We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Macy Bryant. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Macy below.
Macy, we’re thrilled to have you on our platform and we think there is so much folks can learn from you and your story. Something that matters deeply to us is living a life and leading a career filled with purpose and so let’s start by chatting about how you found your purpose.
It’s funny because I feel like the topic of “Purpose” has come up for me so much, especially over the course of this last year. I would say the thing that truly helped me find my purpose, was nurturing and growing my relationship to the universe and my ancestors. What that looked like for me was releasing what sense of control I naively thought I had over life (spoiler alert: we never had control), and surrendered to the beauty that is universal timing and your lineage redirecting and protecting you always. Surrendering allowed me to find a sense of comfort that as long as I’m operating from a place of love and authenticity, I will always be abundant and successful. Having found this peace, mentally allowed me space to reflect on what my true purpose was on this earth, which I found to be healing my community and showcasing the beauty of others. The outlet I happened to choose was photography, but I could’ve been anything in this world I wanted to be. That’s knowing your purpose VS yours passions; your purpose is engrained in you, it’s your souls mission in this lifetime. Your passions are ways for you to live out your purpose and share it with the world.
Appreciate the insights and wisdom. Before we dig deeper and ask you about the skills that matter and more, maybe you can tell our readers about yourself?
I’m 25 years old, I am the middle child of 5 kids. I was born and raised in Stockton, CA which most people could’nt find on a map if you asked them to. But it has such a special energy to it, some of the people I look up to the most are from my neighborhood. I think growing up in such a small tight knit city, really helped strengthen my bond with my community, and value the village mentality that I still firmly stand in. It helped mold me. I come from a family where all the women at some point dabbled in photography or documenting moments in time in some way shape or form. My mom had scrapbooks on top of scrapbooks filled with family photos, tender moments, mementoes, etc. Both my older sisters also took photos, and of course as the baby sister I played model before I did shooter. I never expected myself to pick up a camera as a profession, but I knew I always had a love for concepts and snapping things in a way I felt was cool. My mom actually said in an interview I did with my parents recently, that when I was 6 years old she looked at the way I would admire people, colors, and things, and knew that I would grow up to help show the beauty only I saw in things. Crazy how right she was. I started my photography journey 4 years ago and never looked back.
Now my primary focus is on shifting the type of artist I wanna be known as, and the images I want to create and share with the world. I admire photographers such as Carrie Mae Weems, who has this magical ability to take real people in very real and raw settings, and tell a bigger story on real community topics. The way she highlights POC, particularly black folk, in her images has always spoke to me, and I can only hope my images do the same for people. I’m excited to venture into gallery spaces, exhibitions, books, etc. I want to have longevity in what I
do, so that my work can emotionally speak to others far after I transition off this earth. To start off that new turning point for me, I have my first interactive photo exhibition on December 1st in DTLA coming up where I’m displaying a new series of work that hasn’t been seen before. I’m so excited to officially announce, and to share all I have planned with my community.
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?
I believe the 3 key things that were most impactful on me in my journey were: Surrendering to the unknown, not being afraid of failing (Or succeeding!), and focusing on my own timing, not this invisible timeline. Surrendering in moments where I felt as if things would crash I didn’t have control, was the best decision I could’ve made, it gives the universe its space to work! Not being afraid of failing or even being nervous about what would happen if I actually succeeded, which sounds silly but true. Sometimes we feel that we’re about to be thrown over that edge, and fear having to one-up it after or keep it up. That’s an illusion we use to hold ourselves back. And finally, focusing on my own timing helped me release the idea that I was falling behind or that I “wasn’t ever going to get to ___” because everything I used to scratch my head about when I saw my peers do it, I now am living. More importantly in my own way, on my own time (Which is really God’s time).
The best advice I can give on how to develop these traits yourself, is to do the internal work for yourself. I think sometimes as artists we believe that we can succeed first, then deal with trauma, emotions, problems, etc later. But so many of us, if not all of us, is tied into our work. If you aren’t taking care of your internal self, and growing/healing, the work and art will always suffer because of it. Let’s kill the pained artist narrative, and replace it with someone who is choosing life and spreads their light in all they do. The world needs more of that.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
The most impactful thing my parents did for me, was raise me to know that there was nothing in this world that wasn’t open to me to explore, and then actually giving me the freedom to do so. They knew that there would be times in my life where I would probably fall on my face, hard. But they also believed in my strength and were there with open arms to clean off my wounds if I needed. I always thank them for giving me that room to mess up, to fumble, to discover, to try, without judgement.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.macyshotthis.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/macybryant/?hl=en
