We recently connected with Denzel Washington and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Denzel thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?
How did I learn what I do? That’s a loaded question! Let’s start with cinematography & Creative Directing. I was trained in the art of cinematography formally at Kent State University. After school I interned at Think Media Studios where I expanded my knowledge, but I really started learning the craft through starting my own freelance business and working on anything I could get my hands dirty with (Short films, Weddings, Music videos, Corporate Video, Personal Projects ect.).
When it comes to being an R&B Singer/SongWriter I’ve been singing for years. I started off in the car actually, jamming out in the backseat to the tunes my mom would play. Some of my favorites artists she’d put on ranged from Marvin Gaye to Sade, Sting & The Police to Michael Jackson. My musical Pallet was filled with variety which I think truly played a part on how I’ve grown into the artist I am now. From the back seat I transitioned into the church choir as well as participating in choir class all throughout school. I’ve learned genre’s from soul to gospel, latin, German to Contemporary R&B. Learning R&B was honestly my choice, I found my voice through years of listening to different music, trying different styles and pushing myself to perform & write consistently.
The story of how I came to learn acting is actually one of my favorites. My English teacher actually took a chance on me and pushed me to apply to Firestone high school’s Visual and performing arts program for acting. I tried out, auditioned and got in! From then on acting was my life, I fell in love with analyzing stories and learning how to be a different character. My first acting teacher Mark Zimmerman played the basis for my journey as an actor and taught me to believe in myself no matter what the challenge is the “The show must go on” he said. From highs cool I moved onto college where I had many trainers who taught me to now hone my skills. Chuck Richie taught me the art of honing my skills as an artist and the Meisner Method. Rohn Thomas taught me how to step into the role of learning the art of film acting for the first time. Amy Fritsche taught me how to build worlds within my mind and the Laban Method. I am thankful to each and everyone one of these people in my journey as an artist.
Knowing what I know now, what could I have done to speed up my learning process? I feel as an artist, as a human being there is always room to evolve or “go harder” I was already dedicated to every craft I partook in but I think when it comes down to it to speed up the learning process I could have been more hands on sooner in every avenue.
The most essential skills I’ve learned as a whole from every artistic form I partake in as a whole is that everything connects. When I graduated school and leaned into may brand Denzeltheartist I used every skill that I knew to make my art pop. I know how to act, light, produce and shoot film so my videos/content/ and promo is more engaging and cinematic. When I act on set I know about everything behind the camera which I feel helps me to be a better actor then it comes to moving on camera and ect. It all connects.
Breaking it down by creative skills the essentials learned from cinematography and film was how to tell a story, it also taught me how to creative direct, how to build a world/atmosphere.
Being a musician and a songwriter the most essential skills learned were how to draw and read emotion from people. It also taught me how to deal with my own emotions by expressing them through song.
Acting taught me how to be in the present. Acting gave me analytical skills like no other, it’s helped me to not only to become confident, it has also taught me how to be a fantastic communicator.
The only obstacle that ever stood in my way of learning more has always been myself.
Denzel, 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?
Hello all ,
My name Is Denzel Washington…Yes that is my real name, I’ll have to give my mom thanks for that one! I am an Akron,Ohio native who is an R&B Singer/Songwriter, Cinematographer/Photographer/Creative Director, and an Actor. All in all I am an artist at the end of the day, which is why my artist name is Denzel The Artist … soooo clever lol But it has a nice ring after awhile trust me!
I started my journey as an artist through music and film. I didn’t realize it at the time but as a child I always found myself singing lyrics to the songs my mother played from the backseat of our car rides or I would be memorizing full lines from movies like toy story and the Mummy. I honestly thought everyone did those things right? nahhhh. I grew up on almost every side of Akron, raised by a single mother living on the lower middle class of society. I share these small details because they are apart of who I am as a person and they have a major influence on my perspective as an artist. Coming from a place of violence, poverty, and negativity, a place where dreams are snuffed out or cut short…this was my environment, this is what I had to work with. All of that was countered by one of the biggest role models in my life, my mother. She worked her butt off to make sure my home life was balanced and positive, and she always gave me the motivation to believe I could do anything I put my mind to. With that I moved forward as a choir kid who fell in love with music from 1st grade on. So far, throughout my journey music I’ve been given the opportunity to travel across the country to sing in Europe, I’ve created my own brand as an R&B singer, and I’ve been blessed to have been able to sing for so many different faces. When I hit 8th grade I was presented with a lot of opportunity…I tell this story in almost every interview because it has so much impact on my journey. As I layed out earlier I basically came from what they call the “Inner city” or “Urban areas”, here people and teachers really didn’t seem to care about the kids or how they are brought up and honestly a lot of kids didn’t care about what they were doing either… but my English teacher at the time Mrs. Ruppert took a chance on me…she’d present me with an opportunity that would change the rest of my life. One day after the class reading she told me to stay after because she wanted to speak with me. She presented me this program for a school. This school that was basically a training ground for the visual and performing arts. “I want you to try out for acting” she said. At the time I had just got accepted into an early college program as well so I had some serious choices to make… I tried out for the program and got in! I thought it over and chose to pursue acting and to have an actual high school experience…I don’t regret it until this day. But I tell this story because if it wasn’t for Mrs. Ruppert I more then likely would have never unlocked my full potential as an artist…it also helped me to see the good in people for people like me. The Visual and Performing Arts high school is the actual start of my journey as an artist. Here I learned the art of acting, I was given opportunities as a musician and I learned how to become confident in whatever art form there was to get my hands on. I acted in plays, musicals, sung in a variety of small ensembles and large ensembles, I hosted, and danced. I wanted to do and learn everything I could to push myself to my full potential so I could be ready for the next step which was, you guessed it…..college. If there is one thing that I may have wanted to change on my journey I think it would have been to take even more time researching and choosing a college… I honestly felt so much pressure at the time to choose where I’d be for the next 4 yours of my life. I chose Kent State University. At Kent I honed my craft as an actor more than ever before learning different techniques and new ways to become better within the art form of acting. I also started to gravitate towards one of my childhood interests, film. I always wanted to be a film actor but my original training was based on the stage. So I asked myself, how do I get better on film? The answer for me was to pick up a second degree in video/production and take on some film acting classes. My philosophy was not only would I learn more about acting in the medium as an actor but I’d also learn about everything involved with the medium of film to better my performance. Picking up the second degree is where I fell in love with storytelling, camera work, and creative directing.
Graduating college I felt ready to take the world head on with my new found skills in film and my sharpened skills as an actor musician. I started with an internship first working at Think Media Studios one of the most well-known in the Cleveland film industry. I took on roles as a production assistant, editor, and if I was lucky I was learning more about the camera as a temporary AC. I worked on projects like documentaries, corporate commercial, sports commercials, ect. From here I started working as a freelancer establishing my own Photo/Video LLC called 2U Visuals. Wanting to get better as a cinematographer / editor I started off doing anything that came my way from weddings, to music videos, to events, to creative short films. Eventually my name started to get out there within the industry as a hard worker and I found myself being hired in as the main Photographer/Cinematographer/Video Editor at University Hospitals.
On the music side things I created my first R&B mixtape called “The Melody” freshman year of college and have been working to fine tune my sound and image with my producer/best friend Dominick Ridgil ever since. We dropped our second project “Symphonic Revelations” right before graduating and then one of the biggest and saddest moments in my life hit me…my brothers passed away, my cousin passed away and my great grandmother passed away all in the same month. Along with that my younger brother had been shipped off to the hospital to receive a whole new heart. I was no longer motivated to do anything…I was stressed, depressed…I felt like I lost a piece of me. Through these events I did a lot of self reflecting on who I was and what I wanted to leave behind. This is where legacy comes in and why it’s a big goal of mine now. One night I was being flooded with so many emotions that I had to just get something out…It had been a whole year since I wrote a song…in that upcoming week I finished what would be my single release back into music, No Op. I solidified my artist name as Denzel the artist and began taking my brand seriously… Since then I’ve formed a team of loyal creatives (Stacee Starr, Deondre Washington, Ja’Shon Harris, to name a few) to push the vision of Denzel The Artist. To push the will to inspire, to make make feel, and to carry on legacy. (Btw my new single “So Long” is out now on all platforms…shameless plug!)
Today my career job consists of shooting and creating a variety of impressionable projects with our marketing team at UH. My freelance business has also grown significantly to where I have consistent clientele in the mediums of both photo and video. My services include portrait photography, event photography, studio photography, creative photography, wedding photography, video production(corporate or creative), and creative direction.
My creative journey consists of producing and directing creative content for the Denzel The Artist brand and the team I have around me. You can honestly catch us in the studio filming something almost every week throughout the month. We are looking for more people to train and give a platform though because at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about… spreading the opportunities you were given. So hit us up if you want to learn something new or sharpen your skills!
Whoever is reading this…I hope something you saw here sparked something within in you, and I hope you go forth to follow that dream, to follow that passion. Like my mom always told me “You can do whatever it is you put your mind to”
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
My main goal and mission in my journey has always been simple. It has grown over time but the structure remains the same. Ever since I leaned into becoming a creative I’ve felt my goal has always been to inspire others to do what they love, creative or not. I feel life is too short to be working a 9-5 that you don’t love or wasting time doing something for someone else. We’re are all human, and most of us all have the opportunity to shape our paths how we see fit. So I just want to challenge those out there, even if it’s just one person to at least try to attempt doing whatever dream you may see in your minds eye. At the end 0f life you’ll be better with no regrets because you can at least say you tried.
My second goal is building a legacy for myself and my family. After the death of my late brothers, cousin, and grandmother I realized life is too short not to leave anything impressionable behind… God has given me the drive and talent to be creative so I feel it’s up to me to push on with the spirit of those who passed. It’s up to me to build a legacy out of it. Make as big of a staple as I can for my children and their children’s children. Giving them the opportunity to be better than me…to be great.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
In my view I think the best thing society can do to support artists is to see them on the same standard as therapists, doctors or teachers. I truly feel that art and creativity adds so much to society. It gives society culture, it helps people through tough times, inspires, motivates, molds generations, and shifts conversations putting us on one accord to understand one another.
All in all the people behind the art are giving their whole being, putting so much time into the process, I just want us to be respected.
I think the best thing to do to support any artist is to just share their work, give them feedback, positive critique and if you can, support them financially. The last thing you can do is leave them a review or easily share their art…yes I said that twice.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.DenzelTheArtist.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/denzeltheartist/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DenzelTheArtist/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel&eid=ARC4ZKc7Cw1W8um-lLYTOwOtML6_aUBzJLb41Iu1aoGUIVWxfUGuFodr1O_tOFG7YNBv4pLt2muFNjOi
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/denzeldwashington/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/DenzelYungActor
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@DenzelWashingtonTheArtist/featured
Image Credits
Stacee Starr , Deondre Washington