Can you tell us a little bit about yourself ?
My name is Brian Megens, 25 years old, and I am a photographer. In my spare time I like to do sports and I am also a third year Bachelor European Studies student and social media reporter, both at Maastricht University. I have a passion for street photography, to find art in raw and unregistered settings. I also use this style for my commercial work: branding photography.
What would you consider your distinctive achievement?
That within a year from buying my first camera (late September 2015) I have set-up my own photography business, went to New York for an assignment, got published in national magazines and currently working on several projects. One of which is ‘The Craft of Coffee.’ It is a real cool project on commission of Alley Cat Bikes & Coffee. Besides this, I got so much inspiration and guidance from my street photography project that I did this summer. I went to Kuala Lumpur where I spent two weeks wandering around the city covering multiple topics (builders, refugees, wet markets and more). In this project, I really developed my love for, and style in street photography. I created unique images and I am actually looking for places to exhibit the work! This style is something I use in my commercial assignments.
What are the qualities needed to be able to achieve this?
A combination of passion, creativity, dedication, focus, and most of all the guts to put your ideas into action! As a former professional athlete I am lucky that almost all these characteristics are basically drilled into my system and since the moment I fell in love with my camera, there has not been a day that I am not working on improving my skills and knowledge on it!
What are you looking forward to?
I am looking forward to continue the creative journey I started a year ago and to keep developing myself as a photographer and human being by doing more street photography projects and expanding my business by creating images that tell the unique stories of my clients. In the short term, show my work from Kuala Lumpur to a bigger audience because I think it deserves to be shown!
Which advise will you give to other professionals?
Believe in yourself and the product that you are making, if you don’t believe in it, no one will. However, this is just the first step. Succeeding as an entrepreneur demands so much more, besides administrative work and networking you should always keep in mind the question: ‘What do I contribute to the existing market and why should clients choose me?’ If the answer to this question is positive, go for it!
What are the challenges that we need to overcome to make cultural entrepreneurship more accessible?
Tough question. A place where ‘cultural entrepreneurs’ can show their work, come together and share their experience. I think that often the problem for ‘cultural entrepreneurs’ is not to create beautiful things but more the business side, how to connect with potential customers and in the long-term, set up a healthy business.
Thanks a lot Brian!
