"It takes balls to be a good photographer"

"There are to many photographers, to many good photographers, you have to stand out, period."

Kareem Black was even better than I thought he would be. He was completley real and blunt about everything he said. He spoke about instances he had with clients, such as Kimora Lee Simmons and how dealing with people in the business teaches you what kind of photographer you are. There are instances in your career that determine when your career is going. He was very inspirational to me, I want to be where he is by the time I am 30. This woke me up, and made me realize what I have to do in order to be who I want to be. I have to be daring and go out and get what I want. I have to "stand out". I have to think and create things that people have never thought of or experienced before. I have to be fresh.

He also said "your only as good as your last job" so even if there are jobs out that there that arent necessarily "fun" it is still important to do your best work, and at least fake that your enjoying it.
Being a photographer you have to wear many hats, meaning that you have to play alot of different roles..such as a problem-solver, entertainer, and many other things. The photographer is responsible for the outcome of the photo, even if the makeup artist messed up, or the director, it all comes down on the final image, and if it is bad due to those things it is put on the photographer. SO photographers have to do more than simply take a picture.

Also listening to him inspired me to try new techniques and actually enjoy to learn about the 4x5 camera, because knowing more than the next photographer is very beneficial. Because Photography is such a competitive career. He just really opened my eyes to world of ad photography and spoke about the life of an ad photographer, with alot of truth.

The thing that impressed me the most was that he spoke of emotions and the connection in the photographs. Even though he does all of these big ads with burger king and verizon, his true passion is these portaits of people that he doesnt even know. He said it is like a "blind date" he never knows how the outcome is going to be but it is exciting, and you meet alot of people that way and learn different peoples personalities. And photography is all about the people you meet and know, and connections.

One thing always leads to another he said and I hope that being @ RIT will lead me to be something great, I want to have a great career and do what I love, which is photography. I am super excited that I went to this lecture and I am excited for others to come and what I can learn about these inspirational photographers.