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Meet Donovan Beck of TheMindofSol Media in Santa Clarita

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Donovan Beck.

Donovan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I moved around alot as a kid due to my father being in the military, but I always found peace in art, whether it was dance, music creation, or writing and eventually once moving to California I really started to notice how unique and different all the areas of this state were, from the mountains to the beaches, valleys and deserts. After taking a trip back to Germany when I was 16, I discovered that I could tell the stories of the places I visit through pictures and film and that led to this almost obsession with documenting the experiences I was living with family and friends.

Traveling so much as a kid, I started to see how different but also how similar different cultures and peoples are and I wanted a way to share that, the way eventually became my business. “TheMindofSol” itself comes from two places, my childhood nickname and the idea I hold deepest in my heart that the world is a crazy, beautiful and outstanding place and you should live everyday discovering the people and stories inside of it. That is the mission of what I do and why my business exist today, whether it’s capturing the happiest moments of people’s lives like weddings and proms to sharing travel films of the cities and peoples I meet. I started with a love of people and their stories and I’ve tried to maintain that value through today and the future.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
I don’t think you could ever meet an artist with an entirely smooth road haha. Coming from a military family and one who has always seen the “Practical” route as the only route to life, explaining that I want to become an artist and create photos and films for a living has definitely been an uphill battle as well as just the feeling of not doing enough and consistent creative blocks that our field comes with. I haven’t seen many external struggles when it comes to things physically stopping me from doing what I love but this journey has definitely been one of internal struggles and conflicts, my art has and continues to be not only an extension of myself but an outlet for what I am feeling as well. I have struggled with severe anxiety and depression for a vast majority of my life and while art is at many times an escape from those feelings it also has been an inducer of them as well. This past winter I took a month-long hiatus from my work as a way to recover from a severe burnout from an intense season of creative and life struggles last year. This up and down coaster of art is crazy but I also find the beauty in the lack of a smooth and straight journey, it keeps it interesting you know?

We’d love to hear more about your business.
The MindofSol is a media and creative storytelling company specializing in portraiture and travel photography and videography. Since I am the one and only shooter and owner of my business at this time the company as a whole has been my access to share and distribute all my creative endeavors, this past year I released my first set of clothing and a podcast featuring fellow artist. Those two ideals has been my most proud feature of my business, being someone who has dealt with mental health issues his whole life one of the fundamental values of my company is “Happiness is not a limited resource” and I have tried to emulate that value not only in my portraits and films but also in how I represent the company and share our message, the other value has been encouraging and assisting the next generations of artist on their journey as well. When I began in this field I didn’t have mentors or guides outside of youtube. So over the past year, I have been very active in inviting new photographers and filmmakers onto my shoots and sets as a way to teach and guide them on their route.

What were you like growing up?
Growing I definitely was a “Different” kid, moving around so much always meant I was a new kid at schools and had to quickly adjust to making new friends and finding a place. I think this is what made me fall in love with art, when everything else in my life was constantly changing, places, people, names and cities, art was always consistent always there. defined by many of my friends as “a crazy mess that somehow makes sense” I have always been a crazy personality and always interested in trying to experience everything.

Pricing:

  • 60min portrait set $150
  • wedding package 1 $550
  • Commercial video $250
  • “Happiness is not a limited resource” Sweater $45

Contact Info:

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.

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