Photographer, Director, & Producer Ajani Charles: 5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness

Determine the minimum effective dose (MED) of mental health-promoting practices or activities needed daily to gravitate towards optimal mental health.

As a part of my series about the “5 Things Anyone Can Do To Optimize Their Mental Wellness”, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ajani Charles.

Ajani Charles is a Toronto-based professional photographer, director, producer and mental health advocate, best known for his impactful storytelling about humanity and self-actualization. As a renowned name in the art and entertainment industries, Ajani has worked with numerous icons and public figures in various capacities, including Drake, Snoop Dogg, Kid Cudi, Akon, Director X, Sean Paul, Janelle Monáe, Arianna Huffington, Commander Chris Hadfield, and more. As a teenager, Ajani’s work was displayed at the Skills Canada Photographic Skills Competition, where he was awarded a medal for the technical polish of his images, and his adult years have seen his art exhibited in venues like the Museum of Canadian Contemporary Art and The New Era Flagship Store, among others. He is frequently sought after by technology, finance and media organizations for creative direction and photography services, having been featured in publications such as the Toronto Guardian, Thrive Global, and more. Ajani is a current ambassador for photography giant Canon Canada, and a mentor for the Canon FUTURES program. Visit Ajani’s website to learn more about his work and upcoming projects.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?

As a toddler living in Dollard-Des Ormeaux City on the island of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, my parents noticed that I was inclined to create and view visual arts, and they have supported this inclination ever since.

Eventually, after moving to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, at four and to Toronto at five, my parents encouraged me to audition for the Claude Watson School For The Arts during the third grade (while I was enrolled at McKee Public School in the North York district of Toronto).

This specialized arts school is part of the Claude Watson Arts program, which has produced prolific artists like Deborah Cox.

Eventually, during my first year at the Claude Watson School For The Arts, I became interested in animals and nature.

I was inspired to learn the art and science of photography after being inspired by the photography in National Geographic, as I had a subscription to National Geographic Magazine. I also viewed photography as a tool to help me realize my dream of being a zoologist through nature photography.

As such, my father enrolled me in introductory photography courses at the Toronto School of Art when I was twelve years old.

All of my classmates were adults in their early 20s or older.

At the Toronto School of Art, located at 401 Richmond Street West, slightly south of Queen Street West and Spadina Avenue in the downtown core of Toronto, I fell in love with photography through lived experience. I learned how to shoot and develop film for the first time.

Thankfully, my father rented a Canon SLR camera, which was mind-blowing to me then. Before my first photography course, I had a Canon ELPH point-and-shoot camera.

As a teenager, I continued my studies in the Claude Watson Arts program at Earl Haig Secondary School as a visual arts major.

I was highly involved at Earl Haig through academics, sports, and the arts.

Among many other roles and projects, I was the arts council president and, consequently, the arts representative for the student council, thereby representing the arts on behalf of the student body at the largest high school in Canada (at the time).

Towards the end of high school, I experienced an existential crisis.

I became unsure of my career path, and after being accepted to OCAD U, Sheridan College, Toronto Metropolitan University, Massachusetts College of Art, and other institutions for photography, I chose to attend Western University for philosophy. It was then known as the University of Western Ontario.

I believed philosophy would provide me with the insights needed to choose my career path and make sense of many other facets of my life and the material world as I perceived it.

Fortunately, studying existentialism inspired me to choose a career aligned with my greatest passions and interests.

Slightly before my undergraduate studies ended, I decided to become a professional artist, specifically a professional photographer.

I moved back home to Toronto after making that decision; I graduated soon after and worked incredibly hard to establish myself in Toronto as a photojournalist and commercial photographer while living with my parents.

I skipped my graduation ceremony to do a photo shoot.

It has been an arduous and fascinating journey that began in December of 2006.

Since then, not only have I established myself as a competent photojournalist and commercial photographer in Toronto, but millions have seen my work globally.

I have diversified my skillsets tremendously; I am a professional director, producer, mental health advocate, Canon Canada ambassador and a professional photographer.

I have helped and inspired countless individuals and organizations worldwide, I have worked with and have been mentored by some of the artists and entrepreneurs that I respect and value the most, and I now have one of the largest and most publicized art exhibits in Canada, my second solo Project T-Dot art exhibit at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, which features my 18-year-old documentary project on Toronto’s hip-hop culture, community, and history.

Fully accessible through the airport’s underground tunnel or electric ferry and bilingual with French and English text, it is the largest art exhibit ever to be installed at the airport.

It includes 60 large-scale prints featuring over 80 Toronto’s hip-hop community members and numerous related organizations.

It also includes a 55-inch touchscreen that features the world’s first publicly available database of a major city’s hip-hop community.

It will be available until January 2025, after being introduced to the media on Wednesday, January 24, 2024. It is free to the general public, including millions of travellers, without purchasing an airline ticket or paying an entrance fee in the airport terminal’s atrium. It is open daily between 5:00 AM EST and 11:59 PM EST and is currently Canada’s largest art exhibit on hip-hop culture.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

My career has been punctuated by many astounding moments that some might describe as seemingly impossible.

Being on stage with Drake and documenting him during his first sold-out concert in Toronto, giving him a framed print of himself from that concert as a gift and having him describe me as “great” months later, giving my favourite rapper Nas a framed portrait of himself (that I shot) as a gift (alongside thousands of dollars worth of streetwear via one of my first fashion clients), travelling throughout China by myself, becoming a Canon Canada ambassador, having my first Project T-Dot art exhibit on the exterior of Toronto City Hall and Nathan Phillips Square for four and a half months during 2022, and reducing violence in Toronto through mindfulness and meditation via my mentor and colleague Julien Christian Lutz’ organization Operation Prefrontal Cortex since 2018 are some of the many inspiring moments and projects I have engaged in over the years.

Can you share a story with us about the most humorous mistake you made when you were first starting? What lesson or take-away did you learn from that?

I once stayed in a hotel in Manhattan, as the location was convenient and close to all the sites I wanted to visit. The price seemed great at the time, given the hotel’s location.

Generally, since I was 21, I have been great at finding excellent accommodations at discounted rates. My career path has also led me to stay in many fantastic places for free.

A couple of weeks ago, I paid incredibly low, far below market value, for a five-star resort in the Mayan Riviera.

However, I was completely off when booking a hotel for the trip above to New York City and ended up staying at the worst hotel I have ever experienced.

Somehow, it was worse than a low-budget Cuban resort I stayed in with my family as a kid in the 90s.

The lock on my door was broken initially, and a maid had to let me in before I was moved to a new room. That was my first experience of the hotel.

I thought that my room would be robbed every time I left the hotel.

Everything in the hotel was stained.

At one point, I was in line to complain about the phone and television in my room not working, and the man in front of me told the staff that he had not showered in 48 hours, as the shower and faucet in his room were expelling brown water.

The lesson I learned is that doing research and paying for comfort and safety when travelling is always worth it.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I consider my mother one of my spiritual teachers.

She is also a psychiatric nurse and the most supportive person in my life.

She undoubtedly influenced my decision to become a mental health advocate, and had she not encouraged me to start working with a psychotherapist at 21 years old, my life would have undoubtedly experienced many devastating outcomes.

An existential crisis I experienced in 2014 inspired me to replace several maladaptive relationships, habits, and environments with far more adaptive alternatives, and such an event also inspired my mental health advocacy.

Among other roles, my father is a professional translator, editor, and former university professor who taught at Brown University and many other reputable institutions.

He has been incredibly supportive and taught me a lot about the history of Haiti, which is where my family originates (by way of West Africa), art, communication, dealing with people in frustrating situations, and so on.

I love my parents very much and am lucky to have been raised by them.

Mentors like Julien Christian Lutz, professionally known as Director X, Jamel Shabazz, and Ernie Paniciolli have been tremendously supportive and inspiring to me over the years.

I have become a stronger leader and public speaker by observing Julien’s leadership and effectiveness as a public speaker on hundreds of occasions.

Jamel’s social skills and activism are no less impressive than Julien’s, and he has inspired me to contribute to solving some of humanity’s most devastating problems through my artwork, like the global mental health crisis.

What advice would you suggest to your colleagues in your industry to thrive and avoid burnout?

Despite knowing and teaching better, I have struggled with burnout for at least fifteen years.

It is perilous, and in places like America, Japan, and Korea, it often results in what the Japanese refer to as karoshi, which means death by work in Japanese.

Burnout can destroy lives, families, communities, and organizations. It costs the world economy billions of dollars in absenteeism, hospitalizations, etc.

My workaholic and perfectionistic propensities, generally and especially during high school, laid the foundation for such a destructive pattern, a pattern that ultimately stems from shame, childhood trauma, and the widely believed notion that meaningful goals must involve arduous journeys, even though that is not necessarily true.

This interview was delayed because I burned out excessively producing and promoting my new art exhibit. Consequently, I felt compelled to take my first overseas vacation in 11 years.

As previously mentioned, I spent a week in Mexico’s Mayan Riviera two weeks ago, and before that, all of my travel between 2013 and recently was work-related.

For those of us with workaholic and perfectionistic propensities, it is important first to identify and state that workaholism and perfectionism are problems and do not yield ideal results.

Working excessively and perfectionistically is ok, from time to time.

Sometimes, specific opportunities or projects require sprinting and sleep deprivation. Sometimes, there is no way around it, but engaging in workaholism and perfectionism regularly every week results in disaster. I know from experience.

Once the problems are identified and stated without any semblance of denial, one must start seeking help and engaging with a support system to avoid burnout and help one transcend burnout if it unfortunately occurs.

Slips and relapses can and will happen, and such a support system can consist of friends, family members, mental health professionals, spiritual teachers, mindfulness and meditation professionals, and so on.

Breaks and leisure must be paradoxically taken as seriously as work, and the Protestant work ethic that defines many societies must be viewed as an unsustainable paradigm.

It is also important to develop habits that are conducive to avoiding and transcending burnout and to be mindful of not employing them in self-defeating ways that can paradoxically lead to burnout.

Spiritual bypass is a way of hiding behind spirituality, spiritual practices, or personal development that prevents people from acknowledging what they are feeling and distancing themselves from both themselves and others.

Spiritual by-pass involves using seemingly beneficial tools in a way that can lead to burnout and psychological disassociation, like using personal development in much the same way alcoholics use alcohol.

I have burnt out through spiritual bypass, through practices like hatha yoga, weight training, running, journaling, and more.

Before the point of excess, the practices above are incredibly beneficial.

As a mindfulness and meditation consultant (certified through the University of British Columbia and the University of Toronto’s School of Continuing Studies), I believe that different forms of meditation and other mindfulness practices are the most accessible mental health tools for most people.

Mindfulness is a non-judgmental awareness of the present moment; it is being here now, and meditation leads to mindfulness.

With the right intent and training, almost any activity can become a mindfulness practice.

Something as seemingly simple as walking can turn into a mindfulness practice.

My favourite form of cultivating mindfulness is meditating for an hour or more in a sensory deprivation or float chamber.

Such chambers have no sound or light and involve floating in water filled with Epson salt that causes one to float on the surface. Professional basketball player Stephen Curry has recently popularized this practice.

I have been floating regularly since 2014.

Research led by Gaelle Desbordes from Harvard shows that mindfulness meditation can cause lasting positive changes in brain activity, particularly in the amygdala, which processes fear and other emotions.

This was observed even when subjects were not actively meditating but engaged in everyday tasks.​

A comprehensive evidence map in the journal Frontiers analyzed hundreds of studies showing that meditation and mindfulness positively affected mental health, particularly in reducing symptoms of anxiety, depression, and stress​.

A study featured on NIH’s News in Health indicated that mindfulness training might help reduce symptoms of depression more effectively than some standard treatments.

This suggests that mindfulness interventions can be a valuable tool in the treatment and management of depression​.

What advice would you give to other leaders about how to create a fantastic work culture?

The first step to creating an organization is to identify the problem that the organization solves. What is the organization’s ultimate purpose? What is its vision?

From there, one must create a unique value proposition: a one-sentence-long statement that defines the problem the organization solves, who benefits from its solution(s), and how the organization differs from alternatives or competitors (in a way that is difficult or impossible to refute).

Creating a unique value proposition is easier said than done, and most organizations and projects do not have one, and consequently do not last long.

Once a unique value proposition is established, the goals and values that define the organization should be established, informing the organization’s work culture.

From there, collect and assess feedback from all stakeholders, including clients, if one’s organization has clients.

This is paramount to establishing and evolving an organization’s work culture, and I believe that all organizations ought to have the health and well-being of their team as one of their key priorities.

An organization’s vision cannot effectively manifest without healthy and fulfilled team members.

Ok thank you for all that. Now let’s move to the main focus of our interview. Mental health is often looked at in binary terms; those who are healthy and those who have mental illness. The truth, however, is that mental wellness is a huge spectrum. Even those who are “mentally healthy” can still improve their mental wellness. From your experience or research, what are five steps that each of us can take to improve or optimize our mental wellness. Can you please share a story or example for each.

1. Take the time, energy, and attention needed to determine what optimal mental health means to one.

Mental health is subjective; it involves many subjective states of being, including emotions and worldviews, so optimizing one’s mental health consists of understanding what one is working towards.

For example, begin journaling by answering the questions “What does optimal mental health mean to me?” and “Why do I want to experience or embody optimal mental health?”

2. Determine the minimum effective dose (MED) of mental health-promoting practices or activities needed daily to gravitate towards optimal mental health.

For example, what is the smallest amount of physical activity and mindfulness practices needed to gravitate toward optimal mental health each day?

3. Engage in future casting regarding the experience of optimal mental health.

For example, begin journaling by answering the questions, “What will my relationships look and feel like once my mental health is optimized?;” What will my living environment look and feel like once my mental health is optimized;” “How will I operate when I encounter challenging days once my mental health is optimized;” “What will my diet be like once my mental health is optimized?;” “What will my sleeping patterns and hygiene be like once my mental health is optimized?;” “What will my daily habits involve once my mental health is optimized?”

4. Engage in future casting regarding the experience of sub-optimal mental health and begin visualizing the terrible things that could happen due to a lack of mental health.

Do not do this obsessively or fearfully. This is to understand what one does not want clearly.

In other words, journal by answering the questions, “What will my relationships look and feel like if my mental health is sub-optimal and if I engage in the most harmful habits and mindsets that I can engage in for years for decades?;” ”What will my living environment look and feel like if I engage in the most harmful habits and mindsets I can use for years for decades?;” “What type of daily diet will lead me to deteriorate my mental health for years or decades?;” “What are the most destructive types of relationships that I could engage in with sub-optimal mental health?”

5. Develop a system to determine whether one is developing optimal mental health.

For example, a habit-tracking app like Habit Tracker can track the frequency of one’s daily engagement in habits most conducive to developing optimal mental health.

One can also establish a regular schedule whereby one meets with a therapist, counsellor, social worker mentor, or friend for an hour-long conversation about one’s progress or lack thereof, cultivating optimal mental health, various challenges, and other related matters, whether weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly.

It is also worth mentioning that cultivating mental health is possible whether one generates $10,000 per year or 10 million dollars per year.

However, in a recent study by Matthew Killingsworth, building on previous research by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, economist Angus Deaton, and others, it was suggested that higher incomes could correlate with greater well-being.

In other words, more annual household income equals more well-being for most people.

Killingsworth’s findings indicate that well-being continues to rise with income without the plateau effect noted in earlier studies, such as Kahneman and Deaton’s 2010 research.

According to Killingsworth’s work, the only exception seems to be those seemingly depressed or nihilistic, no matter how much money they have.

How about teens and pre teens. Are there any specific new ideas you would suggest for teens and pre teens to optimize their mental wellness?

One significant longitudinal study examined the correlation between social media use and adolescent well-being.

It was discovered that during developmental periods such as puberty and young adulthood, social media use was linked to decreased well-being, particularly around ages 11 to 13 for girls and 14 to 15 for boys.

This study suggests that the impact of social media on mental health is more pronounced during specific developmental “windows of sensitivity.”

Another comprehensive study involving nearly 7,000 youths aged 12–15 found that those who spent more than three hours per day on social media had double the risk of experiencing poor mental health outcomes, such as depression and anxiety.

This finding underscores the potential risks of heavy social media use during adolescence.

Further research points to specific adverse outcomes linked to the extent of social media interaction, such as increased feelings of envy and stress, mainly through mechanisms like “Fear of Missing Out” (FOMO).

These emotional responses can exacerbate issues like cyberbullying and self-image concerns, which are prevalent among adolescents engaging heavily in social media.

Additionally, there is evidence to suggest that social media platforms and smartphone apps may be designed to foster addictive behaviours, which can lead to further mental health issues, including disrupted sleep patterns, which have been linked to depression.

So, teenagers and their parents need clear social media and smartphone use boundaries.

Also, teenagers ought to work towards establishing a life purpose that gives them meaning in life, a cause greater than them as individuals, whether it takes them a year, a decade or three decades to determine their life purpose.

Without such meaning, the inevitable suffering that is part of the human experience will be incredibly challenging to navigate.

It is also vital that teenagers take the time, energy, and attention needed to define healthy relationships of all kinds so that they can begin cultivating such relationships.

Healthy relationships, which are subjective, are essential to one’s health, mental and otherwise.

Is there a particular book that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story?

Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search For Meaning is a profound account of his experiences as a concentration camp inmate during World War II.

It illustrates his psychological theory that finding a purpose in life is essential to human survival.

Frankl argues that even in the most extreme conditions of human suffering, individuals can find meaning through choices that reflect personal values and purposes, which he explores through his logotherapy therapeutic method.

In my case, choosing my career path and the passion I have for art helped me to transcend a period of debilitating depression during my undergraduate studies.

Art, my career path, and my focus on helping young people transcend their mental health challenges while creating art or businesses have given my life tremendous meaning.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I have been involved in mental health advocacy for years and am most focused on contributing to that movement.

The global mental health crisis is so devastating and pervasive that I am not particularly interested in addressing other global challenges at the moment, and one can argue that it is a problem that impacts all others.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Do you have a story about how that was relevant in your life?

“The chief task in life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can say clearly to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control.” -Epictetus.

Throughout my career and many other facets of my life, I have suffered greatly by attempting to control others, the outcome of events, and other areas I do not have control over.

Focusing on what is in my control in a way that is not overly restrictive and does not lead to workaholism or perfectionism is vital to a fulfilling life and achieving my goals.

What is the best way our readers can follow you on social media?

SOCIAL LINKS:

Instagram: @AjaniPhoto

X: @AjaniPhoto

Facebook: Ajani Charles

Thank you for these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!