Meet Junette Reyes | Photographer, Filmmaker and Writer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Junette Reyes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Junette, alright, let’s jump in with a deep one – what’s you’re definition for success?
For me, success is as simple as just doing the damn thing. I struggle a lot with self-doubt and find it hard to get motivated even when I know in the back of my head there’s something I want and need to do. Whether it’s writing, photography or filmmaking, just being able to create something and having the guts to share it is my most important form of success. Another success is leaving it up on my account after the self-doubt kicks in again. What comes after that, it’s definitely a success if people like what I have to share. But I need to like it first for it to even get to that point.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Let me first say it’s been a long internal battle to consider anything I do art. Hello, self-doubt, my old friend. But if I were to define it like that, my art has always been writing, photography and filmmaking. I list writing first because it opened the door to everything else that followed.

My career started as a student at FIU, where I joined the student-run newspaper and radio, eventually becoming editor-in-chief. From there, I formed connections with local bands the more I wrote about them, later freelancing for Miami New Times, where my “expertise” was on Kendall bands. These connections evolved into new opportunities where my brother, our friend Jasmine and I got to work with bands on music videos. That then led to filmmaking overall, with more music videos, short films, and festival screenings.

Photography was just a secondary interest throughout that time, as I mainly took photos to accompany my articles. I’m pursuing it a lot more now as a creative outlet from my day job, where I work as a marketing copywriter. After seeing a popular film stock (Cinestill 800T) regularly pop up on my Instagram feed earlier this year, I felt compelled to test it out and challenged myself to only use film whenever I’d go see my musician friends playing live. I’m glad my compulsiveness got the best of me because I’m very proud of the work that was born from this challenge. I have felt like something has been missing for a long time, and this has given me a new sense of purpose, I guess. I am still using film, but it can be a very expensive hobby, so I’m switching between digital and film. My photo work has become very experimental, as I like manipulating what’s in front of me with all kinds of prisms and lens filters. I don’t know how far I want to go with this, but I’ll just keep doing my thing, that being music photography, portraits and street photography.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
To eat, I’d take them to Mister O1 for some of my favorite pizza. I don’t drink much but I’d probably take them to Gramps, where we could also check out some local bands playing. If I sound boring, it’s because I am lol I mostly just go to the movies, attend concerts and sleep for fun.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I dedicate this to my brother, who has greatly influenced me as older brothers do. Whether it’s working on projects together or being my voice of reason whenever I’m working on my own, he’s played an important role in helping me get to where I am in terms of my confidence and style.

I also dedicate this to friends who have taken a chance on us and our work, like Firstworld and many others.

Website: www.junettereyes.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/junetiquette

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/junettereyes