We recently connected with Jean-Michael Kelsey and have shared our conversation below.

Jean-Michael, 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?

I had my first fully fledged shoot in 2018. A friend of mine tipped me off about a fashion brand that needed a videographer for a shoot for their upcoming Spring/Summer collection and I said y’know what, okay, I haven’t done this before, but let’s give it a shot.

It was such an amazing experience on that set, working around other very creative, like-minded people. It was eye opening. Right there, I knew that THAT was what I wanted to do with my life. Making that magic. Working with amazing people who are talented and skilled at their crafts. Creating something beautiful out of nothing. That really sparked my passion.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

The knack for what I do really came from when I was studying at Tshwane University of Technology, where I was introduced to various types of media, ranging from graphic design to 2D animation, and from web design to film. There’s the key. Film. I didn’t go into this course thinking that my film class was going to be the one that piqued my interest the most, but here we are, 6,5 years later and that stuff is my bread and my butter.

Since then, I’ve graduated and became a professional videographer and photographer. I have always loved fashion from a young age and I got lucky in 2018 when I got to work on set for a fashion brand in Johannesburg for the first time. I found my home there. I met many wonderful people and got to work alongside some amazing creatives. It inspired me so much and I just wanted to keep it going.

I have also developed a strong love for portrait photography in these years. I love getting to sit down with a person and have a little one on one. Getting to know someone and speak to them about themselves and learning things about them while getting to take pictures with them is such a personal thing to me. I love connecting with the people I photograph. I think it just makes the picture look better, honestly. :)

I’ve never really thought about my brand in any other way than just kind of “going with it.”
I love seeing where something will lead me next. Seeing if this shot works or not, seeing what comes naturally in both photo and video. That fluidity, I feel, always makes a shoot successful and makes the results thereof look more cohesive in the end.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn seeking compliments and validation from people. I had an encounter with another photographer who I was working alongside on a shoot one day and unfortunately we just did not gel together very well. We had very different ways of working and at the time, I was upset. I felt like I was doing something wrong because I wasn’t getting any validation from them. It affected me and my performance that day, and I had to teach myself to be a bit harder and grow a bit of a thicker skin. Not everyone is going to like you or what you do and that’s fine. Embrace it. Pleasing everyone like that means you’re doing something wrong anyway.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

I just want to be happy with myself and my quality of work at the end of the day. That’s my goal.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://jeanmichaelkelsey.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jeanmichael.jpg/