Meet Azeez Bakare: Architectural 3D Rendering Artist & Photographer

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

Hi Azeez, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I actually grew up desiring to work a more mathematical and technical job. I never desired to be, or thought of myself as a creative…but rather considered a more STEM driven career path, like that of my father, grandfather, and brother — they all chose the path of Civil Engineering. Sure, creativity is involved there but I expected to live the “American Dream” throughout my life at a static desk job rather than the nomadic and artist career path I have now. I feel that my career path actually called me and found me. It was my junior year of high school, where I learned about the opportunity of having a creative career in the Visual Communication and Architecture industry. I began creating fliers for friends and organizations in my free time…and then people started paying me to do it for their businesses. From those experiences, I decided that I wanted to become a graphic designer, so I enrolled in the Visual Communication Design program at The Ohio State University. The next day I found out it was too conceptual for me so I changed my field of study to Architecture. I only had a little bit of experience in architecture from a drafting course I took in high school. Long story short, throughout the program, I found a liking to the art of communicating ideas through 3D visualization and Graphic design WITHIN the architecture industry — so this was a perfect match for me. I was never into communicating my thoughts in writing, but I did love the art of communicating your story visually. From there, things just expanded — after much trial and error, I earned my first full-time career opportunity and it was my dream job. Working there, art of photography came to me and this helped me develop my vision much further. It allowed me to see the possibilities of my career come to reality. From that exposure, I could see that a creative career was a possibility. Now I am traveling the world and being inspired by the world while doing my purposeful work. I am living a dream and this is something I never imagined for myself. 

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
To me, art evokes emotion. My job is to help showcase how beautiful the world is, and how beautiful it can be throughout my artistic specialties in 3D Visualization (3D Rendering), Photography, and Videography. I mainly create artistic portraits of unbuilt architecture. These portraits focus on using the elements of nature…so you can find me traveling quite often, obtaining inspiration from the light in the world. I am grateful that what I create is geared to move the emotions of others in a positive way. As a 3D visualist, I am honored to be in a position to help others visualize what is not currently present — I am most proud of helping people see a vision of their personal desired reality. I have been a professional for over 11 years and it has now been 7 years since I stepped foot in Miami — it definitely has not been easy. I had a vision and a dream of becoming the best 3D Visualist I could become…and to provide the top quality of photorealistic 3D Renderings possible while pushing the Architectural Visualization industry as best as I could. Coming to Miami became part of that vision. It has been a non-negotiable for me to make things happen anywhere life takes me — while there has been adversity, these situations can also be looked at as opportunities for growth to be where I am today. When I became in tune with my purpose, challenges became part of the journey. However, it also became much easier to weed out the things that are not good for me, while gravitating towards the things that are great for me. I learned that harmony (for me) is accepting the imbalances while striving to create the imperfect balance that works for me. I’ve also learned that change is inevitable, and change is needed in order to attain the next level. I want people around the world to understand those last two things from my story. I focus on quality, passion, and purpose — I want the world to know that it is okay to focus on quality over quantity. In conclusion, I believe everything depends on what you as an artist or as a business want to do in this world…your intention drives the car on this journey. I feel that the goal is not to make money but to serve the world. You will need fuel (money), but it will come easier to navigate throughout the map when your business, creations, or purpose is aimed at solving a problem or enhancing the lives of the people.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
If I had to show a friend around for a week trip in Miami, I would recommend one of my favorite places for food in Miami; the name is Sovereign — they provide top quality food and care and I appreciate that. Suviche, Prime 112, Bodega, KYU, Joey’s and Lung Yai would make the cut as well. I’d take them around some neighborhoods for the views, like Brickell and North Bay Village — I’d make sure they took some time to visit the more popular areas like Wynwood, Midtown, and Brickell of course. To me, Miami changes so much so I feel like a tourist whenever I return from a tri…so I would have my friend pick places for me too! The areas that I used to frequent have all changed, so it is nice to explore the old neighborhoods every once in a while.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to send a shoutout to everyone out there working on something bigger than themselves. I believe we are all meant to provide a gift here within this universe, and if you have invested your time to do that then my appreciation and love are sent your way. I am inspired by and learn from people like this all over the world. And as a people, everything we have learned has been obtained from another person — so much of the success that we have is owed to each other. Personally, I believe that in order to do my work, I have to know myself the most. I have a strong desire for learning about myself and from the experiences and wisdom of others. I have obtained much of my knowledge from books and life experiences alike. As for resources, I enjoy watching videos on business and mindset by Simon Sinek and Myles Munroe. I love the book titled, “The Four Agreements” by don Miguel Ruiz — I have read it over 10 times. I actually listen to lessons and life experiences more than I do music these days — I believe we all need each other to thrive through this world. Support is also important…I am extremely grateful to my family for helping pave an opportunity for me to thrive throughout my life. In addition, I am grateful for their love and encouragement….and for believing and supporting my vision too.

Website: www.azeezbakare.com
Instagram: instagram.com/azeez.bakare
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeezbakare/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AzeezBakare_

Image Credits
Azeez Bakare Studios