Earlier this year, I spent some time with Oakland’s Mara Hruby getting to know about her stories growing up, her influences, and her sentiment in the style of clothing she rocks. Mara also performs a live acoustic rendition of D’Angelo’s “Send it On.” Take a moment to learn more about Mara Hruby in part one of this two part interview.
In February, I had a chance to catch up with Japanese calligrapher, Aoi Yamaguchi. I had stumbled across a video of one of her live performances online and, when I found out that she was residing in the Bay Area, I shot her a letter. Several messages later, we met up at Together where she was doing a live performance not only on paper, but also on dancers!
On Wednesday, AFTA-1 and I met up to check out a few thrift stores in the Mission, but, since we started our outing so late, most were closed. I ended up showing him Dolores Park (where he lost some unmentionables, haha), and he shared his inspiration for his limited edition cassettes and his music. We concluded our hangout session with some always amazing ice cream from Bi-Rite (I had the balsamic strawberry with the honey lavender and he opted for the roasted banana with cookies and cream).
This past Tuesday I had the opportunity to hang out with a producer by the name of AFTA-1. I’ve been following his music for the past few months and when I heard that he was going to be doing a set at SOM in San Francisco, I was beyond ecstatic. I wrote him an e-mail the night before, explaining that I was a fan of his work and if he would be interested in allowing me to shoot him and document the events before, during and after his set. The next morning I received an e-mail from him saying he was up for the idea. I met him a couple of hours beforehand, where we chatted for a bit, then I filmed his set and a few quick words after.
Part 1 of 2.
Hey everyone! Just wanted to make a quick update about the projects that I’m currently working on. This past Tuesday and Wednesday I had the opportunity to hang out with a producer by the name of AFTA-1. I’ve been following his music for the past few months and when I heard that he was going to be doing a set at SOM in San Francisco, I was beyond ecstatic. I wrote him an e-mail the night before, explaining that I was a fan of his work and if he would be interested in allowing me to shoot him and document the events before, during and after his set. The next morning I received an e-mail from him saying he was up for the idea. I met him a couple of hours beforehand, where we chatted for a bit, then I filmed his set and a few quick words after.
On Wednesday, we met up to check out a few thrift stores in the Mission, but, since we started our outing so late, most were closed. I ended up showing him Dolores Park (where he lost some unmentionables, haha), and he shared his inspiration for his limited edition cassettes and his music. We concluded our hangout session with some always amazing ice cream from Bi-Rite (I had the balsamic strawberry with the honey lavender and he opted for the roasted banana with cookies and cream) .
Overall, I had an amazing experience shooting and hanging out with AFTA. He’s a very down to earth individual who emphasized and exuded the most important thing that I believe all people should embody – doing what you love. I’m looking forward to working with and documenting him again in the future.
The next two videos featuring AFTA-1 will be a part of a new series I’m starting called ‘A Moment With:.’ These videos will showcase artists displaying their talents and sharing why they love doing what they do. I aim to put out at least one of these a month and hope that others will be inspired the way that these artists have inspired me.
