We recently connected with Deondre Holloman and have shared our conversation below.

Deondre, 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?

To be honest, there really hasn’t been a time in my life when I didn’t want to be an artist. I was always the kid in school that would get caught drawing on the desks or inside textbooks. To me, the drawings didn’t look good, but it was just a way of emptying out the imagination in my head. When I got my first camera phone, I would always take pictures of random stuff/events I found interesting just because it looked cool or may have that potential of being “the first of many”. It was just my favorite way of documenting things that I may never come across again. I can go back and look at pictures and get the same feeling I had inside from when I first seen it and for some reason, it excites me. I saved up and bought my first DSLR camera in my senior year of high school and I would take pictures and make short clips of friends after school. In that same school year, I gained a little bit of popularity on social media from my edits I used to make and it made me feel as if this was my purpose because everyone was coming to me for something I enjoyed doing. After graduation, I put the camera down so I could put more of my focus on other tasks, but it always came back to me out of nowhere. It didn’t become something I wanted to pursue professionally until I had classmates contact me 2 years later, asking if I still had any content of them from school. Knowing that my work was something people wanted to keep forever, as memories, gave me back my spark in creating for others and myself. At this time, I was turning 20 but took action in pursuing this creative path, professionally, at the age of 22.

Deondre, 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?

My name is Deondre Holloman and I’m a freelance photographer/videographer based in Atlanta, Georgia. Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always had an interest in creating things that could last forever, so this form of art wasn’t something that I got into, but more so of something that has always been in me. I’m very fond of capturing things as I see it in the moment, which is why I love shooting behind the scenes. While I do enjoy the planning stage of any shoot, it’s more fun to get into the parts of the job I appreciate the most without the stress of preparation. From viewing my work, you can expect to feel as if you were there at the exact moment the photo was took. Scrolling through my body of work gives viewers a different vibe, in a good way, and I feel that’s what sets me apart from others. A memory that lasts forever is what I aim to provide to my clients. My work that I am most proud of is actually a collection of photos/videos I’ve done for, notable influencer and business mogul, Jayda Cheaves. A friend and I manifested for me to eventually work with her and, just so happen, she noticed me on Instagram one day from pictures I’ve took of her and a recap video that I made for her when she was booked for a hosting in Atlanta. Jayda reached out to me to compliment my work and to let me know that she wanted me to come to her shoot for her brand the following week. It’s a long story, but the obstacles I had to get around just to capture the content that she noticed is why that body of work will always give me that proud feeling. It was something that I wanted and I took initiative and went out there and got it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.

The fact that I don’t always get paid for everything I do. With me having a true passion for creating, I’m never looking for the next dollar while doing it. To me, it’s all about creating and putting out content for others to view from my perspective. Even If I have to travel hours away to capture an event or moment without any money being put back in my pockets, I’d still go because I profit in many other ways within myself. A financial gain has never been what I looked for in my journey of creating.

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

To me, the most rewarding aspect of being a creative is the impact and inspiration my work puts upon others. It’s a very pleasurable feeling when I can vision something, create it, put it out, and people fall in love with the content even more than I did. As a creative, we’re usually our biggest critics, so even when we do put out a body of work, we may feel as if it’s not at it’s full potential. I always feel as if I could’ve done something better, but for others to look at my work when it’s posted and feel as if it’s complete is very rewarding to me.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: Instagram.com/YeaThatsHard
• Twitter: Instagram.com/YeaThatsHard
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5-ypYFrso5MrBD4-d3zLKA

Image Credits
Deondre Holloman ( @YeaThatsHard )