The Journey: Joseph Ghaleb
I was once told that my cinematography is musical, by the way in which I capture movement and evoke emotion through time. That had been the greatest compliment I have ever received, and I cherish that person for his feedback and criticism. When I reflect back at my journey and where I am at, my first instinct is to express the utter gratitude I feel. It hasn’t been fancy or glamorous. Although, I have never been more grounded in the core of who I am as a man, then I am right now.
From very early on, my process of creating films has been extremely intuitive, yet at the same time laced with some doubt. On one hand, I can’t recall a time where grabbing the camera and recording the world around me was no different than breathing. It came very naturally. As I grew older, I discovered how truly sensitive I was to the world around me — how consciously fascinated I was with each mundane moment, impression, gesture, and nuance. I began following my filmmaking instincts further down the sensory rabbit hole and decided to create a small body of work within the fashion industry.
In and around my mid-twenties, I was living in Montreal. I was quite impressionable at the time, especially influenced by the friend who believed my work to be melodic. It was because of this friend, and his career in fashion photography, that I was inspired to tackle the fashion world and create fashion films. Being cinematically wired, I thought the fashion industry would be a great stage for collaborating with other talented artists. I believed it would enable me to bring what I thought was lacking in most fashion films: emotion, meaning, and narrative. I had this stubborn temperament where I did not want to start at the bottom and work my way up in the film production world.
I was self-taught and idealistic about doing my own thing in an uncompromising environment where I could naturally express my own visual language. Essentially, creating and immersing the viewer in my evocative world of beauty, slow-motion fine art, impressionism, visual poetry, meaning and musical trance. Despite having a gift for arousing the senses, I was still growing as a director and not entirely certain of my vision and underlying message when it came to creating impactful meaning. Listening to, and being inspired by music has always been the seed of inspiration, and muse for sparking all my visual narratives. When it came to creation, I just knew what felt right and went with it.
Tonic of Wildness by Joseph Ghaleb
“Tonic of Wildness watches a woman contemplate the memories and places of an unforgettable romance that she replays in her mind, bringing her renewed sense of meaning and gratitude”
As time passed, I kind of hit a rut in Montreal. I was not really getting any paid work, whose fault was no one else but mine. As stubborn as I was, I refused to constantly grind as a video dude for hire. There was a general blind spot I had in regards to my work ethic. I just didn’t fully know myself to get into a selfless hunger where waking up early and desperately having something to say to the world was the only option, and because of that, I felt to some extent insecure about doing something creative for someone else (unless I really cared about the project or the person). Bottom line, I was still caught up against walls, and much like anyone who can relate, was still deepening my underlying quest towards personal growth and visionary maturity.
Recently dispelled, the truth is that I had a problem balancing idealism and practicality. My aspirations to label myself as a “Director”, blinded me from the importance of first deploying what I actually was very strong at: Cinematography and audio-visual poetry. Yet, deep down I didn’t want to just be a cinematographer for hire, or an editor for hire, or even a VFX artist for hire (which I was very good at). I did a few odd jobs here and there, but I hated it. I had all the talent and skills, yet something was missing. My heart needed more attention.
Towards the end of my twenties, my meditative practice began deepening with every round of sitting. This was my therapy, to deeply absorb myself in a disciplined regime of genuine self-inquiry. For me, the reason for this kind of spiritual work has only been about realizing what and who I am at the deepest level of that questioning. However, as a by-product of such inner work, the meditation helped expedite alignment with my own self-worth, while discarding old limiting beliefs that no longer served me. What I do know is that I really needed the discipline Zen Meditation provided for quieting the mind, which in turn dissolved my strict idealistic thinking, so that I could embrace where I am now as a person and take action appropriately, rather than feel paralyzed and at the mercy of who I had to become.
Iris and Ivy by Joseph Ghaleb
“With a past that keeps emerging like a lingering weight, Iris commemorates the loss and betrayal of her greatest love Ivy with a purchase of a dress her lost love will no longer ever wear.”
Two more years pressed on in Montreal. I despised the lack of income and work, and was sinking into the bitter sweetest of comfort zones. I longed to be creating great work and making money, yet complaining about a city that I felt was severely limiting me. After a bit of time, I finally decided to disrupt the half-pregnant lull that I and a few dear friends around me had had enough of. I joined my brother in New York, moving with him to Brooklyn. Leaving my comforts forced me to get to work, and focus on a clean perspective. Upon arriving, I was immediately faced with an urgency to figure my shit out and truly know what I had to offer this city. Otherwise, it would chew me up and spit me back out. It took me a little while to discover the power of intention, gratitude and persistence, but let me just say that coming to New York put me in a much better position to adopt a winning mindset.
Before I unpack the pivotal breakthroughs and realizations that have allowed me to cast away most of my confusions and self-doubt, let me say one thing. During the entirety of my mid-twenties, I had always been intuitively inclined to inspire and help my close friends and family members overcome mental blocks, fears, interpersonal issues, and self-doubt. It is just the way that I am wired. If I transcended some irritable area in my life, I would be very aware of what I learned and given the opportunity, would be happy to help someone through similar challenges. See, while earnestly putting in hundreds of hours a year meditating, I came to experience that the work of sitting quietly in my own company was nothing more than the practice of opening and following my heart, despite the often-deceptive nature of foresight and over-thinking. This was my opening to personal sovereignty, and still is. Therefore, at the root of what I have always aspired to be, there I was already doing it. By helping myself, so that I can be in a better position to help others around me.
Before arriving in New York, I had received a certification as an Embodiment Teacher in the Realization Process by Judith Blackstone. Which from that point I began meeting new friends and immersing myself in like-minded social circles. I began getting involved with, and learning from life coaches and teachers who had already built thriving businesses revolving around the very same aspects of life that I was interested in.
Now, the interesting part of this journey is that the camera disappeared for a few months while I was establishing my new life in Brooklyn and building a coaching practice. People began to question my new path, but I knew in my gut that I had to explore this calling for mindfulness teaching and interpersonal coaching. Gradually, I began to see the whole game from a holistic point of view. My path as a life coach was still in its early stages, but I felt with every inch of my body that this was my calling and that it would only turn me into an even more exceptional filmmaker and artist. This realization was the first pivotal shift in a fuller embodiment of my self-confidence. Going all in with my natural gifts as an artist and as a mindfulness practitioner has given me a panoramic view of who I am and what I am meant to do. I naturally dropped into an intoxicating level of gratitude and sustained joy, breaking through a whole new door and explored the entrepreneur within.
What cracked open the whole game for me was skipping the once again idealistic desire to become a coach and make money. By adopting a long-term mentality predicated on giving value and caring, and doing so free of charge, that was when the magic began. Being of service to others has been the most rewarding thing.
After many years of arousing the meditative and aesthetic in both myself and my work, and after realizing my intuition to help others through mindfulness and therapy, I hope to combine all that I am interested in into these short portrait films. I hope to evoke inspiration, contemplation and beauty.
Now I fully accept and recognize what I bring to the table as an artist, and only now do I feel released from any self-doubt or adversity. Because this is it. I know who I am and my work is my life. In all actuality, what I am attempting to express through my art is my own love affair with tranquility and the emotionality of being alive.
The difference now is that I have zero fear.
Check out more of Joseph Ghaleb and his work at: http://www.josephghaleb.com/
Written by Joseph Ghaleb
Copyedit and Development by Karlee Kapler
