Abelardo's Open Road
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Abelardo Morell Highlight (1:06)
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Interview (2:34)
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It's Not About Success, It's About The Work (2:08)
Interview Excerpt -
It Shouldn't Be Easy (0:42)
Interview Excerpt -
Stick With It (0:22)
Interview Excerpt -
Important Not To Be Esoteric (0:28)
Interview Excerpt -
Teaching (0:59)
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Inspiration (1:43)
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Process Is In The Details (1:22)
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Recognize Your Talents (1:13)
Web Exclusive
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INTERVIEWED BY:
Team Northern Route
ABELARDO MORELL
Photographer/Professor
Massachusetts College of Art and Design
“Have some sense of hope, so that even when things are not feeling that great, you stick with it. You've got to work for a living.”
INTERESTS:
THEMES DISCUSSED:
Dedication Hard Work Simplicity Success Struggle Perseverance Inspiration Chance Experience Support & Encouragement Exploration Talent
FOUNDATION:
BIOGRAPHY:
- Born in Cuba, his family fled to the U.S. when he was 14.
- Had a working-class lifestyle in Cuba but arrived in America with next to nothing.
- His family disapproved of his desire to become a photographer, didn't want him to stay stuck in poverty.
- Took odd jobs as a janitor, a doorman, but always had a darkroom and kept up his passion on the side.
- Says that achieving your goals won't (and shouldn't) be easy-he put 25 years of work in before he felt successful.
- Stresses that everyone is working for a living-just because he's an "artist" doesn't mean he's lazy or somehow "above" anyone.
- Likes photographing ordinary, everyday objects because they're "the things we all share."
- Glad he found success later in life, says fame and success at too young an age makes people "cocky."