We recently connected with Anthony Molina and have shared our conversation below.

Anthony, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

In high school I was originally working towards studying Architecture in college, but fate had other plans for me. I’ve always been interested in the arts and the way one can express themselves, whether it be through my first passion like drawing/sketching or other artistic approaches such as dance, music and or theater. Growing up as a first generation only child to immigrant parents, of course there had always been large grandiose expectations for me and my career path. My parents saw my knack for illustrations and chose I pursue Architecture, something that could generate a nice income and something that I’d at least be interested in. My whole life was sort of leading to me studying and becoming an architect, then my junior/senior year of high school I took intro to photography 101 and was hooked. I loved how I could capture and display how I viewed the world around me and the different ranges of mediums that interact with photography, digital or analog. Senior year really was the turning point for me; I had to make a decision that could potentially change my academic pursuit in architecture and my future career path as well as how my parents would perceive me and my life choices. I took a risk, took my wants and aspirations into consideration, bought a camera right before summer started and began shooting anything and everything; nature, buildings, random people, pets, self portraits and close friends all for free. Once I began I couldn’t stop. Thankfully things started to fall into place and opportunities began to present themselves. Paid shoots were the nod that I need to reinforce my belief in myself and my artistic abilities. It took some time for my parents to be on the same page as me or even believe in me for that matter but that’s to be expected in any immigrant family. Thankfully, they’ve grown to accept this choice I’ve made and have been a strong pillar of reinforcement for some time now. I’ve been blessed to have been able to meet such wonderful people who have been nothing short of a great support system along the way and an endless source of inspiration and creativity. Of course, like every thing that’s worth striving for, there’s ups and downs, struggles and small/large bumps in the road but it’s all been worth it, tenfold. That high school art elective really changed my life and I’ll forever be grateful to the people in that classroom, as well as my awesome teacher Mrs. Garlandin, who were the firsts to ever have a shard of belief in me.

Anthony, 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?

Well my name is Anthony, mostly known as “Saadboiant” or “Saad” on social media. I’m a local South Florida creative with a focus in visual arts. I began shooting officially in the summer of 2018, and little of a year later landed my first big opportunity shooting Rolling Loud out in the West Coast. I started off as a local photographer that would take any job/gig I could get; Local Artist shows, open events, family and friends birthday parties, social events all for free at first, then once I felt as if I had a strong enough portfolio I began to charge for my work. $50, $75, $100 then up to $150 per shoot, all within the first year. I never went went or took formal school for photography, all self taught. Learned a lot through YouTube and resources such as masterclass and Skillshare. I would spend hours upon hours trying my best to learn and grow as an artist and creative. Along the way, I met like minded talented individuals that taught me more than I could ever think of or ask for. Being a creative is a never ending process of growing and learning and hopefully bettering yourself along the way. I have a main focus on photography and my work ranges from portraitures, street/fashion photography to festival/concert coverage. I truly believe I have a different way of viewing the world and if there’s a way I could share that vision to the world, I’ll find it and execute it to the best of my ability. As an individual I do feel a lot of pressure at times but that’s out there by yours truly. I want to “make it” and be blessed enough to be in a position where I can lend out a hand and help out other creatives get where they want to be or deserve to be, essentially put people on. I want to be that help that was lacking or not offered to me when I was starting out. Whenever I work with “clients” I like to collaborate on ideas where we both can create something beautiful and try leave them with a small part of me through the work we produce. No matter if it’s a small private intimate shoot with a “client”, or something larger scale such as a festival, I try to treat each and every job with the importance and creative approach it deserves. At the end of the project, one of my main focuses is for the client to not just view me as a photographer that they’re working with, but as a new friend who they can come to with more ideas/projects in the future and be confident that we’ll hit it out of the park every time.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Simply put; Happiness. I strive to be content as a person, individual and artist. Be content with the work and impact I’ve had, big or small.

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

I’d say being able to inspire so many people and offer insight on things most wouldn’t come across. Other than that is that feeling of learning and accomplishing something new that you’ve set your mind to.

Contact Info:

• Website: Saadboi.com
• Instagram: Instagram.com/Saadboiant
• Twitter: Twitter.com/Saadboiant