We recently connected with Malik Fabian-Mahmud and have shared our conversation below.

Malik, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

A meaningful project that I’ve come to work on as of recent is FIVE DOLLA CAM (@fivedollacam) with my partner Ryan Gipson (@ryangipsonii). It originally started after I had bought a $5 camera from Goodwill and started taking photos of my friends just for fun. I love documentation and the look of old digital cameras and their likeness to film. It grew to taking behind the scene shots of videoshoots for music videos and going to local art events and documenting what was going on. After about a month of continuous content we started gaining a following and we decided to take a different direction and start interviewing local artists whose work we really admired. All shot on old camcorders that were found at a thrift stores for cheap or that we got for free, hence the name FIVE DOLLA CAM. Our purpose for interviewing different artists was to show the different art subcultures what the other is doing in hopes of connecting people who wouldn’t normally see each other’s work, bridging the gap.

Moving forward we are straying from capturing events to hosting our own. Starting with an art exhibition featuring a few local emerging artists in December. We want to be inclusive to every person no matter the medium they work in, visual, music, clothing, etc. There is no limit to what we will do or can do. From art exhibitions to kickball games, the goal is to bring the community together and all of the subcultures within whether you are an artist, non-artist, young, or old, spreading love and positivity and being that outlet to do so is something that I want to really shed light on with this collaborative project.

Malik, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I’m a creative director and photographer. My relationship with photography started with being in front of the camera. In highschool I used to model for some of my friends’ clothing brands, or just for fun. I would always want to edit my own pictures though, not really liking other people’s editing styles. My freshman year of college I bought an old DSLR from a classmate for $100, that’s when I switched to taking photos instead of being the subject of them. I would take photos of my friends out in nature, my biggest inspiration when photographing is the outdoors. After awhile I started taking bookings for portraits, clothing brands and some behind the scenes. Now I work on passion projects straying subjects away from suburbia into a native environment intending to capture the connection between modern life and its natural surroundings. Outside of photography and creative directing I like to paint whenever I get the time.

Any resources you can share with us that might be helpful to other creatives?

One of the most significant resources I wish I had utilized from the beginning was connecting with other artists. Having peers who share the same creative thought process as myself really took my craft to the next level by getting critical feedback on my work, getting inspired by the talent of the people that are from my city and are my age really immersed me into a different world that I didn’t even know existed. I’ve learned so much and met so many amazing people along the way, some of who have forever changed the way I go about life.

It doesn’t matter how talented you are, if you don’t put yourself out there to make genuine connections with your artistic mutuals there is no getting to the next level. I’m not talking about going and forcing relationships with the intention of using someone to take yourself to the next level, that’s not a route I would ever take nor recommend. The truly genuine friendships that occur almost naturally are the ones that I value the most. Go out there and be your true self, as long as you have positive intentions, only positivity will follow.

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 trying to manage and do everything on my own. Specifically, when it comes to my art and the process I have always done all the work myself. If it were something outside of my field, I would buy equipment, research, and time into learning and building up my own skill to achieve the look that I thought only I could execute. I did this when I originally started my clothing brand World Weyed, I knew nothing about making clothes, just the design element. I spent too much money and time on resources when all I had to do was ask someone who already had the knowledge under their belt. Taking on that much work was overwhelming and led me to let go of a project that had a lot of potential.

At the beginning of this year I really put an effort into building connections with other artists, now I know if I need help with any project I am working on, I can put the money I would use on resources, equipment, etc. to paying someone who is skilled at that specific task I am attempting to achieve. Supporting my friends, and local artists are one of my favorite things to do. I would much rather allocate my funds to someone’s craft that they have been working on for years than try to attempt it myself just because my ego tells me I can do it on my own. Learning to build and work in a team is essential for any artist.

Contact Info:

• Website: malikfabianm.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/malikfabianm/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/malikfbn/
• Other: fivedollacam.com