WEBVTT - Turning Art into a Business Photographer to Business Entity

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<v Speaker 1>So as far as like, okay, you turning your skill

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<v Speaker 1>set to a business right and really having structure, as

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<v Speaker 1>far as okay, this is how much I'm gonna charge

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<v Speaker 1>in my services, this is how I'm gonna market myself.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna make content for myself as opposed to just

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<v Speaker 1>making content for other people, so people can actually know

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<v Speaker 1>who I am so I can build momentum. Did when

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<v Speaker 1>did that kick in?

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<v Speaker 2>So my career, I started following artists. So as I

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<v Speaker 2>mentioned a lot of the artists I work with the beginning,

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<v Speaker 2>I was with them at the beginning of their career.

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<v Speaker 2>So I saw what Future did to become a household name,

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<v Speaker 2>and I saw what Young Scooter did, and then I

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<v Speaker 2>saw what Mike Will made it, what the Future do.

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<v Speaker 2>They did, like just in terms of the run, just

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<v Speaker 2>from interviews, taking photoshoots themselves, like electronic press, kids making appearances,

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<v Speaker 2>getting styled, dressing a certain way, the presentation of who

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<v Speaker 2>they are and who they were. I saw that formula

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<v Speaker 2>from the music industry like I was there. I was

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<v Speaker 2>a part of it, I helped with it. I saw

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<v Speaker 2>them invest in content, invest in these webisodes that we

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<v Speaker 2>were doing, putting ads on the front of their webisodes,

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<v Speaker 2>Like I started to see it, so how it really

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<v Speaker 2>worked for me? I saw with the music artist side first,

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<v Speaker 2>and like I said, I work with Future, I work

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<v Speaker 2>with Young Scooter for the longest, and I worked with Gucci.

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<v Speaker 2>When Scooter and Gucci got locked up at the exact

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<v Speaker 2>same time, I had a reset what I was doing

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<v Speaker 2>and I started in working more with producers. I came

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<v Speaker 2>back and started working with Metro Booming, did a lot

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<v Speaker 2>of work with Mike Will made it. I met Metro

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<v Speaker 2>in the dorm room at Morehouse. So I'm working with

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<v Speaker 2>Metro like at the beginning of his career. But I'm

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<v Speaker 2>learning things that I saw with Future and Scooter and

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<v Speaker 2>how they were able to do certain things earlier on

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<v Speaker 2>in their career and blow up. So now feeding nose

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<v Speaker 2>satame things to Metro and seeing can it work from

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<v Speaker 2>a producer standpoint, like somebody that's not traditionally in front

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<v Speaker 2>of the lens, someone that's kind of behind the scenes. Hey, bro,

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<v Speaker 2>don't you know you own fifty percent of that record,

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<v Speaker 2>just like Future. So we go to the radio station

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<v Speaker 2>and talk to him about the record, and you own

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<v Speaker 2>it too, you know, why don't we shoot the music

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<v Speaker 2>video for it, you know, while we waiting on the

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<v Speaker 2>Future to tell you that that's going to be his

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<v Speaker 2>next single, and as world, we could just get together

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<v Speaker 2>and say, hey, Future cam's here, we got the camera,

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<v Speaker 2>turn the song on, we're gonna shoot the video. And

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<v Speaker 2>that was like a formula that me and Metro started

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<v Speaker 2>where it was like he produced the record, I shoot

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<v Speaker 2>the video, and we kind of came up that way,

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<v Speaker 2>but it was propelling both of our careers. Getting his

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<v Speaker 2>songs from just being B track c tracks on mixtapes

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<v Speaker 2>and actually making the music videos, which pushed those records

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<v Speaker 2>to be bigger. My portfolio started to build. His awareness

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<v Speaker 2>started to build because we started putting them into videos

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<v Speaker 2>like You're going to be in it too, and then

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<v Speaker 2>people started to see it. So I got to see,

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<v Speaker 2>now with work from an artist to a producer, like

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<v Speaker 2>the same formula. We were going to radio stations, he

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<v Speaker 2>was doing interviews with Fader, all these same stuff I

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<v Speaker 2>saw Scooter and Future do. So when I work with

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<v Speaker 2>Metro and he started blowing up. He ended up DJing,

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<v Speaker 2>getting on tour house with him on the Rodeo tour

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<v Speaker 2>and all that. When I came off the Rodeo tour,

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<v Speaker 2>you know, fast forward a little. When I came off

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<v Speaker 2>of that, I was like, will it work for a

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<v Speaker 2>photographer like you know, that's twenty fifteen. I'm like, can

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<v Speaker 2>I do that? I watch him do it, I watch

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<v Speaker 2>these artists do it. Can I do that? And if

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<v Speaker 2>you've been following me from that time, that is the

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<v Speaker 2>formula I'm on. I'm on the music industry's formula for

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<v Speaker 2>how to blow an artists up. That is the cam

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<v Speaker 2>Kirk brand formula. And that's how I've been able to

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<v Speaker 2>stay in the game as long as I have. And

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<v Speaker 2>that's also how I've been able to turn what's just

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<v Speaker 2>a typical photographer into a business because they look at

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<v Speaker 2>me as an entity the same way they look at

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<v Speaker 2>a metro or a future or whoever. So that's really

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<v Speaker 2>how it started for me and how it worked for me.

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<v Speaker 2>I saw it and then I just started applying it

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<v Speaker 2>to myself. So I do interviews. I've had a bunch

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<v Speaker 2>of interviews with like Double XL the Source, Like the

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<v Speaker 2>same publications that's talking about the rappers, they talk about me.

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<v Speaker 2>I've been in those same places. I can treat my

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<v Speaker 2>art art galleries like concerts, They're like shows. I do

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<v Speaker 2>it the same way. We have fun, we have DJs.

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<v Speaker 2>It's not traditional. I brand myself. I start putting my

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<v Speaker 2>face on billboards, my own money, same way, and artists

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<v Speaker 2>to do it like I do a lot of the

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<v Speaker 2>same things. I have cameramen following me. I do vlogs

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<v Speaker 2>of my photo shoots. It's a cameraman shooting, a cameraman shooting.

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<v Speaker 2>It's like those same things we're doing. And I was

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<v Speaker 2>doing in twenty fifteen that nobody was doing, and it

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<v Speaker 2>was a formula that works. And now to this day

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<v Speaker 2>it's to me the formula for success in whatever field

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<v Speaker 2>you're in. We're seeing it now. I mean I saw

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<v Speaker 2>doctors be having vlogs and cameramen of themselves, like everybody

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<v Speaker 2>is branding themselves as a brand and as in front

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<v Speaker 2>of the camera. And I think that that's a formula

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<v Speaker 2>that I saw in the music industry early on. It

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<v Speaker 2>just applied to.

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<v Speaker 1>Photography greater history, so I like to think.

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<v Speaker 3>So, yeah, I mean it's tough sometimes as you're in it,

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<v Speaker 3>it's tough to realize what you're doing. When you're talking

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<v Speaker 3>about these artists like of course today like we know

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<v Speaker 3>if you yeah, obviously we've seen what Metro's doing. I

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<v Speaker 3>mean he's had line of shows, and so you're part

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<v Speaker 3>of that history as well. From a technical side, right,

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<v Speaker 3>you're taking photos, but you're also creating video music videos

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<v Speaker 3>from an editing standpoint at this time, because you're saying

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<v Speaker 3>in twenty thirteen, twenty fourteen, this is like videos are

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<v Speaker 3>starting to come on to YouTube. Yeah, what are you

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<v Speaker 3>using at that point to really get the best product out?

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<v Speaker 2>So again I'm learning on the fly, So I used

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<v Speaker 2>early on, I was using Final Cut, bro, and I

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<v Speaker 2>was just freestyling or figuring out things I used to

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<v Speaker 2>like not like again, I'm not technically trained, so I

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<v Speaker 2>would just study. So once I knew I wanted to

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<v Speaker 2>do it, I would study. So I would go and

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<v Speaker 2>watch a music video that I liked, especially if I

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<v Speaker 2>found one that was like a similar tempo to the

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<v Speaker 2>song I just shot. And I mean probably get in

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<v Speaker 2>trouble for this, but I used to just take the

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<v Speaker 2>video downloaded, throw it in Final Cut, layer my clips

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<v Speaker 2>on top, and cut at the exact SIME format, like

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<v Speaker 2>you know, like after three seconds they changed.

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<v Speaker 3>The camera angle.

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<v Speaker 2>I would study it, like how many different camera angles

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<v Speaker 2>do they have? And it's seen how many different shots,

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<v Speaker 2>how many different locations, And I just started to get

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<v Speaker 2>really like technical from there and just learn how to

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<v Speaker 2>flip it to whatever it is I'm doing, until I

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<v Speaker 2>was able to develop a style or a niche, and

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<v Speaker 2>I would just add a little something on it that

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<v Speaker 2>made it feel like me figure out how I want

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<v Speaker 2>to end every video so it's consistent, or it's branded,

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<v Speaker 2>or when my logo pops up. So but it started

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<v Speaker 2>just freestyling, like taking chances. I didn't have a rule

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<v Speaker 2>book because you got to keep in mind also I

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<v Speaker 2>started photography twenty eleven, twenty twelve. That's the start of Instagram.

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<v Speaker 2>That's the start of all these platforms where content is

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<v Speaker 2>just being given away, so that the rule book that

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<v Speaker 2>Jonathan Mannon followed does not exist anymore. Like that process

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<v Speaker 2>of you know, you sell everything or every picture you

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<v Speaker 2>take costs money and everything is this You don't just

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<v Speaker 2>give this away for free. The viral video are just

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<v Speaker 2>home videos like that was all brand new. So we're

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<v Speaker 2>developing our own blueprint for how to do it.