We were lucky to catch up with Antonio Huff recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Antonio thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?
The Divine Experience began as telling the story of the people around me. But, as you can imagine, it didn’t start with such a name that encapsulates everything I am or aspire to share. It was January of 2019, I had been behind a camera for three years at the time. Like much of my life, I got the opportunity to spontaneously join some friends on a trip to the big island of Hawaii.
Most of the photos I would create at this moment in my life would be spontaneous.
I was riding a high in my life, where everything felt in order – you could even say perfect. My mentality was sharp, positive, & full of gratitude. I knew who I was, & I knew how I wanted to share my light with others.
Back to the name story. It was a sunny day in Hawaii & my friends brought me over to their grandma’s house. She was sitting in a chair near the window drawing a lion on a large sketchbook. The two of us sat & had a deep conversation from everything about life, art, creating, expressing, emotions, & so on.
I shared my photography journey with her & expressed how much love I had for life, the art I create, & connecting with others. She could see the pure joy in my eyes as I shared my story as if my words were being spoken purely from my soul. It’s in that moment when she said “you should call yourself ‘The Soul Experience!'”. Which hit me right in the heart with such happiness. It felt so perfect.
Well, flash forward four months & I’m working in a warehouse listening to “Tao Te Ching” on audiobook & it hits me. I realize I let that conversation slip from the front of my mind. On my break I attempted to change my Instagram handle to @thesoulexperience & to my surprise it was taken. “That was okay, it just wasn’t meant to be” I told myself. A short time had passed as I went back to work. Until it hit me! The Divine Experience! I went back to instagram & the handle was available. From then on, The Divine Experience has blossomed into something that is much bigger than me. It’s all of us. Shining our light through my lens, to leave a message to future generations, saying “we were here” “we lived”.
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 Antonio Huff. I’m a 28 year old photographer, videographer, creative, & business owner documenting the human experience with my camera.
I document people, music/concerts, brands/companies, weddings, nature, emotions, historical moments, real estate, events, & really anything that people create.
I’ve been behind a camera for almost a decade documenting OUR story. Shining a light on myself & each person that I meet along my journey of life. I love to tell people’s story through images & videos to help future generations know that we were here & we lived – no matter how small or large the imprint.
I have had many ups & downs along this journey behind a camera. Debating whether or not I should continue, or finding the most simple reminders of why I do what I do. I realize at this point, this is the one thing that brings me back down to earth. It gets me out of bed in the morning because I get to express myself & meet so many beautiful people. It’s through shared experience with others that I can see we all aren’t that much different than one another, We are all facing similar demons, & we need each other to connect & create with. Each of our stories deserves to be told.
Throughout the years I have seen countless people in front of my camera who are nervous at first, shy, & closed off. By the end of the shoot, I see their inner child come out & they seem free like a bird. Not afraid of judgement, or overthinking their next move or word. It’s in these moments where I realize, that inner child with a pure heart & open mind is able to shine through & let go of any pain they may be facing. At least for a moment. It’s these moments that remind me why I want & need to keep going in my life. I may not know what tomorrow is going to bring, but I am going to connect with others & create from my heart each day & make my inner child proud.
I don’t know if there is anything that makes me extraordinarily special in this life, but to me – every single one of us is special & nothing on this planet can take that away from us. I will live every day of my life, through the ups & downs, reminding myself of that so I may share it with each beautiful soul I encounter. Thank you for being here.
Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?
I would say the biggest factor that has gone into building & maintaining my supporters can be simply put into two words: being myself. Sharing everything from my happy to sad moments, my quietness & my loudness, being lost or finding myself. Really just sharing whatever I feel I want to share in each moment of my life. I believe being your authentic self & not putting a mask on to seem like you have everything figured out. There isn’t anyone that you have to perform for. We are all doing our best, & as we go through life we are going to go through things & change so many times. Being my true self, whatever that may look like, has connected to others. For that, I am grateful.
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 like to think that there are some people who have a creative mind, & those who have a logical mind. Yes, a person can have both. With that, comes finding balance between the two. I Think there are important moments where one may take precedence over the other. I can say the older peers in my family have not always understood or asked enough questions to understand why or how I can do what I do. The countless amounts of “you should get a real job” or “you can’t make a life out of art” I have gotten along my journey are too many to count. I know we all have bills to pay & we have to have a roof over our head. But I refuse to let my dreams die just because I grow older. I will fall, & get back up again every single time. I have learned a lot, lost a lot. That’s not going to change. But my perspective is the crucial variable in this equation. I have had such good years of living off my art, then the next I had to go back to a 9-5, my perspective allows me to not wallow in that. Rather, I accept where I am, & chase my dream from 5-9 until I was able to get back to making a living doing what I love – my art. I don’t care if I make a million dollars, I will enjoy every day, every downfall because I won’t give up. I get to experience life & all it has to offer.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bio.site/thedivineexperience
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedivineexperience
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonio-huff-b568a8156?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/thedivinehuff
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfmSol9M6sfgOT_ypiBV4Vw
Image Credits
The Divine Experience