"Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else
ever thought."

Thaddeus Kubis — Chief Mixed Media Art Officer & Creative Percolator.

During my exciting, dynamic, fun filled, occasionally shadowed by sadness professional career I have been called by many names, perhaps the name I liked the most was “Creative Percolator”. This title was bestowed onto me by the editor of a major at the time print based astronomy magazine.

I never used this title since the official definition did not do the title justice.

I often ask myself, what do I do, who am I, the answer for me is difficult to define. I am at the base a creative driven individual that seeks the new, the emerging the exciting options or version of what I see & what & how I wish to share my vision.

My career began as a graphic designer who happened to also offer photography as a subset of my design capabilities., hence one title I gave myself was a fusionographer. I have never seen myself as a just a designer or not just a photographer. As a photographer I am one who loves, embraces, & chases light; I live within the shadows, the absence of the light I love, & I dance among the highlights, the brightness that light brings, & I rest in the mid-tones, that spread of tones that are the glue that bridges the scale of dark to light.

Hyper-focused, visualizer of life, a photographer, a photographic technician, an artist, someone that needs to feel, sense creativity in everything I do, see, hear, touch, smell a creative percolator. I exist in a world that is mostly black & white, occasionally dominated by color, a world driven by light & driven by my desire to be as defined as a creative fine art photographer. I work in all formats, traditional film photography, large format film field camera photography, digital formats, cyanotypes & test vintage & modern lenses, camera systems.

Many of my successes in life have been when I am instinct driven & refuse to give in. When I first began my professional career, I looked to creative use of print/printing to make my clients messaging be different, st& out, be an eye-catching extension of their br&. I am always concerned with every element of the print trail, from envelope to BRC (business reply card) as not only part of the message but as part of the heart & soul of the client’s relationships with the customer, B2B, B2C or anywhere in between.

The shadows, those rare negative experiences in my professional career had been caused by my denying of my deep instinctive solutions. Though few & far between there have been 3 negatives that I use as internal talking points, reminders of what I should not do, paths not to follow when I undertake any creative, marketing, or photographic project.

My photographic mantra:  Stop taking pictures & start creating fine art photography.

I founded & acted as Chief Creative Officer, for NAK Integrated Marketing Inc, a New York City based “Boutique” agency, that out punched our small size. After NAK I formed the Institute for Media Convergence, & then Birch Mountain Integrated Marketing, & pleased to say that I am now a partner with my friend David in Kubis & Prusko.

My creative portfolio includes integrated marketing projects for such greats as JPMorgan Chase, Heidelberg, Blue Cross Blue Shield, The Albany Law School, Ranfac, Delta Airlines, & a top 5 member of Travel & Leisure, Manufacturing, Financial Services, Marine, Health Care, & a few other verticals.

As a former speaker/instructor on Integrated Marketing & Media Convergence for the DMA, AccessAmerica, The United States Department of Commerce, Adjunct professor for The New York City College of Technology & The Fashion Institute of Technology I long to share, discuss & converse with all interested in listening to my thoughts on creativity, photography, Film Noir Sci-Fi, sailing & life in general.

I use this conversation to enhance my professional career, understand that my next project may need to address the very segment of the population I am currently in conversation with.

Photography has become a toot which allows me to share what I see & allows me to understand the design of all the world in a very functional & effective way. I also learn about myself when seeing the world as a Photographer.

Do I have a proud moment of my professional life, yes, it is when the integrated marketing & media convergence programs I developed are financially successful, that the ROI & ROR have been met or exceed. Do I have a magic secret formula, maybe, the key ingredients include careful research, develop a thought trail, needs based understanding & depending on the client & project a few instinct drive concepts. Part of my success equation has been my role as a forensics marketing provider, evaluating why communications & marketing programs failed.

If you wish to expand this conversation please do so, email me, I would love to talk about design, marketing, media, mixed media, photography, art, sailing, science fiction, Film Noir, & the weather.

As a creative percolator, I am always brewing new images & the place to find freshly brewed cups of visual content is at tbkphotos.com.

Favorite Quote (Winston Churchill): “No One Would Do Such Things”.

Favorite Quote (Mine): “Stop taking photos and start creating fine art images”.

Fun fact: My Mom told me I was born on Mars, and Mom’s do not lie - a Martian am I!