Today we’d like to introduce you to Pierce Amadeus.
Pierce, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Throughout my early childhood, I’ve always been surrounded by different forms of art. My mother is a painter as well as self-taught illustrator, my Mother’s Aunt is a photographer and painter, as well my great grandmother was an extraordinary painter. The point is that art has been in my life for a long time. As a child, I’d often spend my time drawing various subjects as well as paint what I would say now a very abstract subject matter. As I reflect back on some of my paintings, they were very abstract, haha. However, as I growing up in West LA I took an orchestra class in middle school and played the violin for about four years. Once I reached high school, I left orchestra behind and decided to pick a 35mm film camera. Throughout my high school career, I kept photography very close to me and continued to improve my practice. I’d often photograph a bunch of my friends in a very editorial style and street photography was a style that I enjoyed too.
As the four years of high school continued, I was suffering from depression and substance abuse. In a way, photography kept me alive, as I would receive praise and positive comments about my artwork it kept me going. Thankfully I was able to overcome my depression during my senior year and was accepted to all the colleges that I applied to because of my constant handwork and determination. After graduating from Beverly Hills High School, I moved to the Bay Area and pursued my photography career there, I was lucky enough to meet incredible people and now some of my best friends while being at school in the Bay. While being in The Bay a photograph in one of my series was displayed at an exhibition, I’ve never been happier in my life during that time. In the past year, I’ve been working on multiple photographic series and I have been designing for my self-made streetwear clothing brand called Amadeus.Lono, translating into English “Peace and Love”. At this very moment, I am working on releasing another collection of clothing as well as new photography series.
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?
My journey hasn’t been the easiest, in the past I’ve suffered with depression and substance abuse. In my mind, I always thought that my photography or art was not worthy of praise, even though I’d receive compliments from classmates, teachers, friends, and family members I never fully believed them. I nearly killed myself one drastic night but the one thing that kept me going was my friends and family, I thought to myself during that very moment is why would I take something that makes them happy, in that moment it finally clicked that I was the something that made them happy. That was almost three years ago and since then I’ve been trying to help anyone who is struggling with depression and substance abuse because I don’t want anyone to feel like that ever and show them that there is hope and a bright shining light that’ll shine through the darkness that they’re trapped in.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
Currently, I have two businesses that I manage, my photography career as well as my clothing designer career. I am a freelance photographer that works on personal projects, editorial, fashion, and commercial photography. I also have some experience with assisting other photographers with their projects as well. What makes me really happy about having a career in photography is that I am honored to work with all types of fantastic people. I think what separates me from other photographers is that I don’t treat each photoshoot as a job instead I treat it as an opportunity to create new and long-lasting friendships. My mindset going into each photoshoot is to create/ improve the relationship I have with the person or team. For my clothing brand, Amadeus.Lono, I design every single piece that is released. My brand is another form of art, where I can express my self in a different way other than photography. Amadeus.Lono makes me proud because it is another way for my friends to be involved in my life either through modeling or help get a second opinion.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Personally, I think luck has been helpful teaching tool to me because it taught me that life will always throw something very different at me and each time I learn new things that’ll help me change into the better version of myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.pierceamadeus.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pierce_amadeus/
- Other: https://teespring.com/stores/amadeus-lono-2?aid=marketplace
Image Credit:
Models in the photographs: Alex Vaca @alex.vaca Nick Sullivan @8nick.sullivan Ozzy Pendarvis @Ozzypen Sydney Yanagihara @spicyshitzzz Ky Apsu @Ky_manns Fai @spot_a_fai Raven Davis @raven_w977 Midway @Midway__Binaural and shatteredmainstream3.0 Harrison Van Pelt @harrisonsvp
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