“I don't think there was ever a chance I was, wouldn't do anything else. I've done a lot of trying not to do photography, but it shows you how sometimes it finds you.
There was a period where I wasn't doing a lot of photography and I remember getting my hair cut, I was talking to my hairdresser and it's always like therapy going to a good hairdresser.
And Liz had said to me, we were just talking about things in general and I was trying to work out what I was doing and everything. And she said to me, ‘Mark, how much of your time do you think about photography?’ I said, ‘Oh, what do you mean?’ She said, ‘Well, I love hairdressing so much that there is not a day that goes by where I'm not thinking about it.’ And she said, when you get to the point where you are always thinking about it, she said, that's probably when you know that's how much you want to do it. There's that. And then another mate of mine, Alan, who I did Project Malta with, he said, ‘One thing he said to me once, just in passing, and he said, you know, a photographer is only as good as the work they do. And he said, ‘The more you shoot, the better you get at what you do. And that's like, the more you do a podcast, the better you get at interviewing… And they’re two conversations I remember years apart and at different stages, those conversations were very good full stops to think and to sort of stand back and say to myself, ‘Why am I doing what I'm doing?’
And I think without knowing it, they became the motivation to keep doing what I do, because they made me have to stop and think about how much of this is consuming you. How much of it is leading you to whatever it is.”
Episode #150 of The Hope Initiative with Mark Avellino.
Mark is a photographer, creative human and football fan from way back.
With Maltese roots, it was only following the passing of his parents that led him to photographing what connected us, The World Game. An avid documenter of the game at Victorias top level, Mark has plenty of insight into creativity, dealing with imposter syndrome, mindfulness and dealing with the voice that tries to stop us all.
Thanks to Mark for going deep and sharing!
I hope you all enjoy.
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Music by Jess Fairlie
Made by RUKKUS
