Photography Credit – Jeffrey Cabrera
Photographers play an integral role in modern society. They convey news and also help in the making of memories. The pictures they click are often immortalized in many aspects, as many of them turn out to be iconic. Photographers are heralded as witnesses to the progression of civilization as they are the staple to the developments a civilization has at a certain time. They also act as conveyors of news and are a form of journalism in retrospection. One of the most subtle and recent forms of photography is aerial photography, and Akil Henley can be held as one of the pioneers in the aforementioned genre.
Of Caribbean descent, Akil has always been infatuated with skies, and would often try out aerial photography through the help of drones. Almost 6 years ago, he would often muse about the photos he captured using a drone in New York City. Akil was certain that famous artists like Van Gog, Basquiat would have a different perspective on life if they would simply witness it from the skies.
Akil’s work received fame in 2018 when the photos on his Instagram page would be re-posted by the Eiffel Tower Instagram page. This propelled him to earn a ton of followers, and would also him to generate a name for him in the photography circles. Akil would yet again find success in 2019, with the New York City promptly re-posting one of his pictures which gained him more popularity. This also resulted in Elizabeth Sutton requesting him to use his aerial photography skills, to capture pictures of her artworks in Roosevelt Island. Since then, he has come a long way, capturing more than 40 countries and also working in most of the States in the United States.
When the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, travel restrictions were imposed which resulted in him being stuck at home. A lack of content prompted Akil to learn to code and he would soon enough launch his own app, nFluencer in January. It would have more than 106k users one year later, the app was used to create, edit and retouch pictures with ease. One of the unique features of the app was the unique use of hashtags.
Akil likes to use the term creator instead of influencer, as he believes his photos are pieces of artwork rather than marketing gimmicks. He is a natural-born creator, he has mastery in playing several instruments like the trumpet, piano, clarinet and a lot more. He belongs to a finance background and he says it has always amazed his friends that he can proficiently play the instruments and also maintain his possession of such an online following. Akil thinks that one should always have the ability to innovate and create, he also wishes his app to reach into the genus where non-influencers can post their content.
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