Today we’d like to introduce you to Maurice Cheeks.
Hi Maurice, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I’ve always loved art and I used to draw a lot when I was younger. I have quite a few artists in my family. My grandfather is a natural at drawing and sketching likeness of people and objects. He went to school for drafting. My aunt and cousins were also born with this gift. I didn’t feel like my abstract doodle were going to get me anywhere and decided to put more effort in my Math and Science classes.
During my senior year in 2009 at Polk State College Collegiate High School my favorite classes ended up being Trigonometry and Humanities. I believe these two classes helped me subconsciously helped build my love for photography. In my trigonometry class, my professor introduced to fractals and Fibonacci number aka “The Golden ratio” and how it relates to everything and how we constantly see the patterns in nature. The golden ratio also known as “The Golden Ratio of Beauty” is defined as the mathematical symmetry algorithm that underlies our perception of attractiveness. I became pretty obsessed with Mandelbrot sets and fractal zooms. In my humanities class, I learned lot about different artworks and painting styles. When we learned about the Baroque Period the most interesting style to me was Rembrandt’s portraits and how much thought he put into the lighting in his portraits. I didn’t realize math was so involved with art, this motivated me to find my space as an artist. I found my space 2013 when I helped my younger brother purchase his first camera. My brother is also very creative, he attended Harrison School of the Arts in Lakeland, He could play instruments, act, dance overall he is very talented. He wanted to buy a camera to start recording himself making short skits. We went on craigslist and found a used Canon Rebel T2i and purchased it.
During this time, I had really enjoyed writing poetry and spoken word and asked my brother if he could film me on stage reciting what I wrote he agreed and filmed me at Evolution Records in downtown Lakeland. After my performance was done, my brother told me he had to leave but I wanted to capture more memories from that night so I asked him to show me how to use the camera to take pics. He gave me a quick 10 minute lesson on operating the camera. I later posted photos that I took during the event and I received a lot of good feedback about my “snapshots”. I decided I would start learning photography. I’m pretty sure I checked out every book that we had on photography from the public library and I spent countless hours on youtube. When I started to learn about composition “The Golden Ratio” was brought up I also learned about the exposure triangle. I was very excited by how much math was involved with photography. after learning the basics I wanted to learn about advanced lighting techniques and how I could apply techniques used by famous painters so of course, I wanted to master Rembrandt lighting and to this day, it’s my favorite type of lighting. My passion to be an artist was becoming a reality but what made really believe that I was an artist in my own eyes was when I learned how to retouch using a graphic tablet. I felt like I was finally able to draw and paint and with this talent, I have the tools capture and enhance priceless memories.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It hasn’t been the smoothest road but I honestly believe you appreciate the struggle in the long run. One of the struggles that I faced along the way and sometimes these days is “Imposter Syndrome” in other words, not feeling like my work is as great as people make it out to be. It’s a struggle because it pressures me to thinking I’m not good enough. The reality is that art is subjective some people will love your work and some won’t. Another struggle that I faced was being focused on having all the latest and greatest gear and I can tell you photography can be an expensive hobby.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a freelance photographer and I specialize in portraits. I’m known for having dramatic lighting and deep colors and giving an overall cinematic feel with my portraits. I am most proud of my works that get featured in magazines.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs or other resources you think our readers should check out?
There are quite a few photographers that I follow on youtube. Phlearn, Jared Polin, Flash Film Academy, FJh Photography, and Keydrin Franklin. I also listen to the motivational speaker Eric Thomas.
Contact Info:
- Email: studio@blankskriptzfilmz.com
- Website: www.blankskriptzfilmz.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/blankskriptz
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/BlankskriptzFilmz
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/mauricered2000/featured
Image Credits:
Nichole Corbett, Angejolie Belle, Kaylyx Janee, Samantha Rose
