Artist – Tad Souden

Artist Bio – 

I’m very fortunate and grateful that I am able to do what I love for my profession. Connecting with people, sharing experiences and exploring this incredible world we live in through the lens of a camera. Capturing all the different aspects of life allows me to express my feelings and emotions through my work. It creates a space to focus on the present moment, and explore the finer intricacies and broader connections that are in constant motion around us. I take great joy in connecting with others, and bringing their ideas into visual fruition.  

Growing up my family and I moved around and travelled frequently, allowing me to observe the world through a camera from an early age. This love for documentation continued as I grew older, studying film at the University of Wollongong. I am now based in Wollongong, however this line of work finds me in many different places. 

Film Description

This film is about the negative self talk many creatives deal with, in creating their craft. Much of the inspiration for this film comes from my own experiences going through and coming out of a depressed and anxious period of my life. For me a major part of this was consistently dealing with, and pushing through this negative self talk in myself. Amongst others, the things that helped me greatly were my community and different relationships I’m so blessed to have, as well as spending time in nature (disconnecting from social media) and enjoying simplicity amongst the chaos of life.

This film switches between authentic truth, to negative self talk. Wonderfully exemplified by Saul Williams in the soundtrack; ‘but you keep on practicing it because it feels good, makes you feel like you belong to something, something bigger than yourself, and you do, you belong to something bigger than yourself’ – i.e. total connection to oneself and the universe, followed shortly after by ‘you destroy everything.’

The visual themes also comment on mortality and vulnerability shared amongst all people. If your heart desires something there is a finite amount of time to go after, and experience this.

This film explorest the hard work that goes into a particular passion or creative interest in the background, often without anyone elses knowledge. This playing in the shadows can often coincide with a darker chapter in that person’s life at the time. When I was nearing the final stages of this film, I listened to a talk by Author Elizabeth Gilbert who discussed many of the aforementioned themes at length. Her concluding statement ‘I believe this and I feel like we must teach it. Olé to you nonetheless just for having the sheer human love and stubbornness to keep showing up. Thank you’.

Huge thanks to all the talent involved: Sophie Monteiro, Arkie Cupitt, Angus Black, Kurt Lovegrove and Samantha Dewhurst.

Massive thanks also to Rone, Saul Williams and Rachel Graham from InFiné Music