We were lucky to catch up with Braiden Wade recently and have shared our conversation below.

Braiden, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?

I’m happy with being a creative, it’s fulfilling and I get to meet so many people. It’s a way for me to express the ideas I either daydream or think about. The reality sets in sometimes though, the fact that not just my passion can fuel my projects. Money is a constant for me to fuel these ideas. Although working a 9 to 5 isn’t ideal, right now I have to work a “regular” job to make money. The reason why I said “regular” is that most of the jobs I either work or apply to, I try to make sure they incorporate my passion. This past year it’s been difficult because it’s been less projects and more work. I didn’t have that balance between passion and work because I needed to make money. This summer I told myself that I don’t want to do that again and I want to create more passion projects. I see other creatives and I’m happy for them, especially the ones who become full time creatives. I’m seeing what it takes to become full time, and yeah it sucks, but the journey isn’t all bad. With my senior year of college coming up, I’m taking the necessary steps to make sure I’m as financially free as possible. I want to be able to create and collab more this year, especially with a few projects I have in mind right now. Overall, I’m happy as a creative and right now I’m okay with working a “regular” job, because I’m hoping it won’t be forever.

Braiden, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m Braiden Wade, a 20 year old coming from St. Louis, Missouri. I’m a senior in college majoring in Photojournalism. I do photography, modeling, poetry, podcasting, skating, and honestly a lot of stuff. I got into photography about 8 years ago due to my grandma and my uncle giving me my first camera in high school. It was a family reunion and he gave me his camera to take photos and I got one of our grandma smiling. She didn’t like her pictures being taken, so it was rare to get a picture of her. I was proud of that photo and wanted to continue shooting. I had spent the next summer in Chicago with my uncle working and job shadowing for interior design. Back then I wanted to do interior design and he got me in contact with a guy he knew. My uncle gave me his camera to use and I was taking photos of everything in between working and job shadowing. The rest was history when the guy asked me if I really wanted to do interior design. He looked at my photos and urged me to go that route if it was something I wanted to do. I worked and saved up for my first camera, a Canon T7 Rebel. Basic kit lens and everything, I shot with those two until my freshman year of college in 2020. In between photographing events, concerts, people, everything I had saved enough money to get a 50mm prime lens. Now I have a Canon 80D with a 25mm prime lens and a few other lenses. I offer shoots for everything, parties, brands, people, etc. I also have experience in set designing from creative shoots I’ve done. I think what sets me apart as a photographer is that I want to genuinely connect with the client. I don’t want to have a robotic interaction as we do a shoot together because it won’t lead to genuine photos. In a sense, it could lead to bland photos, the client has to be comfortable. I make that my top priority for people is that they’re comfortable before, during, and after the shoot. I’m most proud of the shoots that take time and a lot more energy to prepare for. These are the shoots that are conceptualized and you have to go the extra mile for. I’m proud to see the work that comes from them, especially when others are inspired by them. I’m inspired from seeing other people’s projects, because I know how much work can go into it. It’s a feeling of knowing I’m not alone when I’m spending 2-5 hours editing in the middle of the night. That makes me sound like a vampire, but it’s worth it. For the people I reach, my work is just an extension of me. I’m glad to have you a part of that process too.

Have you ever had to pivot?

As a person, I’m generally happy and outgoing, overall an optimistic guy or I try to be light to other people. With that being said, my great grandmother passed away this year in January. Her and I were very close, I credited a lot of my personality and creative work to her since she also raised me with my mom. So when she passed I was gone, lost, pretty much every feeling imaginable. It was the beginning of a new semester, photoshoots booked, projects, work etc. In my mind I had to find myself again because I lost the person I tried to be the most like growing up. I was navigating my life while trying to find it and cope, everything I knew was different. During finding myself, I had to find my passion for photography again because my main reason for doing it was gone. I set up more boundaries around scheduling so I didn’t overwork myself, made time for passion projects, and gave myself more time to do the things I enjoyed. I had to differentiate between doing it for someone and doing it because of someone. The whole time I did photography, I was doing it for my great-grandma and not so much as myself. She worried about me a lot financially and so I picked up more work to show her I was doing okay. That she didn’t have to send me money that she didn’t have for herself. My goal was to make enough money or become stable enough to send money back to her. I wanted her to see the high’s in my life because she saw a lot of lows. The wins were special for her because she couldn’t travel to see them, so a phone call was what we had or my family would show her pictures. When I finally shifted to doing it because of her, I accepted that I can continue doing what I’m doing as a dedication to her. I’m doing this business and everything else as my own person, but it’s dedicated to the woman who’s always been the motivation.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

I have multiple goals with my creative journey and honestly I’m excited because I’m getting closer to a few younger me would’ve been like “We did that?” I want my photos, poems, etc to spark joy. Joy is something we don’t have enough of and if my work is able to create that, then perfect. Now, all my projects aren’t going to be joyous, I’m clarifying that now. WIth that I want all my projects to spark some kind of emotion and inspire a person to create or explore. If it sparks an emotion, you can follow that into inspiration. That’s like the driving force behind some of my projects. If I feel strongly about something, how can I visualize this for other people to be inspired? Between creating projects and images that resonate with people, my end goal is to shoot music/concert photography. The community that I’m surrounded by is supportive and is always inspiring another person to do better. Each person is ambitious too, so someone’s always achieving their dream. Also I might get to meet Saba, J.I.D, Smino, Amine or any artist in my Top 10 sometime in the future. I’ve photographed 2/4 listed, so I’m hoping for more. With that, I want to meet as many people genuinely as I can. Most people have a lot of unheard stories to tell or some just need a community. I want to be able to bring people into one that helps them out. The thing that drives me to keep going is that you can create endlessly. I have ideas coming 24/7, but I might lack the resources to do them. Even still, I use that time in between getting resources and executing to plan everything out more. I have a community to help me out and I try to incorporate them in my projects anytime I think of one. So shoutout to all the people I met that helped my projects, pieces and me in everyday life. Thank y’all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://braidenwade.myportfolio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/braidenwade/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/braiden-wade-481044208/