Photography is the art of capturing the wonderful moments of life. Many photographers receive acclaim from the international community and are hailed as one of the biggest artists of modern times. Photographers are one of the biggest conveyors of news nowadays and also the best medium of transmitting knowledge, whether static or dynamic. Photographers represent the most unbiased form of journalism nowadays, clicking pictures of all that has gone wrong and good without any judgement. Akil Henley, comes from a unique breed of photographers, specializing in aerial photography and also combining his influencing skills with his photography to reach new heights of greatness.
Akil is an aerial photographer and influencer from NYC, starting with his passion for 6 years ago, he has come a long way. With an adoration for nature since childhood, when he first flew a drone, he drew an impressive perspective from the skies and was easily impressed with the scenery. Impressed by classical painters, he would go on to remark Van Gogh, Pollock and other painters would have an interesting perspective of life if they flew a drone. His online page blew up in 2018 during the protests in France when the Eiffel tower page reposted a post for France in their story. Various Paris periodicals reached out to him for their post. His page even grew further when the Instagram of New York City Instagram reposted several of his photos, which in turn caught the sight of Elizabeth Sutton who had further requested go on a photo op on her artwork on Roosevelt Island. Akil has since has been on 40+ drone photography operations in more than said countries.
While trying to create content during the lockdown period, Akil decided to teach himself to code. Locked with travel constraints, Akil created an app known as the influencer app. It enabled its users to edit photos with ease and to also create stories and reels. The most unique features of the app are the ability to create a unique hashtag based on the picture of an object. The app has since, hosted more than 106k users.
Akil likes to use the word creator more than influencer as he believes, he creates pieces of art more than influencing people with his content. He believes in being able to give a platform to everyone, to showcase their talent rather than focusing on a single group. Akil thinks what makes a true creator is the ability to create and innovate. Akil also has the vision for setting a benchmark for the industry, as there aren’t too many African-American influencers around.