[Music]
it was cold and I was in Denmark
Copenhagen and I was lost completely
lost lost with myself lost in my career
and lost mostly with my own definition I
didn’t know who I was anymore
and here was far away from everything
that I know trying to figure out who I
am or rather who do I want to be you see
I studied architecture for eight years
not because I wanted to but because my
parents thought that the safest plan for
me was to draw plans for the rest of my
life for other people as an architect
but in their defense I was like I was
one of those kids that uh when they
asked me so son what you want to do when
you grow up I was like hmm I want to be
like Michael Jackson James Brown and my
dad was like we need to talk we need to
talk sit down I’ll give you two option
easy option one I help you I help you
get an education in architecture in the
finest school in America etc etc and
option two I help you not no need to
tell you which option I choose but then
again fast-forward 10 years later Here I
am in Copenhagen asking myself the same
question what do I want to do when I
grew up wait a minute there’s a lot of
facial hair on my face like I’m no Peter
Pan what do I want to do now and I think
we all ask ourselves that question at
some point in time in our life
luckily there was this man his name is
Hayden Hayden Knox from New York
75 years old he was living in my
building and it tells me I mean I didn’t
know him I would just like run into him
in the building see how it was always
nice smiling at all and one day I bump
into him in the staircase and he tells
me alone you’re an architect maybe a
lawyer but I think you’re an architect
but it was not your choice it was your
father’s choice but you know what the
good news is and the bad news is you’re
not is deep down and you will not be
able to get away from it I looked at him
and I was like how do you know that and
he looked at me straight in the eyes and
he said because that’s the story of my
life at this very moment that man Hayden
planted the seed of confidence and
evidence that I should just do what I
wanted to do in my life and I started
immediately I took a portrait of him but
I didn’t stop there
I went full force into it I started
taking pictures of people like you
people on the street like not
necessarily people that had thought that
were photogenic but people that were
charismatic that had a story to tell and
I could read those stories on their
faces I would like talk to strangers on
the streets in the subway I got a lot of
knows a lot of Oh creepy but I got a few
yes and it lit up a little people
started to like those photos and people
started contacting me oh I want to
portrait like that one that you did
there and next thing I know I’m making a
living out of this actually a lot more
than I was doing when I was an architect
strangely enough but at my change you
know they say architecture is the old
man’s profession so I’m I switch my
vinyls you know in the long run you know
anyway so things are going great people
are calling me until this one day my
phone rings and it’s the UN it calling
me they’re like mr. Allenby I’m like me
yes yes sir
we want to work with you we saw your
work and we think it’s great we want to
tell the stories of 10 women from Africa
from Senegal which is my birthplace by
the way and we think that your honors
photography could your great candidate
to tell the stories of those woman so I
went to Africa to my back home and I
worked and I had the chance to tell the
stories of those amazing woman who
started from nothing and built not
kingdoms but kingdoms they just made it
she was made
she was earning less than $100 a month
and she had a baby and her husband was
like you’re not gonna go to school she
left her husband took her baby on her
back went to school and today she has
two master’s degree and a company with
40 employees so I had the chance to tell
the stories of those woman because after
that that’s the cherry on the cake for
my first exhibition to present his
project they took me to the World Expo
the universal Expo of Milan were
exhibited my work for the first time in
front of millions not thousands but
millions of people and it was my first
exhibition and I was like that is the
sign that’s it
this is good okay okay it’s on and
people started calling me I was I had
the chance to show this work tell the
stories of this woman in many many
countries I travel a lot but one thing
was still missing I knew that I was
doing what I loved but I didn’t know
what it meant it was only one at
that worked at a shot in Senegal and
that I took it back to Senegal for the
PNL of the car that it all made sense I
had an art opening there I was very
excited it was important for me because
they are the most concern of the stories
that I’m telling and I wanted to see how
they would react and so good news it’s a
it’s a full house lots of people are
here
everything’s great I’m happy but then
somewhere in the middle there a group of
students just come and out of them there
was at least like 30 young woman and it
just goes straight to my photos and they
mesmerized by it and it just they stay
there and they’re looking at it for like
a good ten minutes and I’m like wow what
is this and then the director of that
school comes to me and tells me we’ve
been to a lot of exhibitions and it’s
the first time that I see them that
focus and it hit me it hit me so hard
they sing little pieces of themself in
those photograph just like that man
Hayden so a piece of himself in me back
in Denmark see we all mirror to
societies we all like mirrors to
societies and in the quest of finding
ourselves instead of telling the world
with a lot of force and struggle instead
of telling the world who we are maybe we
should stop and listen because the world
is already telling us or we are thank
you
you
[Applause]
you
it was cold and I was in Denmark
Copenhagen and I was lost completely
lost lost with myself lost in my career
and lost mostly with my own definition I
didn’t know who I was anymore
and here was far away from everything
that I know trying to figure out who I
am or rather who do I want to be you see
I studied architecture for eight years
not because I wanted to but because my
parents thought that the safest plan for
me was to draw plans for the rest of my
life for other people as an architect
but in their defense I was like I was
one of those kids that uh when they
asked me so son what you want to do when
you grow up I was like hmm I want to be
like Michael Jackson James Brown and my
dad was like we need to talk we need to
talk sit down I’ll give you two option
easy option one I help you I help you
get an education in architecture in the
finest school in America etc etc and
option two I help you not no need to
tell you which option I choose but then
again fast-forward 10 years later Here I
am in Copenhagen asking myself the same
question what do I want to do when I
grew up wait a minute there’s a lot of
facial hair on my face like I’m no Peter
Pan what do I want to do now and I think
we all ask ourselves that question at
some point in time in our life
luckily there was this man his name is
Hayden Hayden Knox from New York
75 years old he was living in my
building and it tells me I mean I didn’t
know him I would just like run into him
in the building see how it was always
nice smiling at all and one day I bump
into him in the staircase and he tells
me alone you’re an architect maybe a
lawyer but I think you’re an architect
but it was not your choice it was your
father’s choice but you know what the
good news is and the bad news is you’re
not is deep down and you will not be
able to get away from it I looked at him
and I was like how do you know that and
he looked at me straight in the eyes and
he said because that’s the story of my
life at this very moment that man Hayden
planted the seed of confidence and
evidence that I should just do what I
wanted to do in my life and I started
immediately I took a portrait of him but
I didn’t stop there
I went full force into it I started
taking pictures of people like you
people on the street like not
necessarily people that had thought that
were photogenic but people that were
charismatic that had a story to tell and
I could read those stories on their
faces I would like talk to strangers on
the streets in the subway I got a lot of
knows a lot of Oh creepy but I got a few
yes and it lit up a little people
started to like those photos and people
started contacting me oh I want to
portrait like that one that you did
there and next thing I know I’m making a
living out of this actually a lot more
than I was doing when I was an architect
strangely enough but at my change you
know they say architecture is the old
man’s profession so I’m I switch my
vinyls you know in the long run you know
anyway so things are going great people
are calling me until this one day my
phone rings and it’s the UN it calling
me they’re like mr. Allenby I’m like me
yes yes sir
we want to work with you we saw your
work and we think it’s great we want to
tell the stories of 10 women from Africa
from Senegal which is my birthplace by
the way and we think that your honors
photography could your great candidate
to tell the stories of those woman so I
went to Africa to my back home and I
worked and I had the chance to tell the
stories of those amazing woman who
started from nothing and built not
kingdoms but kingdoms they just made it
she was made
she was earning less than $100 a month
and she had a baby and her husband was
like you’re not gonna go to school she
left her husband took her baby on her
back went to school and today she has
two master’s degree and a company with
40 employees so I had the chance to tell
the stories of those woman because after
that that’s the cherry on the cake for
my first exhibition to present his
project they took me to the World Expo
the universal Expo of Milan were
exhibited my work for the first time in
front of millions not thousands but
millions of people and it was my first
exhibition and I was like that is the
sign that’s it
this is good okay okay it’s on and
people started calling me I was I had
the chance to show this work tell the
stories of this woman in many many
countries I travel a lot but one thing
was still missing I knew that I was
doing what I loved but I didn’t know
what it meant it was only one at
that worked at a shot in Senegal and
that I took it back to Senegal for the
PNL of the car that it all made sense I
had an art opening there I was very
excited it was important for me because
they are the most concern of the stories
that I’m telling and I wanted to see how
they would react and so good news it’s a
it’s a full house lots of people are
here
everything’s great I’m happy but then
somewhere in the middle there a group of
students just come and out of them there
was at least like 30 young woman and it
just goes straight to my photos and they
mesmerized by it and it just they stay
there and they’re looking at it for like
a good ten minutes and I’m like wow what
is this and then the director of that
school comes to me and tells me we’ve
been to a lot of exhibitions and it’s
the first time that I see them that
focus and it hit me it hit me so hard
they sing little pieces of themself in
those photograph just like that man
Hayden so a piece of himself in me back
in Denmark see we all mirror to
societies we all like mirrors to
societies and in the quest of finding
ourselves instead of telling the world
with a lot of force and struggle instead
of telling the world who we are maybe we
should stop and listen because the world
is already telling us or we are thank
you
you
[Applause]
you
Please follow and like us: