The world through his eyes | Taariq Clarke
Budding Guyanese photographer, Taariq Clarke
Budding Guyanese photographer, Taariq Clarke

OVER the past few years, we have seen the emergence of quite a number of photographers, whose work we see on a daily basis on our social media platforms. But recently, some exceptional captures have created a buzz on social media and interestingly enough, these photos were taken by 18-year-old Taariq Clarke, who quite frankly, has an amazing artistic eye.

Clarke began taking photos since he was six years old. He shared that he was on vacation in London to attend his uncle’s wedding, who gave him his camera to take pictures. These pictures were so good that some of them were actually used as the official shots. It came as a surprise to his family that their six-year-old had ability beyond his age.
However, though the pictures were surprising, Taariq’s family knew he was artistic. “Ever since Taariq was in Nursery school his drawing ability was far beyond his age. His ability to capture details was evident and stunned everyone,” his mother said, adding that he got into the practice of drawing pictures as thank you tokens to persons and family members who would give him gifts.

Taariq describes himself as an ambitious young man. He has been practising photography on a professional basis for nearly three years now. He shared that because of his artistic eye, he developed a passion for photography and cinematography.
“This is reinforced by my drive to grow creatively in my professional field of work… The love and obsession associated with developing and perfecting the quality of my work encourages me to be consistent, since I’m doing something I absolutely love. More so, it is always pleasing to convincingly know that I’m one step closer to being recognised internationally,” the prodigy said.

When asked what inspires him to do what he does, Taariq replied, “Time is the most precious resource on earth, we may not be able to store it, get it back or even pause it; but we can capture that moment and return to it at our convenience. [It’s about] having the ability to capture moments of pride, joy, sadness, spontaneity, etc. moments that people can return to, moments that invoke some sort of feeling or reaction when revisited. Thus, the ability to reminisce and create a time capsule inspires my work.”

He added that he enjoys not putting out easily digestible material, he always wants to captivate the minds of viewers and clients.

There’s no shortcut for hard work, he said, ‘to win some you have to lose some’ and most times having a good mentor is a great start.

In addition, he had to get into photography with an open mind and a thirst to continuously learn more. Most of all, he never aimed to be like anyone else, because they already exist. He tries to be the best version of himself, so people can appreciate his unique form of artwork that he brings to the table. This, he encourages everyone else to do.
Apart from his amazing photographic work, Taariq is also reading for a degree in Architecture at the University of Guyana.

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