Rising Stars: Meet Majesty-rose of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Majesty-rose

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Photography has been my passion since I was a child. I often refer to it as my first love because it was the one thing out of all of the art forms I explored that genuinely made me happy. Growing up I started by taking pictures with the disposable Kodak cameras. Looking back this probably invoked my current love for vintage film cameras. I remember capturing everything that appealed to me, modern-day terms for this would be street photography. When camera phones started to up rise I shifted to documenting everything on my phone.

Fast forward to my first year in college for business administration and I needed to select an elective. I chose photography and it forced me to buy my first DSLR camera. After playing around with my camera and using my friend a muses I started to shoot events around LA. Which led to me developing and registering my business as Majesty Rose Visuals. My goal has always been to create visual art. I want to either invoke an emotion or allow you to see a story from my lens. My favorite thing to capture is black culture and highlighting the African American diaspora. Today I cater more towards content photography allowing me to shoot concept art with my clients for their social media pages. When I’m able to also creative direct I bring forth a vision and allow my client to play around as they feel comfortable through location, styling, and poses. Brands tend to enjoy this more because now the marketing seems more authentic rather than posed.

As a self-proclaimed photojournalist, I also enjoy documenting life around me and the cities in Los Angeles that I have lived in. As the ebs and flows of gentrification are made apparent I have taken note to highlight things changing around me. Allowing my camera and love for writing to place a lasting mark on what once was. As an activist, the black lives matter movement in 2020 allowed me to gain more traction and popularity as I was posting daily and going live. I like to keep things as authentic as possible and showcase the reality of what is happening, not just post-clickbait. I’m thankful for my experience of working as a lead photographer for a school newspaper. My professor at the time pushed me to not just find the perfect shot but to capture things with the vision of “How would this look in a history book”.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
As a creative, I would say the hardest part is not falling into the “keeping up with the Joneses” mentality. It’s easy for imposter syndrome to take over because the photography scene because more saturated. With modern-day technology, you can also find people claiming to be a photographer because they took one cool photo from their phone.

As someone who takes the time to study their craft, has read numerous books, and also went to school for Digital Photography and Photojournalism I have to remind myself to focus on what started this all. My love to capture things.

Lastly, I would say consistently being aware of new gear and staying up to date is a struggle. I know my peers can relate to the feeling that once you upgrade something new drops. Or then you see a lens that feels better. Or a new accessory to make your camera represent you better. Given the current uprise in Ai it’s also now about integrating this technology into your day-to-day. Whether it’s using Adobe’s new Photoshop generative fill to adjust an image or staying aware of different software to automate your business.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
A mentor recently pulled me aside and said I was doing too much. I am an entrepreneur so I struggled with balancing my business and my artistry. I realized now that with photography, though it is one of my businesses it’s more so a craft that allows me to feel fulfillment in life.

I mentioned before that I have fallen into content photography with some of my past clients being a black-owned luxury hotel in Venice Beach or “influencers” that work with top brands such as Alo. Depending on the scope of deliverables I can at times have full creative direction or abide by a shot list to ensure the brand is happy. I have retired from shooting events but say yes here and there if the event is in alignment with me. I found that working 1-1 with an individual or business allows me to maintain the rates needed to pay my bills while also decreasing stress from the workload.

As I develop a creative agency to start outsourcing and putting my friends on I am looking to separate my love for capturing black culture and content photography. This is why I selected Artist / Creative. Because first I am an artist and then entrepreneurship follows. I’m thankful for my current mentor and proud to have made it this far in my career in the City of Angels.

How do you define success?
Success is subjective. Personally, for me, it is the ability to create daily while also having financial freedom. You hear so often of the story of the struggling artist who wants to create but also has to keep bills paid. Applying my business knowledge and help from mentorship I am aware that it’s possible to achieve a lifestyle where you can create while also expanding.

Artist / Creatives need spaces where they can simply create and perfect their craft. That to me is when you have reached the pinnacle of your career when you can do this and still live a prosperous life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.majestyrosevisuals.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/majestyrosevisuals/?hl=en
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/majestyrosevisuals/