Meet Eli Meir Kaplan

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Eli Meir Kaplan. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Eli, 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?
Great question! Initially, I developed my confidence from my mentor, photojournalist Andre Lambertson. I took a continuing education documentary photography class with him and pulled me to the side one day and gave me a pep talk I will never forget, which also gave me the confidence to pursue photography as a career. For the first few years I repeated those words in my head before every shoot.

As the years went on and I had one successful job after the other, I naturally developed confidence and no longer thought about Andre’s pep talk. Instead, I began to feel naturally at home when photographing on commercial productions.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I really enjoy telling stories about people connecting with one another and stories that evoke emotions. Ideally it’s work that feels natural and real. I love creating new work and I love being out in the field.

I’d also very much like to do work that makes a social impact. I have something in beginning stages, but not that I can talk about yet.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Learning about marketing is important. I’ve read dozens of business, marketing, and personal development books and still do.

Going to portfolio reviews has been extremely important. It’s only through difficult feedback that I’ve continued to grow and find my voice.

Continuing to adapt and grow with changing technology is important. Certainly growing video and storytelling skills was a big one.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?
I really liked “The Purple Cow” by Seth Godin. It’s a pretty simple premise. Imagine you are driving and you see a cow. At first it’s exciting, but then becomes routine after you see more cows. Then you see a purple cow, which stands out. Be the purple cow.

Contact Info:

Image Credits
Bio photo by Peter Grill

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