“I’m an artist too…”

Last week I was walking in downtown Atlanta to catch the AC/DC concert when something caught my eye.

I was a short walk from making a dream come true. To see this legendary band live, one of my favorites, would check an item off my bucket list.

Large venues like the Mercedes Benz stadium, where this concert was going down, don’t allow us to bring cameras inside without a special permit, typically reserved for professional photographers working for a magazine or a newspaper. It’s sad, but the valid reasons for this policy are understandable.

Because of that, one way to satisfy my eyes’ hunger is to bring a small “point and shoot” camera. Enter my Ricoh GR III. It’s not as good as a mirrorless camera, but it’s many times better than my old Android’s camera (virtual high five, Android fans). It does the job.

Copyright: Dambrans.lv

Anyways… I was walking along with many other AC/DC fans towards the venue when I saw a young guy wearing the devil horns, a common sighting at AC/DC concerts. He was sitting on top of a street divider. The entire look deserved a photo.

I looked at him, pointed to my camera, and asked if I could snap a photo. He emphatically agreed while adding “I’m an artist too.”

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We exchanged contacts and carried on our separate ways.

The photo came out great (in my opinion, you can let me know in the comments what you really think).

Yet, that sentence stuck with me. “I’m an artist too…”

I was delighted to hear him describe himself as an artist. I hesitate sometimes to do the same for myself, thinking I can only call myself an artist if I publish a book or if my work is sitting in a museum or something.

We all drew, painted, sculpted, or created art in some way as children. Slowly, that creative drive was pushed aside and down, or down and aside, for other interests. Sometimes our own different interests, our parent’s, or someone else’s. However, those creative neurons are still there waiting for a spark.

So you too are an artist.

The reality is that we are all artists. You… me… we are all creators.

And in case you were wondering, he is an artist too. You can find him on instragram @1realrockstar_ and check out his work.

I am thankful he agreed to be photographed!

A few weeks ago I wrote that I plan on writing more. Tune in for more and consider sharing with others if you like what you see.

Thank you for the support!

JG