We recently connected with Jaryd Niles-Morris and have shared our conversation below.
Jaryd, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?
Some days a great, some days truly suck. I really dont know if I am happy or not, happiness is such a fleeting thing and being an entrepreneur especially in the arts comes with many challenges. A have dreamt many times of having a job, but when I think about it I have no idea if that would really bring me any true happiness, I have lived my adult life striving for my own ideals and values so to be in a space where I have to fit a mold does not ever sound appealing, I think I would probably be a terrible employee tbh. So I will keep fighting for the time being, but time will tell where I end up. Who knows taking some time to just be told what to do may be refreshing but I think I would always want to come back to charting my own course.
Jaryd, 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 Jaryd Niles-Morris I am a lover of creativity in all it forms, but my main tool is the camera. I work as a commercial photographer and in more recent years I have gotten into film and also fine art photography. I find the most satisfaction in work that challenges my skills and ideas, but I really just enjoy making work that I find beautiful and I always hope to brings some kind of joy, inspiration and profit to the people that hire me and interact with the images I create.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
We all start out as creative beings, but along the way many people put that side of themselves on the back burner. To be creative is very self explanatory you want to make your own way conjure up your own world which in the system we currently exist in does not always sit well with others especially the ones whose ideas you want to disrupt. And many times it is not always to cause chaos but to make something better. And to deny that usually is to deny progress and also to stifle people around you which will always end negatively in some way. Many times listening and actively engaging with creatives can be better alternative since many time they dont always know the reasons for some systems and that being said for both parties to remove ego from the encounter can yield great benefits since many times a creative will not what to change the system unless they can see it being better and that is something we should always try to encourage in each other.
Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?
I love the idea and technology being NFTs and the new wave of decentralized and blockchain technologies. It is in such an early stage and many people have used the enthusiasm of this technology to do some very criminal stuff. But I think that over time we will work through these growing pains. NFTs bring lots of great and new opportunities for digital art but also opens up new avenues for traditional art. Fresh ways to connect and bring value to your audience and find new audiences in the digital landscape. It is a bit of a mindf*ck at first and you and your audience need to educate themselves about this new world but that process is beautiful, breaking your mind and gaining new perspectives about value and the world. Moving your mind outside of the box is always a positive to me.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.jarydnilesmorris.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jarydnm/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jaryd-niles-morris/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/jarydnm
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jarydnm/featured
Image Credits
no.1
Talent:Mr. & Mrs Phillips
Tech Assist: Anika Millington
Shot at Edge Studio
no.2
Composite featuring costumes from
Zulu and Xhosa costume bands.
For Crop Over Unapologetic Magazine
produced by DJ Simmons
no.3
Talent: Jalicia Nightengale
Make up: Sherryann Moore & Tenielle Griffith
Hair: Cagney Taitt
Tech Asst: Anika Millington & Ryan Austin
no.4
Talent: Khalil Goodman, Ghelisa Mayers, Diane Brathwaite,
Roy Downes, Dancers from Of Another Nature.
Fashion: Shakad
Special thanks to the National Cultural Foundation
no.5
Talent & Make Up: Lia Gajadhar
Fashion: Katrina Brathwaite
Tech Assist: Donnya Z
no.6
Talent: Jalicia Nightengale
Tech Assist: Anika millington & Ryan Austin
For Eco Sky Water