Mike G

"For me, a camera was never just about capturing a moment—it was a way to freeze a feeling before it slipped away."

Hey everyone, I'm not really good at talking about myself, so bear with me here. Myself, put myself as an artist? I think everything is art. The design on your blankets, different patterns on a cat, a new hairstyle, birds chirping, clouds, the moon. It's all beautiful to me.

For the kind of work I do, well, normally it's photography. It feels the most relaxing and natural to me. I don't always need a camera for it, and no, I don't have a photographic memory or anything. I love piecing together different things and scenery in my mind and putting it on a piece of paper, and a canvas soon. And I can't forget baking. Decorating specifically.

Where I'm creating from, the short answer is love. And yeah, that's easy to say, but that's just it, love needs no rules, there's no planning, it just comes to you and you feel it and then you find a way to express that feeling. This could be said for other emotions too, but for me, love is the most powerful, pure, and true of them all.

I'd like you all to know that while I love art in all its forms, what's more of a journey for me is that it helps me learn more about myself. In this journey to learn and find out more about myself, I'm also currently in boxing training, which has done so much for me mentally, physically, and spiritually. It is considered a martial art, so that counts too, right?

What pulled you toward photography specifically, out of everything you could've picked?

I wouldn't say I picked it. It was more of a mutual agreement. It felt it was always with me in some way or another, family photo albums, magazines, galleries, newspapers, books. I've always been fascinated with photography and the idea of freezing a moment in time.

Was there a moment or place that led you to pick up your camera for this set?

I wouldn't say physically, but these photos specifically were picked in hopes that the audience can learn a bit about me through them.

What does "Act of Expression" mean to you, in the context of these photos?

Well, I'm all about the phrase "let the ___ do its talking." I felt it was very necessary for the pictures to not have any descriptions, for this reason I really wanted to express my heart with seeing it through my eyes, raw and unfiltered. I hope by doing so the audience is not just seeing a photo, they're also feeling it too.

How do you know when a shot is the one, versus just a shot?

This one's a hard question because I can take a picture today and think it's the worst picture ever, only to look at it months later and say, oh my god, what was I thinking, this is amazing. So it really depends on how I'm feeling at the time I take them.

Is there a photo you almost didn't send in?

No, if anything, I wish I could send a bunch more, haha.

Who or what were you photographing this for?

There's no one party or thing in mind, not much of a purpose. If there was a moment that needed to be saved, then I felt it needed to be captured in some way.

What's something you hope someone notices when they look at your photos?

Yeah, I want them to see something that I have, and tell me about what they saw or how they saw it.

Out of everything you submitted, if you could only keep one image, which would it be and why that one?

Haha, it may have been a good idea to add a title to the pictures. Just kidding! If I were to pick one, it would be the picture that I took while walking in Times Square. It's a very common, popular place for sure when people think of New York, but for me, it's more personal than that. You see, I was born in New York City in Brooklyn and spent a lot of my life visiting the city on weekends as a teenager. I would hang out in Chinatown with friends or my cousin and eat some of the most amazing food ever and go to the arcade and then eat more amazing food, lol, for fun. I would just take the train and visit 34th, Columbus Circle, pretty much most of the Lower East Side and Times Square. However, back then I didn't have a camera, so all those places were saved in my memories. Back to a time where things were much simpler than they are today, so it's very nostalgic for me. So yeah, if there was one picture I could keep to myself so that I never forget those times, it would definitely be this one.