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Out of context: Reply #106
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- martinadolfsson4
Really enjoy this thread!
Grew up in a working class/lower middle class family, I was never “exposed" to Art or Design as a kid but was always encouraged to do what I wanted to do - which as an adult I realize was the best thing that could ever happen.
I stared my career as a photo assistant in Oslo and a few years later moved to Stockholm to start on my own, career wise things were going great but I got very bored and felt my life was on a very predictable path (perhaps a first world problem?) so I moved to NYC in -07.
I would probably have made tons of more money if I had stayed in Sweden and kept working with the steady flow of clients but I’ve never regret moving here. Looking back at it, in addition to meeting my wife, the greatest part about moving was probably that it allowed me to fully become whom I am and create my own path in life.
The ebb and flow of commercial work has forced me to push myself and do more personal projects. I came to realize that I’m very interested in group behavior and global economic issues, this interest resulted in a book project where I traveled around to emerging economies and pretended to be a home buyer (it was the only way to get access to the model homes I was photographing) - I never bought a home but I did publish a book about the experience in 2013.
The book eventually got me into a Museum led incubator focusing on Art, Technology and Design, there I met another member and together we created the anti-social media app minutiae, which was released earlier this year. This experience has really thought me that I don’t need to know all the technical specs but can instead focus on the overall picture and bring in people with different expertise instead.
For the next couple of years I hope I remain healthy and can continue juggling commercial and personal work, especially at the intersection of photography and technology.