Time To Actually Share Something

Typically, I use my blog for sharing commercial work, but this often means I don’t share anything that I do purely for enjoyment. I’d like to be more proactive about sharing my creative stuff, even if I’m the only one that looks at it. After all, anything is better than having it sit in digital purgatory on dusty hard-drives.

Instagram tends to sap my productivity and it’s nice to own your platform, so I think this is the right place.

I like the Eric Kim approach of removing all barriers to being creative, rather than overthinking everything and publishing it with an imagined audience in mind. Art is in the doing, if anything. On that note, here are some pictures from my trip to Spain with Jas.

Just for the hell of it.

Humanity on Wheels - Photographing Melbourne's Skateboarding Community

Skateboarding is a potpourri of personality; a mosaic of flavours and styles. Its capacity for individuality fuels my current project.

Last year, I bought a skateboard on a whim. I'm not sure if I was reliving my childhood or restoring serotonin lost during Covid-19. Regardless, it was a wise decision.

While honing my hobby, I encountered every subculture, every wing of society. Goths, gangstas, punks, nerds, rockers and drag-queens all sped past my rookie manoeuvres. These people look different. Their wardrobe is specific and their boards are too. Of course, there's the skater in Dickies and a five-panel cap. But a spectrum of style rolls alongside tradition.

Whether trench-coated or miniskirted, skaters also ride uniquely. Old-school dudes do hand-plants at Brunswick Bowl. The street stylist masters flip tricks at Riverslide Park. The adrenaline junkie launches from ramps in secret locations. The punks thrash through crusty DIY backyards in Preston.

On first glance, these people have little in common. They like different music, come from different backgrounds and inhibit different neighbourhoods. Yet they're often firm friends.

Most skaters take this for granted. I too was aware of different styles. But I didn't realize the extent of individuality that skating encompassed.

Upping your trick arsenal and planning the next obstacle creates a mutual connection. Total strangers share anecdotes and strategies. Everyone is stoked to be on the hamster wheel of self-improvement. Yes, there are dicks and lowlifes. But there are dicks at the post office too.

As a 33-year-old I found myself connecting with 19-year-olds. Skating evened our differences - all because of this joint endeavour. Initially, I rode self-consciously, expecting judgement or intimidation. My 2001 skate memories mostly include running home from fights. Things seemed to have changed, at least in my experience.

I've met so many interesting humans it feels a bit like travelling. People have told me of mental breakdowns, Kabbalah lessons and small-town upbringings. I now seek out these conversations as a bonus every time I ride.

This experience had inspired my latest work - a series of photos, personal tales and quotes you can find here.

This project will continue grinding throughout 2021. I'm looking forward to more shooting and more stories. All alongside my personal human gumbo - happily stirred together by skateboarding.

Finding Zen in Mastery: A Conversation with Photographer Adam Marelli

Few know like artistic greatness like Adam Marelli. The New York photographer has documented master craftsman across the globe. I couldn't resist the opportunity to dig further into his brain. On this content elevator, there's a written feature below and an audio interview up-top. I can write a word or two, but this is my first time recording sound. It's not a podcast. It's an experiment. Stay for the wisdom, ignore the rookie presentation. Thanks! - Jimmy

Master Yasuhiro Hirakawa expertly moulds a knife in his Japanese studio.

Adam Marelli has decoded mastery. Through decades of studying craftspeople and notable artists, he's unravelled the mystique of perfecting a skill. 

Shooting maestros in their reclusive workshops enables Marelli to observe vocation honing up-close. From Japanese knife makers sharpening a 400-year-old practice to Venetian carvers chiselling wooden gondolas, Adam has a rare intimacy with excellence. 

Marelli's credentials as a builder and creative participant grant him access to sequestered workrooms. Makers guard their techniques and transfer skills to a select few. Their timeworn knowledge is the product of multiple generations and often passed through oral tradition. 

Documenting elite creators defines Adam's work as a photographer, teacher and artist.

Luckily, he's sharing the learnings for those not invited to the grandmaster's studio. 

Marelli began scrutinizing artists as a juvenile and later at NYU. He probed the biographies of Da Vinci, Michelangelo and other mythic figures for insight into their process. Seeking the key to their brilliance while attempting to hone his own, he unmasked the myth of innate talent. 

Historic maestros weren't immediately capturing the pillars of the Parthenon. They started simple and progressed slowly. 

Leonardo sketched hands a thousand times. Van Gogh drew apples, many apples. Artists weren't slogging through the 10,000-hour rule like scientific research. They enjoyed the creative process. They had fun. 

Yes, they even failed. Lighting master Caravaggio had several works rejected; the Renaissance equivalent of a public scandal. Bands make bad albums. Million-dollar statues get hidden away in cupboards. 

Bow makers at Shibata workshop just outside of Kyoto.

Despite cliched accounts of painters leapfrogging between achievements, Adam's career is closer to reality. He wasn't the born savant of Netflix biopics. As a 10-year-old, Adam was only marginally ahead of his classmates. There was no divine gift. In his own words, he had to "take some time to really suck." 

Adam also admits to a "touch and go" relationship with work. Most artists he knew were of the struggling kind. Marelli also undertook the typical hospitality jobs after college. Unimpressed with his NYU experience, his formative study was entirely unacademic. He spent ten years apprenticing with a master builder and studied under a Zen monk. 

Somehow his unorthodox path made sense. Marelli's now a multi-platform artist; working in sculpture, painting the ocean's surface, designing celestial building installations and of course, taking photos. 

Rather than further mystify the artistic journey, Adam sets the roadmap for others. His photography classes are a bright pearl in the digital sea of lukewarm content. Marelli's lucid curriculum makes the journey from rookie to adept feel less like wizardry and more like the inevitable consequence of making an effort. 

"I can just lay out a few lily-pads to get you where you want to go and then you can expand endlessly," he attests. 

Roberto Tramontin precisely shapes a Venetian gondola. His company D. Co Tramontin E Figli was founded four generation ago in 1884.

Adam removes the pomposity from art. This ensures the formidable topic is not only understandable but enjoyable for those of us who've ever felt silly at the museum. 

He says artisans have laid a roadmap for anyone to learn from, but their expertise is camouflaged by pretension.  

"Most art books, the ones that I read in school, they were crushingly boring. You'd have to be a lunatic to really get into this stuff, they were so dry. Artists lives were anything but dry, but they were passed through this academic filter."

In the above audio , we discuss Adam's beginnings and his humble career path. We also examine what he learned capturing remote tribes in Vanuatu, the similarities between master craftsman across the globe, and his advice for pursuing mastery in our own lives. 

All photos by Adam. Check out his website here: http://www.adammarelli.com/

Educate yourself on his workshops and online tutorials: https://amworkshops.com/

Adam's YouTube tutorials live here. Follow him on Instagram too. 

Audio credits: 

Intro California by Soyb & Amine Maxwell https://soundcloud.com/soybmusic https://soundcloud.com/aminemaxwell Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0 Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/syb-amine-california Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/aXCwXsa2T4E

Outro Beat Provided By https://freebeats.io

Produced By White Hot

Copy and Content: Moon Reuse

I’m currently helping Melbourne based, green product company Moon-Reuse relaunch their website and online branding. This entails constructing the copy on their UK site, from product descriptions to editing all blog posts. I also tinkered endlessly with their Instagram profile bio and took the owner’s photo for their upcoming About Us page. Next up is launching and managing Moon’s LinkedIn page.