To launch my Creatives of the Future e-book, (to purchase click here) I interviewed some creatives who were already monetizing their platforms because of their work on social media. One of those people is creative director Rockstaar. Here is his story.
- What do you do for a living? All-round creative: creative director, photographer and videographer.
- How many followers do you have? 9,289 followers
- If you could eat any type of food (right now) what would you buy? pasta
- What is your dream job? Restaurant owner
- What Netflix series are you binging on? Narcos
- Favourite Influencer/YouTuber of all time? None.
- How has social media helped your career? Strangely, every time I post I get a new client from social media.
- What advice would you give others trying to make a name for themselves? “Believe in you like how you’d believe in someone else.”
- What is the last thing you liked on social media? My artwork for a client
- Who is your hero? My mom.
There’s a new wave of entertainers and musicians using social media more often nowadays as COVID-19 forces more people indoors. Producer Rvssian has interviewed IG models on IG live. Deejays are hosting online radio parties, but the average creative is still skeptical about how to make money through social media.
Some photographers have this innate fear of posting their photos on social media because of worry that people will steal their content. They often find ways to watermark them but Peter Clarke, more popularly known as Rockstaar, is never worried, because he knows that social media has changed his life.
The Jamaican-born self-taught creative, Rockstaar has amassed almost 10,000 followers on Instagram because of his iconic perspectives and wide-angled shots. “Everytime I post a picture on social media, a potential client reaches out to me,” he says. Which shows the value of a DM.
Most big artists and mega-influencers don’t respond to DMs because they don’t know who the message is coming from, but when you understand that potential business can come from a message, it matters.
It’s not surprising, because when HootSuite issued their annual 2020 Digital Report, of the 1.63 million internet users in Jamaica, there are 1.30 million people on social media. 660,000 of those are on Instagram.
Instagram is not just for IG models, alot of musicians have been discovered on the internet, but few talk about the creatives behind the artistes that support to make their messages more impactful.
His self-portraits, are usually in a exotic location, everywhere from standing in front of a sports car in Accra, Ghana to sitting on the patio of a mansion in Los Angeles. His travels have exposed him to architecture, art and other cultures and helped enhance his view of the world, which is shown in his work.
Rockstaar was born in Thompson Pen, Spanish Town and at the age of 8, moved with his immediate family including a younger sibling to live in Bridgeview, Portmore. At that time, he was attending George Headley Primary School and exposed to the wonders of technology, and decided he wanted to pursue ICT (Information Communication Technology) as a career.
In Grade 9, he had to move back to Spanish Town to live with his grandmother and finished high school. It was then that he was gifted with his first Canon camera and started to do self-portraits with a timer as a hobby.
He decided to pursue IT at the college level but after his first year, due to transportation difficulties, he dropped out.
Shortly after, he met into a car accident that challenged him to reevaluate his life and take things more seriously, so he decided to start traveling and planned to eventually migrate to Canada.
He started posting self-portraits of his travel adventures on Instagram and was discovered by a member of dancehall artist’s Alkaline’s production team who eventually hired him as a event photographer to cover his concerts and journey. He also shot Akaline’s 2018 hit, “Perfect”, which has received to date over 7,601,711 views on YouTube.
Working with Akaline has allowed him to travel to countries like Ghana, Cayman, Germany, Trinidad, Grenada, Bahamas and Guyana. Being on Instagram has also exposed him to other artistes who have hired him to do creative work such as J. Prynse, Narkoz, Iwaata, Trance Outlaw, Jahvillani, among others.
He’s also branched out into doing wedding, lifestyle, corporate and personal branding shoots.
Whilst the journey hasn’t been the easiest, the rewards by staying motivated has been working out for the young creative thus far as he continues to develop his skills, earn new clientele, travel the world and experience new cultures while doing what he loves.
Follow Rockstaar on instagram www.instagram.com/rockstaar_
From the desk of the storyteller 
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