100 people. It’s a small number until you picture it. A room full of people who chose to watch, listen, spend time with something we made, and subscribe to watch future episodes. We launched this channel two days ago with no expectations, just a belief that these stories matter, and a hope that others agree. Thank you for being here at the very beginning. We’re just getting started! 💙
Ray Kinman @woodcarverguru helped carve parts of Disneyland’s physical world — but most of us have never known the skilled artists behind Disney’s magic who helped shape and create it by hand. This short documentary offers a glimpse into the life of a self-taught woodcarver whose decades of work, discipline, and creative instinct built an extraordinary artistic life.
A story about craftsmanship, purpose, woodworking, starting where you are, learning as you go, and what it means to keep making with your hands.
📺 Watch on YouTube now | YouTube.com@portraitsofanotherlife (link in bio 🔗)
One of Ray Kinman’s (@woodcarverguru ) Disney Imagineering woodcarvings, carved by hand with the skill, patience, and artistry that helped shape the visual world so many of us grew up with. Featuring Mickey Mouse, yes — but also the touch of a master woodcarver whose work millions of us have seen without knowing whose hands were behind the magic. ✨
What does it look like when poetry stops living on the page and starts shaping a city?
Our latest short documentary follows @andrudefeye — poet, organizer, and former Sacramento Poet Laureate — whose work has brought poetry, public art, and community storytelling into everyday life across Sacramento.
This is more than a story about writing. It’s about creative purpose, cultural impact, and the power of making art accessible.
📺 Watch the full episode now on our YouTube | YouTube.com/@portraitsofanotherlife (link in bio)
Not every beautiful home comes from a contractor, a mortgage, or a conventional plan. @lloyd.kahn ’s self-built home is proof that living well can look a whole lot different than what we’re taught to want. Built by hand, filled with character, and shaped by a life lived on his own terms. Watch the full episode with him on our YouTube | youtube.com/@portraitsofanotherlife
We’re officially live.
The Portraits of Another Life website and YouTube channel are now up — a new home for our documentary series exploring people who’ve built unconventional, meaningful lives on their own terms.
These are short documentaries about artists, builders, makers, farmers, homesteaders and outsiders who remind us that there is more than one way to live well.
If you love documentary filmmaking, alternative ways of living, creative counterculture, independent film, thoughtful stories, and people who chose a different path, we’d love for you to follow along.
Website and YouTube are live now.
Link in bio.
What if the good life doesn’t look anything like the one we were sold?
@lloyd.kahn has spent a lifetime building, writing, publishing, and championing a different path — one rooted in self-reliance, creativity, craftsmanship, and living by your own standards.
Our latest short documentary explores the life and philosophy of Lloyd Kahn, a legendary voice in DIY homebuilding, alternative living, and owner-built homes.
For anyone drawn to simple living, homesteading, handmade spaces, architecture, and lives lived differently — this one’s for you. 📺 Watch the full episode now on our YouTube | YouTube.com/@portraitsofanotherlife
Portraits of Another Life is a documentary series launching in March 2026 on YouTube that explores the lives of people who have chosen to follow unconventional paths — not by rejecting culture, ambition, or community, but by rearranging them on their own terms. Each episode is a character-driven portrait of artists, poets, creators, and dreamers who have made intentional trade-offs in how they live and work. Our mission is to reveal what becomes possible when people choose from the heart, and to invite viewers to reconsider their own relationship with work, community, purpose and meaning.
Portraits of Another Life is a documentary series launching in March 2026 on YouTube that explores the lives of people who have chosen to follow unconventional paths — not by rejecting culture, ambition, or community, but by rearranging them on their own terms. Each episode is a character-driven portrait of artists, poets, creators, and dreamers who have made intentional trade-offs in how they live and work. Our mission is to reveal what becomes possible when people choose from the heart, and to invite viewers to reconsider their own relationship with work, community, purpose and meaning.
Portraits of Another Life is a documentary series launching on YouTube in March 2026 that explores the lives of people who have chosen to follow unconventional paths — not by rejecting culture, ambition, or community, but by rearranging them on their own terms. Each episode is a character-driven portrait of artists, poets, creators, and dreamers who have made intentional trade-offs in how they live and work. Our mission is to reveal what becomes possible when people choose from the heart, and to invite viewers to reconsider their own relationship with work, community, purpose and meaning.
Portraits of Another Life is a documentary series launching March 2026 on YouTube that explores the lives of people who have chosen to follow unconventional paths — not by rejecting culture, ambition, or community, but by rearranging them on their own terms. Each episode is a character-driven portrait of artists, poets, creators, and dreamers who have made intentional trade-offs in how they live and work. Our mission is to reveal what becomes possible when people choose from the heart, and to invite viewers to reconsider their own relationship with work, community, purpose and meaning.
