Dev Zamora: a visionary using the world as their lens of expression

Dev Zamora (@devisionary.art) is a photographer, an entrepreneur and a former SCAD student. Their brand @elevenofwands focuses on mental health, creative and intuitive healing. Under the same brand, they also offer readings of tarot and natal charts.

Tell me about yourself? What do you do?

I consider myself a creative who expresses myself through my art. With my photography, I like to document happiness and growth. I’m learning more about graphic design! Currently, I’m trying new mediums like collaging and painting. I enjoy learning and trying new art forms that I find.

What is your favorite thing to capture?

I really enjoy capturing in the moment emotions in order to engage and invoke thoughts or questions to an audience. I believe that living in the present moment is a key to living a happy life. Photography helps me remember my favorite memories and helps others remember theirs.

Why photography?

Since I was a kid, I’ve always taken an excessive amount of photos of everything that was around me. I took photos of everything. As I grew, I considered and was very interested in film and television to the point where it was my major in college. But as time progressed, I realized I work better alone and with the ability to make every creative decision. I just love taking photos.

What inspires you?

The biggest inspiration in my life is my friends and everything that I see and experience on a daily basis. My best friend Alex encourages me to keep going, my roommate, Neal, encourages me to push my boundaries, and everyone in my life and that I see reminds me how beautiful life and this Earth is. Also, Pinterest and some great SCAD students inspire me to do more.

What’s your creative process?

My creative process is much like my approach to life, just go with the flow. I find myself feeling less creative during winter, or when I have to be indoors for long periods of time. So I use those times to learn new things, write down a bunch of random ideas/inspirations I find. And when I’m around more people, ready to create and such, I either start whatever idea comes to me and inspires me to do something, or I refer to the list on my wall of projects I can start whenever I’m ready. And I smoke and start creating. 

What do you hope people get from your work?

I hope people just start to question and think about different perspectives, ideas, and thoughts. I want to invoke emotions that one wants to dive deeper into, not run away from. I want to bring something different yet perhaps somewhat comforting in the end.

Any projects your currently working on?

Currently, I am working on a project inspired by my very close friend, who I consider to be a street philosopher. He’s bringing philosophy and quotes that get your brain moving to the streets and I’m working on creating a digital/printed version of the mediums I’m using currently. I’ve been getting into poetry and how to properly construct my words in a clear and concise manner, so that will be exhibited, too.

Where do you hope to be in the future?

Happy. I hope to inspire others to dive deep into their emotions and experiences enough to create art inspired by them. I hope to be having interactive and communication-based galleries especially in lower-income areas.

I believe art should be accessible to all. In lower-income and minority families, we don’t speak of mental health issues. I believe that something as simple as having a personal favorite medium of expression can help us open up about different feelings.