ANDREw DOSUNMU circa 2002, originally uploaded by richlouis.

I have always liked this picture I took of Photography/filmmaker Andrew Dosunmu, who’s picture you word find next to word hustle.

He’s a quick-moving slightly lanky, energetic Nigerian who I met through Photographer Marc Baptiste. He had already been shooting videos for the likes of Les Nubians and Common and done styling for shoots, and at the moment really pushing his photography career. This was 2002 and he’s come so far since then (his book, The African Game, can be purchased to the right) .

What i do know about him is that he’s always on-the-go thinking of the next project to work on and the next person he can sell his skills to. And he travels. He is very much like another artist I know, fearless even in the face of hidden fear.

Which brings this whole hustle ethic to me. I am sitting here at my Freelance Proofreading job of six months plus where i received a response (great qualifications but don’t fit what they are looking for) to my application for a sales and research assistant position at a well-known photography rep agency. I still feel like I am swimming in kid section of a large pool and still have not learned the unspoken rules to wade into the big people side of the people. It seems it’s a lot different set of tricks to get into the business side of photography as opposed to being a photographer.

So I am still at a loss and still trying get into the hustle frame of mind. I know very well that I have no plans on staying in proofing and regular research, so I have to make multiple things happen.