Without a Rope (2019)
6 months in the making. This is a concept that has been in my mind for the past 6 months. I've mentioned before that when shooting full-time, I have found it challenging to do something just for myself to develop myself as a creative.
This is one of few times a year that I get to do something like this so I'm very excited to share it with you! This concept is inspired by Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight series, specifically the 3rd installment called The Dark Knight Rises.
If you've seen it, you saw that Bruce Wayne was left to suffer in a deep, dark pit with others. The only way he was able to finally climb out was to embrace his fear and let go of the security of a safety rope and had to risk his life. It was only by risking everything, including death, that he was able to be free.
This was probably the most powerful part of the movie. In life, the only way you can truly reach any sort of greatness or realize your full potential is to embrace your fears and push through anyways.
If you hang onto the idea that you can somehow reach success by having a safety net, then that's just an illusion and you'll never truly get there. I am so grateful to my friends who supported me with making this project come to life.
I wanted to feature people who were the real deal. People who have made an impact in my life. I didn't want filler models. I wanted people who have embraced their fears and pushed through anyways, risking everything, and made climbs "Without a Rope."
Featured: Farha Shariff of CB Windermere and Champs Boxing
Jason Lee and Anne Tang of Black Tusk Athletics
Chris Liddle of Invigorate Training
Sarah Dharshi of Champs Boxing
Interview with Chris Liddle at Evolve Strength
I have had the pleasure of knowing Chris and following his journey into the fitness industry since 2017.
In this interview, he discusses how he started, his approach to working with clients, the importance of mental health and being able to lean on others, and where he's headed.
You can get a sense of who Chris is as a person and a fitness professional.
Special thanks to Evolve Strength for letting us film in their incredible space!
Without a Rope (2020)
The second instalment to a series I created in 2018. This is a personal project I did with a goal to do visual story telling.
There are three different people featured but what is common is their passion for fitness. Just like every story, there's a beginning, middle, and end and I wanted to take the viewer through that process by showing how a workout incorporates those three stages as well.
I chose fitness specifically for this series because you can see it all happen within an action-packed 1 minute video.
The overall theme is inspiration or to inspire and the people I selected for the shoot are all people who have inspired me.
A huge thank you to Chris Liddle (@christianliddle), Chelsea Von Grat (@cvgtrainingandnutrition) and Ashley Lambert (@iam.ashl) for participating in this project!
Couldn't have done this without the support of the studios: Evolve Strength, Runaway Workout Club, SVAC. Music by Hans Zimmer.