A Look into a Creative Mind On and Off Camera
Written and Edited by: Shanelle Mitchell
As a photographer, DeAndre Mitchell takes his experiences and makes art. You can even say when his life gets blurry, he adjusts his focus…
The “Beginning”
DeAndre Mitchell, born in Brooklyn and raised in Queens, New York, “translates ideas into physical form” using editorial fine art photography. His story starts with him growing up in the “hood” and trying to find outlets that kept him out of trouble and harm’s way. He and his friends “came together to get out of the streets” by hosting parties in mansions and party buses. While his neighborhood best friend in Queens was the DJ and other friends were the event planners, Mitchell would be behind the camera. In his earlier days, he spent much of his time taking in the world and people around him by shooting and editing videos for social events. He was always someone who got no less than As and Bs throughout middle school and early high school but expressed that “as [my] grades started to decrease, [my] creativity increased.” From skipping school and going out to meet retailers and ask them questions about their jobs and the industry to getting fuel from friends and other art influences, Mitchell was beginning to find himself. “I always have this Devil’s advocate right next to me… a lot of people say, ‘this is the way to go!’… Yeah, that sounds good, but what if I did this, though?” He wanted a challenge, something more than others told him he should be doing. At 27 years old, he reminds himself that “this is the ‘brokest’ year you’ve ever had in your life… but this is also the most connected and networked you’ve ever been in your life.” He realizes that there are many difficulties and that life isn’t perfect, which keeps him grounded.
Connection
DeAndre Mitchell creates and gets inspiration from everyday life. Out of all his work, he claims he isn’t proud of 80% of it or can’t connect to it anymore. Not because the work isn’t necessarily bad but because of technical aspects. “I probably didn’t like the way colors were manipulated or just little things that I felt like I could’ve done better.” He bases his work on “curated randomness” – things he can relate to and match to a specific emotion.
Being a Black photographer has challenges within itself. Mitchell talks about breaking the barriers of what Black creators often must do to get recognition in their respective fields. Portraying the Black struggle through art forms has always been prevalent in the Black community. Mitchell experiences and notices patterns amongst a few photographers where themes of slavery and oppression are popular, and creators dive into it to the point that it has become “packageable.” He wants to change the narrative with his art and prove that Black creators are much more than their struggle. “That’s why I don’t take pictures of myself… because I don’t want people to link me to my art… digest it for the idea that it is.” Mitchell is currently working on projects that capture everyday objects, including nature –specifically flowers and cigarette packs – for another small project called “Smoking Kills.”
In his last completed series of work, he captured what he calls “Beauty in the Mundane” – the lives of everyday people and “things that make us who we are.” He dismantles the idea that memories people experience on an everyday basis must be “extravagant” because there is beauty in the trivial things we do. He took a recent interest in flowers and how he could incorporate that into his latest project. In his photography, he wanted to focus on the form of the tulips he shot and get a sense of the emotion that flowers can convey rather than just their beauty as it exists in their natural environment. He titled this series TULIPMANIA.
Success is Personal
There are many creatives in various fields of art today, and more than ever, people want to find a way to monetize what they do – and rightfully so. Because if you love what you do and are passionate about it, why not get paid? Mitchell says it’s not that simple. He observed that like-minded people within his creative community don’t necessarily like working with other photographers because they do not want to work “horizontally.” They want to work upward to take their artistry to new heights and work with higher-ups in the industry. “Humans in nature are opportunists.” In his community, it’s just him fending for himself. He mentions other artists that didn’t get their big break until they were in their 30s or 40s and, at that time, also reaping those financial benefits. “It’s really just who you know, and that one person just has to take a chance on you.”
For creatives with true passion or anyone who values purpose and fulfillment over financial success, life can be hard to navigate in our capitalistic and money-hungry society. “My goal is to work on a consistent basis. If I can just work and be comfortable – I don’t even have to get paid a lot of money – as long as I can sustain life, buy a nice house, eat well, [and] travel when I want to… freedom is more so what I work towards… I want to work so I can be free.” If anything, Mitchell is determined to make something happen. You rarely see someone working hard towards something even though they don’t know what the absolute outcome will be, but the passion poured into the work makes everything worth it. The meaning of success is different for every person, but through the lens of a creative, “when you stay true to who you are, and you do what you do well, the money is going to come regardless. That’s what every artist knows. When the time comes, the money is going to be there.” Being in any creative industry can be tricky, but DeAndre Mitchell has proven that with passion, tunnel vision, and belief in yourself, there is no limit to what can come from doing something you love.