn’t fully understand why I wanted to switch majors. However, whenever she saw the passion, tenacity and love I put into my work she became one of my biggest cheerleaders. Whenever she needs help to add some spice in a video, I’m the first person she calls. Whenever she finds helpful and educational videos on photography and film she always sends them to me in hopes of it expanding my career. And whenever she talks about what I do on the phone with family and friends, her eyes light up with joy and excitement; I can tell she is truly proud of me and the progress I’ve made thus far.

I try to make both my parents proud by showing the potential that media has on individuals and society. Through many of my projects I’ve been able to educate, engage and inspire countless people. My parents also remind me everyday that I must do what pleases God. Being born and raised Muslim, I am fortunate to be under the right guidance and counciling to always do what is good. Both of my parents constantly remind me to pray, to make du’a and to pursue what I love. Whenever I face challenges they remind me to put my trust in Allah and that everything will be ok. To me these are the true keys to success. Even though I may not have a lot of free time, I still try to reach out to my parents whenever I can and let them know that I love them. Sometimes work and school can get the best of me and I forget to check on my folks. But they’re only here for a limited amount of time so it’s important to make the best of it. Thankfully my parents reach out to me everyday so even whenever I do forget to check on them (which, truthfully, is often) I’m reminded by a loving voicemail from my father or a funny cat internet video from my mother.

So to summarize, supporting my creative journey and reminding me of my religious purpose in life is the foundation of success planted by my parents. And I am eternally grateful for their love and support.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

My name is Abdurrahman Danquah. I am currently twenty-one years old and I am a filmmaker/photographer. I mainly work on photography at the moment and plan on making a serious shift towards making films this summer. My true passion lies within cinema but my philosophy is that if I’m able to control one frame I’ll be able to control several. But I truly enjoy photography, which has become a source of expression and therapy for me.

One of the questions sent to me was “what sets you apart from others?” and truthfully nothing sets me apart from anyone. I am just like the next person. The only difference is I chose to put all of my time, money, and efforts into one singular thing. Which right now is photography. I feel like everyone has something they’re passionate about or as Steven Spielberg said a “whisper” and I chose to follow my whisper. It helps to have such a huge supportive team behind me, rooting me on every step of the way. But beyond those things, I am a regular degular kinda guy.

At the same time, however, I work immensely hard and I am proud of the fruits of my labor. I’m proud of myself for putting aside what was conventionally lucrative — engineering — and going into something that brings joy into my life. I am proud of the progress I’ve made with the help of God. And I am proud to have so many people rooting for my success. Truly I am blessed.

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

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is seeing the direct positive impact it has on people. For example, whenever I did the “BECCA: Navigating The Non-Binary World” project. I was shocked to see how many people who once felt alone felt heard for the first time. My only mission was to bring justice to Becca’s experience and it touched my heart that it went beyond just Becca but to anyone who related to their experience. It is also rewarding whenever I am able to educate someone on a new subject. Besides the Becca project, I also did a project for the PhMuseum called “Wuḍūʾ (الوضوء)” which described the Islamic process of abolition. Many people told me this was their first time hearing about this even though it is a fundamental aspect of our religion. Furthermore, it is rewarding whenever people feel inspired by my work. Even whenever I send my film to Harvey Film Lab, the owner, Kacie, reminds me every time how special I am and how creative my work comes out. Those sort of words are very uplifting to hear. I have a beautiful support system from people that I know and people that I don’t know. These people make me feel unique and understood; I am very grateful for this.

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can shed some light?

I believe that most people who go the non-creative route fall under three categories. Either they love what they do, they don’t know what they want to do, or they’re too anxious to go the creative route. Usually, non-creatives who go into what they do because they love it understand my journey as an artist because it is similar to their own. They are pursuing something that is difficult and they know that the path can only be treaded with tenacity, constancy and hard work. So, for them, there is mutual respect between us.

For the non-creatives that aren’t completely sure what their passions are, I feel like they don’t completely understand why artists choose the creative route. Usually, this group of people goes into their fields because it’s what is conventionally safe and possibly lucrative. So either they admire what artists do or they are completely baffled as to why we wouldn’t go into something that would be safe.

To the people who don’t comprehend why artists don’t choose the comfortable route: It isn’t about comfortability. As I mentioned before, it’s about tenacity, constancy and hard work. Being a successful doctor is hard work. Being a businessman is hard work. Being an engineer is hard work. The only difference between me and those people is that I chose to put my hard work and efforts into something that I love to do. This gives me more stamina and less stress in the long run. As long as I work hard, make a plan and put my faith in God I’m good. Why stress? That kind of stuff takes years off your lifespan.

The last category of people is the secretly creative people that are too anxious to go the artistic route. To them, I say this:

You’re going to sweat and struggle anyway. Why not put that effort into something you love? Why not have fun while you’re doing it? Have faith in yourself and things will work out for you.

Contact Info:

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Image Credits
Jadon Sitton Justin Case