We recently connected with Kolby Hill and have shared our conversation below.

Kolby, appreciate you joining us today. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

When I started doing photography, I learned on my own or from watching YouTube videos. Back in 2018/2019, I was in community college and honestly was confused about what I wanted to do and was very intrigued by a documentary I watched while in school called Through a Lens Darkly produced by Thomas Allen Harris who is a really dope artist. This documentary along with watching different youtube videos really sparked my interest in photography and honestly, I didn’t know the impact of my art I was just learning a new hobby and was inspired. It was an outlet for me to express myself creatively and for me to find my own path, so I just stuck with it and practiced when I could. I don’t think I would have sped up my learning honestly I feel like my most memorable moments were me making “mistakes” and just getting out and shooting whatever caught my eye at the time. Knowing what I know now I don’t think I would have changed anything, I feel like my relationship with film photography was so natural. I feel like I’ve always had a connection art in general ever since I was little. I loved doing hair on toys and watching my mom do hair and listening to music which is why I love to add music to my photography, I loved painting, watching music videos with family, and making ceramics. I always enjoyed being creative or doing something that put me in that space. Skills for me that were most essential were learning what film to shoot in what light settings. I think that was the hardest aspect to learn in photography like shutter speed and aperture learning like what shutter speed will give you what kind of outcome with the images. But also I tried to just have fun with it too, I didn’t let that hinder me from creating even today I still am learning to not be so critical of it and may not use the correct ISO in my film or correct aperture but to me, I love the thrill of the curiosity of not knowing what to expect or what will come out of my images after I developed it. To me, that’s what kept me inspired and wanting to keep shooting and creating the curiosity of it. I hope to keep that curiosity alive in my life. I think that with whatever kind of art we can get so caught up in doing it so correctly or perfectly which is not a bad thing but it can be a hindrance from even doing it at all and it spoke to me so much that I didn’t want to always feel like I gotta perfect it I just wanted to do it. I feel like the main obstacle for me was not feeling like I was good enough or didn’t have the right equipment or that I was too lazy and not taking it seriously enough. A lot of my obstacles for me was self-doubt. And also believing the doubt that others projected onto me. I think there are always so many terms and ways to define what artistry is but to me, I feel like it comes from within. If you believe you’re an artist, you’re creative and act on it then who is anyone to tell you that you’re not? lol. I feel like I had to reflect on my creative journey and not look at anyone’s else journey because to me photography was a way for me to express myself and find my voice in some way whether that be through images or others and to capture something I think is dope. as a black queer man I strive to take pictures that reflect my current reality and like people of my community who don’t often get the privilege to share themselves and their story. It also helps me to share myself as well.

Kolby, 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 Kolby Hill, I also go by Kilima (artist name). I am a Black Queer Artist, Photographer, and Creative originally from Sacramento California, currently residing in the Los Angeles area. My craft is all around creative and visual artistry as a form of self expression and healing, also a zine lover, but my main thing is film photography. I started shooting in 2019 while in community college and honestly, it just went from there. I mostly started with street photography and did landscape photography and shooting portraits of friends and things that sparked my interest in 2019 and the beginning of 2020. I started going on different photo walks in Sacramento just trying to meet other photographers, and that helped me to get inspired and also connect and create with the community. In 2020 during the pandemic is when I started to branch out more and do model shooting with some friends and I was able to get some more equipment at the time and shoot with that. I enjoy shooting with 35mm film cameras because it’s easiest to carry around and shoot with even a point-and-shoot. Still, during that time I had got a medium format camera and a digital camera because I also was interested in videography and make short films during community college. I was inspired by the visual arts for sure! Over the summers I would go to San Diego to make short films with friends and shoot wherever I got a chance to visit somewhere.Over time practiced and was open to different opportunities and was able to land my first big gig with the Los Angeles LGBT Center to shoot Pride Prom in 2024 which was really dope and was so grateful to have the opportunity to shoot with the center. Other opportunities I got was, In 2020 I received a grant from Blackartistsfund Sacramento, which was also a great opportunity to pitch some of my work and receive a grant. Also, At the beginning of 2024, I showcased my first photography zine at the BlackZineFest created by Zine4queers where I got to meet other illustrators and zine makers who came together to showcased their work. In 2024, I got the chance to display my work with Film Scouts in East Los Angeles. To me, a lot of the opportunities I’m super grateful for, being able to capture and show a representation of the importance of diversity and intersectionality through my work helped me to feel seen and also to better my craft as a photographer. My services I provide is collaboration through photography, video, any kind of visual art. This year I definitely want to experiment more with visual art and create more collages or even in other creative fields. Also, goals to start reaching out to do more creative collabs here in the LA area and to continue to create and express myself and my work. I don’t necessarily solve a problem with my work instead, I allow other creatives to collaborate and create something together with photography that they and I enjoy and it brings me joy to be able to just do that honestly. I think I’m most proud of staying true to how I want to create and not worrying too much about like how other people create or maybe how other artists’ work looks compared to mine. I believe that comparison is truly the thief of joy. Everyone does things differently everyone shoots photography differently. Focusing on what I am doing and have been doing has helped me a lot in my creative journey. I’ve had my moments where I’ve done that and it led me nowhere. I think that the best advice I could give other creatives is to do what feels right for you. One accomplishment that I’m also proud of was being able to have the courage to shoot photography intentionally and want to highlight people in my community and stay true to that. Also, another accomplishment was being able to shoot for the Los Angeles LGBT Center. As a former homeless youth there, I never thought that I would be in that situation but with the tremendous support of staff and the people there they have offered me opportunities and internships that I would never forget so that was an accomplishment for sure. My work centers around community, self-expression, and healing, through my lens.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist and creative is being able to have the privilege to share that and express that in a way that feels right for me, that feels fulfilling to me, and in return move people in some kind of way, that is special to me. In my everyday life, I try to do something creative every day and it doesn’t have to be specific to photography it can just be in the mundane maybe journaling, cooking, or listening to music, I think creativity is just in the way that I am. Growing up it was always hard for me to express myself the way that I wanted to deep down because I was so self-conscious about everything, because of society, because of family’s projections of what was socially acceptable, now, I’m in this stage in my life where I have autonomy and the will to express myself just in life and my creativity how I want and I don’t take that for granted now. It’s something that comes from the right place and I want to share it. I think that’s what makes it so rewarding for me.

What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?

I think society could release a lot of their projections on what an artist should look like or what an artist even is and start listening to artists’ and creatives’ perspectives and ideas. When I think of the Harlem Renaissance and how there was an emergence of black artists that were seen. To me, artistry and creativity are a form of resistance to societal conditioning, capitalism, anti- blackness etc. so to me doing something every day that aligns with being able to be creative in some way is a form of resistance. I also think giving the artist the proper resources or access to resources that are sustainable, such as more opportunities for residencies in other areas (with expenses included!), and more access to grants can just be super helpful to artists or creatives who need financial support or want to invest in their creativity more with certain equipment, resources etc, more academic scholarships because there are artists who are in school and I think more proper scholarships would be beneficial to financially help students within their academic journey, more third spaces for artists to connect and just to hang out would be great to see more of! Too many times have I seen some of the most talented creatives and artists I know struggle to find proper resources (Housing, Basic Human needs, Etc) even though they are out there but missed the deadline or too many people applied. There should be mass resources that aren’t for limited time or people.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://kilimashot.myportfolio.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_kilima__/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@kolbyy3539

Image Credits

Ash
Image 1: Pierre and date at Pride Prom

Image 2: Street photograph at the beach

Image 3: Photoshoot with model Delante

Image 4: Street photography at a lowrider event during a community photowalk

Image 5: Shot of photowalk members hiking

Image 6: Cover of my photography zine titled Through Kilima’s Lens

Image 7: Photo of Makayla (a.k.a Broozi) and their clothing brand

Image 8: Street photography at the Black Market Flea

Image 9: Photography of the community garden at Lake Merritt in Oakland