Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Alex Matusik, Forest Photographer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Forest Photographer, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What were some of the most unexpected problems you’ve faced in your career and how did you resolve those issues?
One of the biggest obstacles I have faced in my creative career is in getting my work and name out there. Most all of the usual sources to do this are full of many talented people. As a result, it can be quite hard for a newcomer to be noticed. Fortunately, I managed to get some lucky breaks, such as through getting the chance to be interviewed for articles such as this. I have also found success in taking out advertisements. Another major obstacle I have faced is the legal setup required for a business. The entire process is a relatively labyrinthian one without much in the way of guides to the process. It was something that I had to simply put my nose to the grindstone and figure out.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Hello, I go by Forest Photographer online. I’m a photographer from the West Michigan area. I mostly got interested in photography during high school when I took a digital photography class. From there, I mostly furthered the development of m photography skills in a self taught manner as a hobby. I have now decided to pursue photography as a profession.
I provide photo prints, editing services, and photography services. While I do all sorts of photography, I do have a particular preference for nature, landscape, and macro photography. For clients, I aim to provide a relaxed but professional experience. If you are interested, feel free to contact me through either my email or website.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
I would say that my creative journey has been shaped by a few forces. One of the main ones is my love of nature. Ever since I was a kid, I have been interested in the outdoors and the natural world. This has been fostered in part due to my enjoyment of exploring the woods around my house and my continued love of outdoor activities such as hiking, gardening, camping, and scuba diving. I hope that by showing people the wonders of the natural world and the plights they face that I can help to promote their protection. Another major inspiration for me is the sciences and the broader spirit of curiosity and exploration of the world around us. My favorite subject in school has largely been science. One major way that this has rubbed off on me is that it has taught me to appreciate the wonder of the world around us. My experiences in college has also influenced my attitudes in this regard. I met so many new people out side of my usual experiences and it helped me to appreciate the complexity of the local community.
Overall, I hope to help reignite people’s interest and care in the world around them. I feel that the overall character of public discourse is overwhelmingly cynical and pessimistic for, admittedly, understandable reasons that should be addressed. However, I feel that concern without care, wonder, or admiration towards the thing one is concerned over manifests as unproductive doomerism as opposed to meaningful action.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I have a very negative opinion of NFTs. For those at home unaware, NFT stands for “non-fungible token”. Essentially, it is a unique digital “token” that is verified by a number of machines that do multiple calculations to verify said “token”. This results is the “token” being considered a unique entity as opposed to a copy of a file. One reason I have such a dislike for NFTs is the environmental impact of NFTs. The many computers used to validate NFTs consume an absolute boatload of power, drawing it from other uses such as housing and requiring the production of more power, exacerbating our current climate crisis. I also find what they represent to be extremely distasteful. In my opinion, NFTs are the ultimate representation of artificial scarcity for the sake of profit. We live in an era where people can speak to each other instantaneously from around the globe, access the wealth of humanities knowledge from our finger tips, obtain the energy we need to run society from near universally accessible materials like sunlight and wind, and theoretically produce enough food for every person on Earth to be fed, with the potential for us to grow more crops without even needing soil. We should be focusing on ensuring a world of plenty as opposed to recreating the systems of personal enrichment that allow the before mentioned sufficient amount of food to be hoarded and wasted before reaching the people who are going hungry. I never plan on using NFT for my work and will never condone any attempts by third parties to use my work for NFT purposes.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.forestphotographer.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forest_photographer1/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61552344360601
- Other: https://www.forestphotographer.com/links.html
Image Credits
Forest Photographer