Model Society

about royleeb

Male

I am a portrait photographer because I'm interested in capturing reality and emotion from a person. The essence of what makes each of us different. Yet, to me a portrait isn't only a photograph of a person, it's the soul and life of a moment in time. It can be a place, a feeling, or idea.

I was born and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I love being from Oklahoma, it's my blood, but I also love not being there now and could never live there again. The world is massive, and I've always been drawn to seeing as much as possible. I've always been interested in creativity, whether it be writing, making music, or "taking pictures". However, it was my time at Oklahoma State University that introduced me to new experiences, opportunities, and began to take me from taking pictures to loving photography and creating art. My fourth year of university was spent studying in Osaka, Japan at 関西外国語大学 aka 関西外大 (Kansai Gaidai) and it changed everything for me. The way that I saw the world, people, and photography changed. It's the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. I can also remember being like a kid in a candy store as I walked into Yodobashi Camera (a massively huge electronics store), and trying out every type of film I'd never heard of . I still have a shoebox full of my negatives and prints of my year abroad; digital wasn't something I picked up until a few years later.

Creativity is at the core of who I am, be it through music or photography. Creativity is about translating the world as we see it to express and communicate who we are with others and ourselves.