About

Here’s some more about me …

Darius Bashar is a celebrated portrait photographer and has worked with international celebrities, best-selling authors and thought leaders such as Seth Godin, Liz Gilbert, Dr.Shafali, Jim Kwik, Danielle LaPorte, Lisa Nichols and Masai Ujiri.

His work has been featured in world-class publications such as TIME, Apple, USA TODAY, Oprah.com and others.

Darius’ most popular photography series, NoStrangers.Art documents short but powerful conversations Darius has had with countless strangers on the streets, as he is taking their photos.

His signature photography experience, HEARTshots™ uses photography as a channel for inner exploration and self-love.

Darius is also the creator and founder of the Artist Morning, an online community providing space, support, and structure for anyone who wants to meditate and journal together.

Darius has also created and facilitated over 500 guided meditations for tens of thousands of people around the world. And, can be found on Insight Timer, which is the world’s largest meditation app.

Darius’ Work Has Been Featured On:

Darius has also been a featured guest on a number of shows and podcasts. You can check those out HERE.

IT ALL STARTED WHEN...

My friend Lana asked me a very silly question.

"if you could send one message via a single tweet, all the way back in time, to your 14-year old self, what would you say?"

After a few minutes of really thinking about her question I replied with:

"Art Matters. Trust your heart. Go to film school."

Lana's immediate reply was "You know it's not too late." I laughed and quickly told her how impossible that would be. I was 28 at the time and there were just too many bills and responsibilities to entertain such a ridiculous idea. Impossible, no possible way. That was a fun thought experiment, but time to get back to reality.

Fast forward 6 weeks and somehow I had been accepted into one of the best film schools in the country, with a $20K scholarship and I was getting ready to move my entire life to Vancouver. This part still sounds unbelievable to me, but guess what, it really happened.

Suspending disbelief and leaning into the "impossible" idea of going back to film school at almost 30, was one of the best decisions I have ever made. That choice led me to falling in love with cinematography, which subsequently saw me stumble into fashion photography in 2015, exploring portrait photography in 2016, and finally begin writing in 2017.

Prior to life with a camera in my hand, I was incredibly lucky to work with some of the best people I know, as the Director of Programming and Co-chair of TEDxToronto.

Before that, I was a lost puppy trying to figure out who I was. For most of my 20's I was a part of the Toronto start-up world, which was really tough, but also some of the best years of my life.

After that I spent some time in advertising, which honestly was probably the darkest time in my life. I was paid exceptionally well, had many perks, but I was miserable for the majority of it.

At the time, I did not have the courage or the tools to communicate my emotional state, so I suffered in silence. I did my best to always look strong and put-together on the outside. This meant a lot of breakdowns in the parking lot alone. It also meant a lot of drinking and numbing myself from the pain.

I've never publicly talked about this part of my life before. It's a chapter full of pain and disappointment. But if this last year of writing has taught me anything, it's that I'm not the only one that feels these things. Sharing hard truths, that have been buried deep inside, can be terrifying. Standing there alone, raw as fuck, you can feel energy everywhere. Every breeze sends chills up your naked body.

But here's the thing, if you sincerely share from your heart, with the intention of healing, sooner or later someone else will step forward, in solidarity and strip off some clothing too.

Naked can be terrifying, but it can also be one of the most liberating human experiences - if you let it.

Here's to being naked.

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