The Photographer’s Way: 4 Fascinating Stories About Becoming a Visual Artist

It’s always exciting to explore people’s journeys through life — their ups and downs, as well as lessons they’ve learned over time. These stories often serve as a source of motivation, and you realize that you’re not the only one facing challenges in your career.

To inspire creative industry professionals to shoot for the stars and pursue their dreams, Depositphotos, a stock content marketplace, shares unique stories about the challenging, but exciting path of becoming a visual artist. From this project, you’ll learn about the artists’ process, what obstacles they faced along the way, and what dreams inspired them to keep going. Read on to get inspired.

Masis Usenmez

Masis Usenmez is a Turkish street photographer based in France, who prefers black and white photography over the complexities of color. He moved from Turkey to France a few years ago. He didn’t speak French, so he struggled to connect with new people and their culture.

Despite the fact that Masis connected on social media a lot, he felt incredibly lonely throughout his first 6 months in a new country. “I realized that we cannot socialize as much in modern cities. Even though there are many people around us, we don’t look at them or talk to them. We are lonely in our daily activities,” the photographer said.

Masis went to the streets to sort out his feelings. He was able to ask questions and find answers with his street photography. “My message is that loneliness is not a bad thing. Your loneliness can be your strength. It can help you with your style of art, just don’t go in too deep,” Usenmez adds.

Kate Kondratieva

Kate Kondratieva is a Ukrainian visual artist who shares people’s stories through powerful photos. She dropped out of medical school to follow her dreams. Kate claims that if she knew where her life would take her, she would have left school much earlier.

Kate specializes in psychological portraiture. A photograph like this is intended to illustrate the depth of a person’s inner world, reflect the fullness of their personality, and capture the never-ending movement of human feelings and actions. Kate says that, “Oftentimes, people come to me in order to heal after getting divorced or after experiencing major life changes. They want to remember themselves in that state, in order to release it afterward. I am incredibly glad that they trust me with their most sincere and personal moments, and that I chose this very path 8 years ago.”

Eldar Khamitov

Eldar Khamitov is a New York-based street photographer. He moved to New York from Kazakhstan 7 years ago, purchased his first DSLR camera, and started taking it with him on city walks. The photographer was fascinated by the little details that are probably very commonplace to New Yorkers — to him, everything in his new city looked like it was from another planet.

Eldar specializes in candid street photography and unusual characters. His photographs reflect his relationship to the world. “I am drawn to imperfections in appearances that catch the eye — from people who can be called misfits, as this is how I’ve mostly felt my entire life, to something that makes me sad, as I find myself to be a moody, melancholic person,” Eldar adds.

Andrey Gudkov

Andrey Gudkov is a well-known Russian wildlife photographer whose work appears in National Geographic and other world-famous media. He has been recognized by the International Federation of Photographic Art, the Royal Photographic Society, National Geographic Russia, and dozens of other international organizations.

Andrey’s career as a photographer has been long and challenging, with more fails than victories. “Sometimes, I asked myself, ‘How long do I keep on trying?’ This very thought made me want to quit,” the photographer told us.

Andrey now travels to the most remote and dangerous places to photograph wildlife. The photographer says that conditions are usually far from perfect. Wild nature is tough. It could take years to capture attention-worthy shots.

“I’ve been shooting the migration of animals in Africa for 12 years. It took me 4 years to capture breaching humpback whales, and 3 years to organize an expedition to Cuba. After 3 years of trials, we were given permission to visit one of the largest flamingo colonies in the Río Máximo Wildlife Park in Camagüey. After spending 10 days in the park, I finally captured everything I had in mind,” Gudkov said.

Did you enjoy the 4 stories we just shared with you? Read the full stories on Kate Kondratieva, Masis Usenmez, Eldar Khamitov, Andrey Gudkov, as well as other photographers from Peru, Hungary, Mongolia, and Israel on the project’s website.

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