Meet Kenyan Guidry | Photographer , Writer & Artist |

We had the good fortune of connecting with Kenyan Guidry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Kenyan, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking
When it comes to taking risks, it definitely can be a scary and intimidating thought because of the unknown factor. Risk taking has the potential to lead to not so desirable results but at the same time, it can lead to so many open doors and exposure for yourself. Most entrepreneurs began with betting on themselves and their talent to counteract all of the risks associated with their decisions. I myself took a leap of faith with my craft & that has been one of the best decisions I’ve made because not only did exciting new opportunities arise, it’s allowed me to establish a multitude of connections with fellow creatives.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Art has played a major role in my life and has been essential to my livelihood. Photography, Drawing & Writing are all incredibly important to me.

I feel one thing that sets me apart from other individuals who are also involved in those fields is the fact that I can combine my experience from one area and apply it to another. For example, I edit my photos in a way that mimics the way I draw. Or sometimes I can get inspiration from a photo I took and apply it to my writing. Each skill feeds off of each other and I feel like that adds something extra to what I do. I put everything into my craft.

One of the things that I’m most proud of is that I’m self taught. It’s true that YouTube videos has helped tremendously but at the end of the day, I’m the one putting in countless hours of practice and trial & error. There’s been so many occasions where I’ve pulled all nighters just because I was so focused on improving my skills that the concept of time didn’t matter. I always remain humble but I do feel quite accomplished when I compare what I’m able to create now to how I started.

Countless lessons have been learned along the way but I think the most important lesson that I’ve learned is to accept the fact that everything I create won’t be gold or even be up to my personal standards. It’s so easy to become discouraged but once I realized that I can take that same discouragement and manipulate it into becoming a motivator, everything became clearer.

My story is a bit different from most because my passion of photography was discovered during my bout with chemotherapy for GIST Cancer. Photography became my savior and served as a mental escape from everything. I was able to capture how I felt internally and display it physically through the images I captured (as well as through drawing and writing)

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
For a week long trip there’s a few spots in Beaumont that are worth checking out. First of all, I would suggest stopping by our visitors center to see what we all have to offer. A few notable places are : Gator Country, Amelia Farm & Market, Tyrrell Park, The plethora of Murals painted on buildings all over the city (especially downtown) , Plenty of local restaurants like this Cajun place called Floyd’s and then top off the trip by visiting the best place in Beaumont, Cattail Marsh.
Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to show appreciation and give recognition to my brother (Marlin) for giving me my first camera. I would also like to acknowledge my entire medical team at Texas Oncology and Mdanderson for never giving up on me and allowing me to continue pursuing my passion. Another group I would like to extend my gratitude to is the Beaumont Convention & Visitor’s Bureau for letting me become part of their team. Finally, I would like to give a special shoutout to the rest of my family , friends & Church (Antioch Missionary Baptist Church) who’s encouraged me along the way.

Website: BeaumontCVB.com

Instagram: @CapturedByKen @CraftedByKen @WordsOfKen