Today we’d like to introduce you to Zachariah Rock.
Hi Zachariah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
My creativity sparked in December 2015, inside my high school’s darkroom but there was quite a bit of disruption to my growth as a creative. I grew up as an undocumented immigrant from the United Kingdom. This stopped me from having a sense of normality in my teenage years. I couldn’t legally work or get a driver’s license. It became incredibly frustrating as my peers around me started to move on with their lives. I felt as if I was stuck in limbo. Photography was an outlet for me during this time. I took photos of everything I could.
After graduation, I became a legal resident. It was a big victory in my life, I could finally move on. I had become focused on working, photography took the back burner. When I was working at a local tech repair store, I thought I found a career in IT but that was halted due to the store closing down 4 months before the Covid-19 pandemic.
It’s February 1st, 2020 my mother, brother and I are getting on a plane to England. This is going to be a month-long trip. I haven’t seen my family over there in 17 years. Some I’ve never even met. Most of them remember me as a whiny toddler. Little do we know that the world is going to change drastically over the next month with concerns over Covid growing rapidly.
This opportunity is one that I’m going to take advantage of, finally a reason to take my camera out. I became a different person after this trip. It was an emotional experience, but there was growth. Self-growth in my perspective of the world. The differences in culture, architecture, and art. I spent a lot of time just out with my camera and cell phone. I was lucky to have my little brother Eli with me. He would grudgingly agree to be my subject for a lot of the shots.
Coming into March 2021, I’m sitting on my front porch holding my dream camera. I just knew that this was the year that I start pursuing my passion with full force. This was the year I would say to myself, “I am a professional photographer.” Later that year, I would begin to get paid for prints of my photos, NFT sales, portrait shoots, and photography workshops. I became so grateful.
2021 for me had a lot of emotional woes and small victories. I tend to use photography as a way to capture how I’m feeling during the day. My editing style consists of a lot of vibrant colors and energetic shots. It’s also been described as eerie, dreamlike, and post-apocalyptic. I am inspired by so many different things, anime, video games, horror, and sci-fi movies.
Those that pushed me to pursue a career as a photographer/visual artist:
My mother is a photographer as well. Maybe not in a professional way. Yet, she has helped me train my eye over the course of my childhood. She is the biggest influence in my life creatively. My biological father who wasn’t in my life due to issues with addiction is also said to be an incredible artist.
I had a very supportive group of friends around me who always pushed me and helped out with portrait shoots and street photography. My girlfriend Daisy and I create a lot of photographs together. She is a massive source of motivation. We are very competitive with each other, she is an incredibly talented illustrator.
Living in Moab, Utah by chance due to the decisions of family members has provided me with the scenery to become a landscape photographer. An environment that I happen to be very grateful for. Being 22, having found your passion in life is a very rare thing. I practice gratitude for my life in every way that I can.
I currently am open for bookings for portraiture, weddings, and engagement shoots in the area.
I sell NFT’s on Opensea and Foundation. I have my own online print shop as well.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Recognition, I feel that I have been written off the majority of my life. Family and friends have questioned the path I have chosen for myself with photography. That’s probably been the most difficult thing. Realizing that I make photographs for no one else but myself is what keeps me going when it feels like a lot of my world is stacked against me.
The next struggle had to be imposter syndrome. I’ve had times when I stopped believing in myself due to exterior circumstances, overcoming imposter syndrome has been a fight. This has helped me connect with other artists online. It eventually helped the first struggle of recognition. It’s a great feeling to rub shoulders with greater photographers than myself. This helps keep me truly inspired.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am a professional photographer. I specialize in portraiture and landscape shots. I am known for being one of the first in my hometown to do NFT photography.
I am incredibly proud of my use of color and storytelling within my shots.
I think what sets me apart from other photographers in my area is that I don’t shoot the classic shots that everyone is looking for. I have my own concept of what is beautiful. Not just the standard Mesa Arch and Delicate Arch shots that you see everywhere in Moab.
Can you talk to us about how you think about risk?
I think I’m pretty conservative with the risks I take. It hasn’t always been that way though. I’ve had my fair share of recklessness of course. For the most part, you have to learn through specific experiences in order to get better at managing risk. I’m blessed to have the experiences that have led me to a more conservative approach to risk. Financial risks and everyday life included.
I love climbing around in the environment I’m in to execute the shot in mind. Although I do believe in safety first.
Contact Info:
- Email: zachariahrockphotography@gmail.com
- Website: https://zachariahrock.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zachrock17/
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/ZachariahRockPhotography
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/ZachRock17
- Other: https://zachariahrock.com/store
Image Credits
Zachariah Rock
