Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Omar Lockhart. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Omar, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?
Honestly, I hold this question dear to my heart. Growing up, especially as a young black man, we have this looming statistic/bias over our heads that our lives are short lived, that our dreams and goals are unachievable. It took me a long while to gain my confidence and self esteem. I would have small spurts of it throughout my life, but as the person I am now, I know this is something here to stay.
Confidence and Self-esteem is directly connected to the inner voice that speaks to you. The one voice that tells you all your ‘what-if’s’, fears, and insecurities. The voice that tells if you deserve the things that you hope and dream about or not. My inner voice was pessimistic and nihilistic back then. Sometimes I’d think what was the point of getting up if I was always gonna fall down. This held me back from myself, the present and future connections I had and would make, and long last relationships that would build me up. I knew I had to change how I began to talk to myself everyday. I would speak more optimistic in the actions that I would find myself doing. I deleted the words ‘I can’t, I’ll try, I’m going to’ and replaced it with ‘I will’ . I asked myself more questions and dug deeper to understand why I thought in other ways that wasn’t conducive to building my confidence and self-esteem. This made me become more intentional with my life. It helped me decide that I was tired of the old ways of living. I made sure that I was my biggest fan, that I was the person I wanted to be when I went to sleep and woke up everyday. And one thing for sure, I was relentless. I couldn’t stop. I refuse to stop.
In a calmer notion, I listen to myself more. I realize that I am the only person with the “end-all, be all” decision because this is my life. I give more credit to my good qualities of myself and celebrate them. I give space and opportunity for planning in my bad qualities because I realize these are all tangible. I rejoice in knowing that failing is okay and that it only means that I’m really close to my initial goal and that doesn’t affect how much confidence and positive self- esteem I’ve already gained.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
Hello everyone, I’m Omar and I’m a photographer and videographer based from Philadelphia. I’ve been in the industry of photography for 3 years, 2025 being my third. I’ve always been interested in photography, videography, and communications and media for a long time. I started off with communications and broadcast back in high school at the Milton Hershey School. Later on, I received my Bachelors of Arts in Communication and Media Studies at PennWest Edinboro University in 2019. Through the years of Covid and post-Covid, I really explored the importance of my crafts and how to make use of them in different industries, to boost my artistic career and my idea of artistic expression.
Through my art, I work to express vulnerability and nostalgia. Those two things similarly align because when we fondly think of past moments, there’s a sliver of vulnerability that allows those moments to be etched with emotion, therefore we feel it. In my photography and videography, I create space for clients and models to be themselves, which gets them closer to them being able to use the emotions needed for artistic expression.
I recently began a new project series called ‘Rule of 3rds’. The project touches base on the photography concept of the rule of thirds and how it relates to composition with the use of a 9 point grid. However, I decided to create this into a life project with photography and videography being the conduit. The “composition” of the concept translates to identifying the quality of life in ones life and it’s different aspects ( mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually/religiously, culturally, and communally). Once identified, these aspects are cultivated and grown so that balance is achievable.
I’ve been building those aspects around me so that not only I could flourish, but those who are also growing and connected to me could flourish.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Patience. Resilience. Vulnerability.
Some advice I could give is to practice these three qualities I said above while moving forward in your journey.
Practicing patience brings you discipline in wanting to reach your end goal. You’ll be able to make more sound decisions for yourself as well as any roles of leadership that is acquired.
Practicing resilence teaches you that you have to be strong through mishaps and failures. This doesn’t mean to block out the feeling of what it brings. It means experience it fully. It means to not give up even when something doesn’t succeed the first time.
Practicing vulnerability teaches you how to accept and receive. Vulnerability is a superpower to help you be transparent in your journey. It is truth of not only how you are feeling but also truth of how something makes you feel.
Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?
There’s an old saying my family use to say, “It takes a village”. I’m looking to collaborate and partner with people and brands who push the importance of collectivism and community. To create the best art possible, it takes a team to move all the wheels with each of their individual expertise and artistic spin.
If you’re reading this, send me a message on Instagram or send me an email! I would be more than happy to chat!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://omarlockhart.my.canva.site/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/laughing_creed/?hl=eno
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/omar-lockhart-218790ba?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
Image Credits
Taken by Tyji Perkins ( @thekidfromnorthphilly )
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
