*WARNING THIS POST CONTAINS A HUGE AMOUNT OF AWESOMENESS*

In life, it is rare that we meet people who are genuinely themselves, people who do not feel the need to put on airs to impress others. I had the opportunity to interview such a person, an up and coming photographer who goes by the name Kionn Burt. I was introduced to Kionn from Instagram account [unbreakablekionnburt], I am not sure when I followed Kionn, but his account soon became one of my favorites. You never know what to expect, when he posts a picture onto his account. From environmental shots to his famous #abstracthairselfie (s) photographs he keeps his followers on their toes, waiting for the next series of shots. I am thankful that the photographer found time in his day to talk to me about his dreams, his photography, and himself.

Kionn Burt is one of the most down to earth people you will probably never meet, he grew up in an environment that was constantly shifting. From Texas, North Carolina, to Florida, and now currently residing in West Virginia. When I asked him how has moving around affected his work he gave me two viewpoints. “In a negative way, it is a detachment from the places that I have grown up lived in.”  “In a positive way, I can go to a new environment and adjust with my camera, take pictures and find it interesting.”  He has been taking pictures on and off for eight years now and says that taking pictures is like therapy for him. He shoots on a Canon Gl2 camera that was gifted to him by his brother in 2005. Unlike some of us, Kionn did not grow up with his brother, in fact, he met him only ten years ago. Which would mean that Kionn met him when he was eighteen years old at the time of their reuniting. He recalls meeting his brother as very familiar` and alien at the same time.

During our interview, Kionn told me that he is an introvert and this caused him to think outside of the box growing up. In high school, Kionn had such high anxiety that he had trouble giving presentations in class, that he would create documentaries on the subject to avoid talking to the class. He cites moving around numerous time as a reason for his introversion. “Moving around starting from zero, people would be like why don’t you talk?” “All the while, I was building up my energy to talk to them. Kionn views his camera as a friend that makes him go to strange places, like the parking lots of churches to take pictures.

On writer’s block, he says that he doesn’t know how he overcomes them and that his brain will go through random moments and he saves those thoughts in a notebook. “If I am sitting down and writing I’ve got to use them,  I just got a bunch of moments with no context. When I asked him how often he shoots he said, that he shoots as often as he can. “I get sidetracked, I go wherever I find something is interesting there’s no set time or place it’s a feeling if I regulate it, it’s not gonna flow as much. “ I want my art to be as natural as a bowel movement,” Kionn told me as he recalled the quote from a magazine he had read.

Now for the Unbreakable part of the UnbreakableKionnBurt, part of his Instagram name comes from the popular television show Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. A television show where a woman is saved from a cult and restarts her life in New York City.  A place where Kionn puts a lot of stakes in. From his experience living in New York, he says that “If you’re not awesome, in New York it won’t work for you.” Back to the point at hand, what makes Kionn unbreakable? When I asked him if it referred to an iron will, I was partially right, but I didn’t know the full story.  As a child, Kionn was physical, emotionally, and mentally abused by his stepfather. Instead of following in the footsteps of his stepfather, he has chosen the route of the hero. Kionn is an avid comic book reader and looking at his situation from the viewpoints of Bruce Wayne (The Batman and Peter Parker (Spider-Man) he has decided that he will spread positivity where he goes. “ I am a survivor and my spirit is unbreakable.”

Kionn truly is unbreakable and his photography speaks volumes.

Follow his Instagram @UnbreakableKionnBurt

Written by Justus J. Hawkins