Kaydn Kazuo Kamuelaohanohanoeakaneakua Ito, a son, a student, a photographer, and many other things, but to me my best friend who I have the greatest honor of knowing. For those of you who don’t know him here is a snapshot of the @kaydnontoast.
Kaydn was only eight years old when he found his first and true love, his Cannon Rebel XS lying on the floor of his mom’s room. Later would he know that this camera would become “an extension of his arm,” constantly clicking the shutter and focus buttons to capture the raw emotions and spirit surrounding him. He is a self-taught photographer, paving the way for himself and creating a unique image where viewers will scroll through their feed and instantly stop on the magic he has captured through his lens. Kaydn knew that photography was his lifelong passion, and he wishes to attend NYU Tisch and major in photojournalism to continue both his academic and professional career. “I think my whole goal as a photographer is, to tell the truth, and to also show emotion. I’m not an excellent writer or artist, but I find a lot of excitement when I’m taking pictures.” Kaydn’s social media account holds over a thousand followers with a few of his videos earning thousands of views, his most popular video “Alewa at dusk” accumulating one-hundred and twenty-one thousand views. This is his most “viral” video yet, capturing the peace of his community at dusk and showcasing the “beauty of Hawai’i that tourism won’t show you.”
Aside from his passion for photography being a hobby, he has founded a name for himself in the Kamehameha ‘Ohana, shooting for sports such as football, waterpolo, track, soccer, volleyball, and even basketball. As the treasurer of the KSK Sports Media club, Kaydn is able to turn his biggest dream into reality and teach others the secrets to a camera. One of his biggest accomplishments in sports media is shooting the cover photo for USA Waterpolo’s Skipshot magazine, a photo that displays the high-strung emotions of our wahine waterpolo athletes taking first at States. Moments like those are why Kaydn loves photography so much because he wants to “capture moments that will never be forgotten and will never happen again at the same time with the same people and at the same place,” it is why he loves working gigs at grad parties and school events because “there is so much chaos but I want to find the celebration through it.” Kaydn continues to strive in photography and stops time with every shot taken with his cameras, cheers to passion!
