Negus Utopian. Unorthodox, yes. I don’t think I can start without that word as it is a main part of what guides my thoughts and actions. I am a creative vessel who grew up in Clarendon, Jamaica not doing what the average child would. Instead, I would be on the farm or around tradesmen trying to create or invent something just for fun. Growing up, my drawing skills were excellent I however transitioned into digital media with my introduction to technology and urban life. I started to play around with different tools (Pixlr, Gimp, Adobe Suite & DSLR) and ever since then I’ve been constantly aiming to perfect my craft. The name was derived from my spiritual connection with my roots and through studying Urban Regional Planning at Utech which makes me constantly aim for a state of perfection and idealism. My ultimate aim is to connect with the souls of this universe and not just their eyes.
Expecting Glow
I had the task of doing this maternity shoot at a river in a hidden location that was new to me. I had expected there would be challenges knowing I’ve never been, but, I did not expect to have issues with entering the river, nor the limited space for me to shoot, amongst other difficulties. Nevertheless, I carried on and tried to create the perfect shot. The mother is a great swimmer, however, my camera is not. Therefore, I had to test out where exactly I could angle the camera to get the river but still have the sun glowing on her. This was in order to give a little accent to her skin and her gold bathing suit. I had just started learning to colour grade and I really loved how the tones came out so I adjusted some of my colour tones to add some contrast and popped the skin tones to look more golden to match her gold bath suit. This allowed the expecting mother to not only glow inside but out.
“A little black boy is a ticking time bomb”
I was given the opportunity to travel with Mr. Killa and capture his tour. We were in Monserrat for a show while Mr. Killa stopped at a college to have a talk with students. This photo was taken in a session in which he shared his journey on becoming one of Soca’s strongest powerhouses. He implored
them to stay focused, work on themselves and remain united as a Black nation because we are powerful. He left them with the quote “A little black boy is a ticking time bomb”.
Splash
I was at the beach assisting on a photoshoot and saw this model pass by. I decided to suggest to her that we take a picture. Before, I had noticed that
the waves were heavy and the atmosphere was not one I’m used to. One side had extremely warm tones and the other side to the hills was more
cool. An idea then sparked in my head so I went into the camera and manipulated my colour settings to play with some new tones. Also, I
changed the camera to set time to shoot, as I couldn’t watch waves while shooting parallel at a low angle. I had the light assistant with me to help
count while waves came in. I trusted his timing, took my shot and jumped up before the waves drenched the camera. I did this a few times before I
got the shot I was looking for. The tones I had set worked perfectly, giving this surreal look. I just had one more adjustment, finding the right balance of contrast and colour tones to keep the background vibrant without over powering the subject.
Unruly Fanatic
At this moment, on stage Unruly Fest, the Unruly Boss himself stepped out and took command of his Unruly fans. I was lost in a wave of screams and chants of “Unruly!” and for a split second I forgot I was taking pictures. I saw the frame right before my eyes and immediately grabbed the camera and tried to readjust my angle in the sea of Unruly hand signs around me. I wanted to have Popcaan the subject of my image right in the centre of the frame, without any hands blocking him. I had a few seconds to capture this before the moment was gone. The process and vivid memory I have getting this shot made it one of my most memorable pics captured for the night.
Fete’n Tribal
This natural light shot was taken after I wrapped up a pre-carnival photoshoot in Miami. After doing the session, the model asked me to take some snaps of her dancing on her phone. Realizing how perfect the frame was, I grabbed my camera and told her I saw an ideal shot. She positioned perfectly. This was a one shot, one kill moment and it came out better than expected. However, when I reached inside and inspected it more deeply I realized that though the details were good, I could perfect it. Therefore, I decided to change my retouch method just so I could get the skin details better and then colour graded it to pop that sweet melanin.
