Facing Creativity With Brooke Shaden is an original YouTube series in which the Sony Artisan sits down with a different creative each episode to discuss greater creativity. In Episode 5, Shaden meets with fine art photographer Mati Gelman (@matigelman). “Born in Hungary, raised in Israel and now living in the United States, Mati looks at how generational fear has influenced their creativity,” Shaden explains. “Knowing that photography can break down the fears he still has today, Mati creates an epic, surreal image that shows the pieces of ourselves and our past that we all carry with us.” Watch as the two discuss recognizing and taking action to break through fears from the past.

Sony Artisan Brooke Shaden sits down with fine art photographer Mati Gelman to discuss the process of recognizing and taking action to break through fears from the past.

Gelman begins by discussing his past and Shaden notes how in order to take action on those fears of the past, you first have to recognize them. She asks Gelman how he has explored those fears in his work. “Looking back on it, the part that I’m taking self-portraits, is a big part of me making myself visible,” explains Gelman. “It’s a big part of me being in front of a camera. Which is like, talk about being in front of people. This is a recording device. This is different, this is permanent.”

He continues, “And this is how my fears interact with me wanting to see how things work. I’m doing it to myself now. What can I understand from what I’m doing about myself? It’s kind of like a circle, it comes in and it comes out. And I have to keep creating to have this weight lifted. The excitement about being able to express that idea in a visual is something that drives me to photograph and create it.”

The most profound exploration of past fears for Gelman was the very fact that he decided to step in front of the camera to create a self-portrait for the episode, the ultimate act of visibility. He also purposely put the self-portrait in front of a black backdrop to show him not blending into the background while also adding elements that do blend into the background. With one light overhead and ambient natural lighting in the room, Gelman will use the Sony Alpha 7R IV and the Sony 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master to capture the image as he imagines it.

After getting all of the images he wants, Gelman pulls them together to create a beautiful composite self-portrait. “I think that creativity or in a sense the image-making that I’m doing, is me trying to have a conversation with my subconscious. It is a really cool concept to think about because once you are able to talk to a part of you that is not conscious, it becomes more clear who you are. You kind of land in a more peaceful place about why and who you are.”

He continues, “And when we’re talking about inherited fears and we’re talking about childhood traumas, when we’re talking about anything that is in the past that sticks to you, I think this process is extremely helpful to be aware of what these things are and I am discovering myself in these moments. But to me, the more important thing is to get to the moment because that is already breaking the structure that my mind is trying to keep so hard.”