Greetings, my name is Michael Falk. I am a photographer and blogger at Seeimagery.com. I’m presently based in Wyandotte, Michigan but you probably never heard of it. How about Detroit? Wyandotte is positioned 20 minutes to the south and is a suburb of Detroit.
Passion for Photography
I’ve had a strong passion for photography for pretty much ever! Even when I used to just carry about my Sony Cyber Shot, I always thought, one day I need to get a good camera, a real camera.
A Turning Point
Then, in the summer of 2010, I lost both my parents and was confronted with life’s big promise, one day we are all going to die. I know, hard fork but yes, when you lose your parents, the weight of mortality seems to feel a little heavier.
Discovering Photography
After this, I started going on a lot of walks, trying to sort my feelings out when the urge to do more with photography started to call to me. So, I went home one day after a walk, ordered my first DSLR camera from online and my photography true journey began.
Exploring Nature
At first, I set out to take pictures of nature, landscapes, and the environment around me. I would step outside and just go on random adventures around my neighborhood in search of “the unknown”, or maybe just in search of me.
Photography as Healing
This new discovery and learning phase lasted quite a while. It went something like this. Go out shooting, upload to computer, make a few quick adjustments in Digital Photo Professional (free and only software I owned at the time), post them on Facebook and wait for my friends and family’s opinion.
Learning from Peers
Naturally, friends and family are always quick to give praise. “You’re so good”, “Awesome shot”. You know – the stuff friends and families do to encourage you. It wasn’t until I started joining a few Photography groups, networking with other photographers, etc that I began to receive real feedback.
Expanding Horizons
Sometimes the truth can hurt but it was always the kind of criticism that is constructive. It was like “You know, this is a good image but if you did this the image would be stronger in composition”, etc. Plus, photographers always use this technical jargon that makes you go home and Google stuff so unknowingly they facilitate learning.
Embracing Street Photography
Photographers are really good people to hang out with. It’s also this type of camaraderie between peers that really trained my eye and made me strive to be better. Not so much better than some other photographer but just better than the photographer I was yesterday.
Fascination with People
I did get better and my initial fascination with nature and landscapes consumed me for a while until one day I decided to plan a trip to Asheville, NC. Originally, I planned to go hiking and capture some great landscape imagery. You know, mountains, sunsets, streams, rivers, waterfalls, maybe some wildlife. This was the goal but then something happened. Even though I really enjoyed capturing the beautiful mountains surrounding Asheville I started to realize that my fascination with photography was expanding.
City Life
To my surprise, it was the city that was speaking to me, the downtown, the bustling of life. It was alive with people and each one of them carried a silent mystery. It was then that I started to appreciate the beauty, intrigue, and wonder in people. I guess it was street photography at the time, just random strangers wandering onto my make-believe stage. The results were always hit and miss but I loved that unpredictability.
Photographing People
Upon returning home I decided to take to the streets and pursue my newfound passion. One problem, suddenly it felt weird. For some reason taking photos of people on the street in a foreign unfamiliar town didn’t seem as intimidating or weird as it did in my own familiar corner of the world.
Joining Photography Clubs
Perhaps it was the tourist mentality, “Sorry if you just happen to be in my photo but I’m a tourist and I need a picture of this fine street you are standing on.” Whatever it was I was now back to my shy timid ways finding it hard to raise my camera at a stranger.
Exploring Different Styles
That’s when I joined a few other photography clubs that were more oriented toward photographing people. Suddenly I found myself involved in fashion shoots, portraiture, pretend weddings (two real), theater performances, and a variety of other events involving the photographing of people.
Continuous Learning
Today if you were to ask me how I view myself as a photographer I would tell you that I still feel as if I’m a photographer in the making. Truthfully, I think this will always be true of me. I have these ideas; these visions and I’m still trying to see myself there.
Photography Beyond Client Work
I’ve taken a lot of jobs on my journey, let’s try a wedding, senior photos, product, etc but usually it leaves me thinking, client work is not really my thing. That's what I really liked about NFTs, the freedom to express myself and monetize my passion for photography in a way that I choose outside traditional client work.
A New Challenge
I was sort of stuck at that crossroad with my photography when NFT’s came across my radar in March of 2021. Did I want to do more professional client work or was I happier doing photography as a hobby? At the same time, the question seemed sort of meaningless as life mounted more and more challenges.
A Personal Loss
Just one month earlier in February, my wife was forced to induce labor early due to a life-threatening infection. She lived but unfortunately, Norah, our baby was not strong enough or ready to endure this world. It really turned our lives upside down, bringing with it a dark cloud that would seem to settle on everything we did. One minute we were doing gender reveal videos and the next, we were looking for an urn for Norah’s ashes.
Learning and Coping
While my wife sought counseling and embarked on her own path of healing, I did the same. I embraced learning and occupying my time with yet another distraction, NFTs. As I look back, I can now see the similarities in how I used learning photography to help deal with the emotional loss of my parents. NFTs were a similar pursuit in that there was so much to learn, so many rabbit holes one could go down. I’m not saying distracting yourself is a healthy way to cope. I don’t know if it is but when we were doing some counseling together the therapist said both of us will find ways to cope and grieve differently. And so, a new journey began.
Continual Evolution
My goal now as a photographer is always evolving as is my process. I like to keep striving to challenge myself, experiment, learn something new. This is the inherent beauty of both photography and NFTs. They offer an unending river of discoveries on the path towards becoming the photographer one wants to be. Fortunately, this journey is one where continuous learning feels not only acceptable but also deeply rewarding.
