A Journey of Work, Art, and Change. Gazi
This chapter of my life began not so long ago. To be more precise, it has been about eight years since I dared to try something new and change my stars. I think that phrase is from a movie, though I can’t quite recall which one. This was a younger version of me, back in late 2017 or early 2018.
Like many immigrants, when you first arrive in a new country you might find yourself doing things you never expected. For me, that meant leaving behind the designer role I had in Colombia and starting a very different journey in Australia, as a waiter.
It was one of the most fun and demanding jobs I’ve ever had. It taught me valuable life lessons and introduced me to an enormous number of people in a short period of time. I had amazing bosses, made good friends, and spent countless nights working hard and laughing along the way.
What’s interesting is that even while working and studying, I still found ways to stay creative. I’ve always struggled with memory and focus. Studying has never come naturally to me, something I was reminded of during my master’s degree. At the restaurant, I needed to memorise every ingredient in each dish and be able to explain them clearly to customers. After struggling to get new names and flavours into my head, I realised I needed to approach it differently. So I turned to photography.
By taking photos of the dishes, I could create a solid mental image and connect each plate with its ingredients. That’s when I discovered my best way to learn was through images. I’d arrive early for my shifts with a big, clunky camera, asking the chefs to let me photograph the plates before service. It worked, and at the same time it kept my creativity alive.
Later, my interest in video grew. This time it wasn’t about learning but about telling stories. Around then, a good friend of mine, Armando, a truly creative mind, came to Melbourne. I tried to get him on board with me at the restaurant, and together we decided to make a video. What you’ll see here are two different cuts from that experiment and collaboration.
*If you’re wondering why this video ends with a blurry patch, here’s the story: years ago, I added some text that turned out to be embarrassingly wrong. The video stayed private until Jade spotted it recently and laughed, “You need to fix that!” By then, the source files were long gone, so I did the best I could with YouTube’s basic editing tools. Not perfect, but it adds to the charm, right?
Like last week’s post, I don’t think these are great videos worthy of awards, but they bring back amazing memories of those years when uncertainty was high but dreams were even bigger. Days of hard work, nights of service, and hours pretending I could memorise economics theory. And yes, moments of fear, like flying a drone in the middle of the CBD.
I don’t think I’ve ever properly thanked Armando for all these years of friendship, projects, creativity, and long phone calls. If you’re reading this, thank you, mate. Your creative thinking has been so important in keeping me inspired and helping me keep that spark alive.
Check Armando’s work here! @armand_artist
