Expert Intro—Adrian Walker

Adrian Octavius Walker was born and raised in North Saint Louis and received his BA in Sociology with a certificate in photography and Women’s and Gender studies from the University of Missouri St. Louis in 2010. Walker now often photographs the mundane areas of the west and east sides of his current home city Oakland, California, where he works as an assistant editor on the entertainment community team for VSCO. Always curious, Walker describes himself as a contemporary mixed-media artist, who also creates sensitive portraits based on his studies of human interactions in intense environments.
In 2015, Walker self-published the book My Lens, Our Ferguson, a documentation of the Ferguson, Missouri, protests that was shortlisted for a Paris Photo-Aperture First PhotoBook award. Images from that book were featured in a solo exhibition last year at the University of Alabama and in five group exhibitions internationally. The same year, Walker offered his insight into what it is like to grow up in North Saint Louis in an episode of Vice’s Abandoned, which aired in 2016. His work has been included in a variety of solo and group exhibitions including Black On Film, Creative Campus at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama (2016); Dandy Lion, Brighton Photo Biennial, Brighton, England (2016); BlackMail 2, Space 236, San Francisco, California (2016); Common Sense(s), The Center for Photography at Woodstock, Woodstock, New York (2016); Paris Photo-Aperture photo book Awards 2015, Huis Marseille, Museum of Photography, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2015); and Street Beautification, World Chess Hall of Fame (2014).
Where in the world are you right now? Where will you be next?
I’m currently in my own head. Between working for VSCO as an assistant editor and juggling being an artist I’m rather busy. (dislike that word) Beside that I’m in a happy place in life as whole. I have a wonderful group of talented humans in my life that are keeping me grounded day in and day out.
Where will I be next? Living in Paris working as a full time mixed-media artist/photographer. Or doing some type of consulting work in the art field and traveling the world creating work.
What does “education” mean to you? How would you define it?
Education means freedom, the ability to try, to make a mistake, to learn, and to try again. Education is the chance to be able to help those who can not help themselves. An opportunity to teach others as well as to learn from those that you teach.
I define education by acquiring knowledge to better empower myself and my brain capacity. Education is like an investment that gains interest over time, and I will definitely reap the benefits.
Where do you think education is headed? Where will it be in 10 years? 100?
ALL INTERNET EVERYTHING. I can’t say that’s a good or bad thing because the way our future is headed I don’t see books being around for a another 50 years. Print matters to me though. Being able to hold onto something physical feels better than staring at a computer screen.
Most frequently received (advice related) question?
How do you navigate with people, What are the challenges you face when it comes to networking?
Why did you join th-oughts?
th-oughts is the wave of the future when it comes to education. A select group of talented innovative individuals who possibly all look up to one another being able to share advice and experiences for those who aspire to one day be on the same path if not doing much better. I joined because I feel like i could benefit from those who feel they could benefit from me.
