Life & Work with Kory Goulbourne of National

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kory Goulbourne.

Hi Kory , so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I first got into photography in 2019 because of my older brother Kamal. Kamal had a Nikon d3400 and when we upgraded from that camera he passed it down to me. I always considered myself creative, I always had vivid ideas in my head but I could never create exactly what I imagined. I always loved drawing, and painting but I was never any good. When I first got my Nikon from my brother I instantly found a way to bring my ideas to the physical world in a way that I felt was good, in a way that I could be proud of. Since then I did many photoshoots with friends, I learned my camera, and taught myself many different techniques until I was comfortable enough to start charging for photoshoots. Since then I’ve still been working on perfecting my craft and learning as much as I can to grow as much as I can.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has not always been a smooth road. Most of my struggles with photography are mental. As business I am always thinking about ways to grow so I can be where I want to be financially in life. Sometimes I get really caught up in the feeling that I am behind and I tend to forget to appreciate my own journey. When it comes to jobs in any field of art I always heard how “unsustainable” it is, how “you cant make real money unless you’re apart of the lucky few”, how it “can’t be your career.” I already found what I want to do in life through photography and Im very hard headed. Because of that I often feel like I am only allowed to fail silently in order to avoid conversations that discourage me from fully pursuing photography. My need to be successful isn’t to prove everyone wrong, but rather to prove myself right so often times the constant need to be more becomes a little overwhelming. From a creative standpoint I sometimes feel as if my work isn’t good enough. I question if the work I currently put out regularly even displays the level of ability I know I have. At times I feel unfulfilled creatively because personal projects where I can be the most creative take a lot of resources, so I not able to do the exact idea I want to do as often as I want to. It’s hard right now to find a balance between my paid work and projects where I get to run free creatively and challenge myself, but I’m definitely working to bridge that gap.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a photographer, I specialize in portrait photography. I love working directly with people, I love seeing the joy and confidence that my photos inspire in people. Even if a person considers themselves awkward, unphotogenic, or is battling their own insecurities, having the ability to let them view a picture you took and have them instantly view themselves in a different light is amazing. In terms of my creativity I am really proud of my ability to find inspiration and creativity in many different places. I think being able to draw inspiration from almost everything in life makes the world more beautiful and allows us to be more appreciative of simple things we might typically overlook. I think what set me apart from others is my mind. I’ve come to realize that even if another photographer and I took a photo of the same person, at the same time, in the same location, our photos will still be different. I think I am good at being able to bring a uniqueness to each and every shoot regardless of any underlying similarities.

Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I do tend to take risk especially if Im going after what I believe in. A major risk I took was dropping out of college to be all in with photography. I consider this probably my biggest risk because of all the backlash I’ve received from family and some friends. My family views success as a linear path with one important stepping stone being college. I made the choice to drop out because I knew that I wanted to do photography and I know I do not need a degree to be successful in this field. Everyone felt as if I was making an irrational decision with no thought, they had multiple long talks with me about different perspectives, and options I already considered thinking they were teaching me new things, and I still sometimes have to endure those conversations now. Looking back if I could redo my decision, I would 100% do it again. I always feel that you should bet on yourself because sometimes no one else will.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://KoryGPhotos.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kor.memories?igsh=MmJ2OXhwbHdlM3M3&utm_source=qr