Photography Credit – Jeffrey Cabrera
Nowadays everybody wants to be a winner. It is very hard to compete in an industry that is already so over-saturated. This is why one person has to have many talents inside them to make a name for themselves. It is as if the saying “jack of all trades master of none” is actually reversing its meaning. Specialisation is slowly becoming a thing of the past as the newer generations focus more on being creators as a whole rather than belonging to just one specific profession. An example of this can be Akil Henley. Although the man by profession is a photographer, he holds many other titles rather than just so. Let’s go through them one by one:
As a child, Henley’s passions lay in being a photographer and he decided to actively pursue it. His parents supported his dreams and helped him to establish himself in the industry. However external support can only go so far. Henley has made a name for himself and is considered one of the biggest in the photography industry right now. This is because his field of specialisation is Aerial photography. Henley has been pursuing aerial photography for the past 6 years when it was not even known to many others who were in the industry themselves. Henley’s contribution to this art form has popularized it all over the world and has made it an equally appealing alternative to traditional photography.
Aerial photography includes the use of a drone or any other airborne device fitted with a camera to record sights from above. Henley says that using drones in his photography has made it possible to add a new point of view to his pictures. Looking down from the sky, from between the clouds, the scenery is always magical and provides a layer of emotive nuances that traditional photography often misses out on.
Akil Henley is considered one of the pioneers of the artform and has had his work featured in many magazines and journals. His pictures of the French Protest had been reposted by a famous Parisian page and this gave his career the exposure it needed. Another instance was when a popular NYC news site used his pictures, which attracted the attention of NYC based artist Elizabeth Sutton. Sutton and Henley have since collaborated on a masterpiece of a photoshoot and Henley hasn’t had to look back since.
Apart from this, coming back to our ideology of a well-rounded creator, Akil Henley is also an app developer. During the lockdown, he found himself and a lot of other creators stuck in a cycle of the same COVID based content. Henley wanted his followers and friends to also take a shot at photography and so was born the app nFluencer. nFLuencer is a community-based app that has all the tips and tricks to photography and content creation a newbie would ever need to know. nFluencer is available for iOS and already has over 106k 5-star ratings. Akil Henley has not done something absolutely unique but has also kept on pushing himself to be the best in whatever he does. His talent and authenticity are what has allowed him to get so far and be in a position of influence to others.
LA Admire 