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

Hi Giano, let’s jump right in. What are you most passionate about? Why?
I’m most passionate about waking up every day and having the opportunity to think, grow, and live creatively. Ever since I was younger I was the creative one in the group. From drawing in school to taking family portraits with my camera. It came easy and I was able to create new worlds in which I didn’t need anyone’s help. I still revisit those times today, I do that through the fine arts, but this time my camera as my pencil.

While staying home during the pandemic I also had the time to start two projects. The first one being my first virtual solo show. The show can be viewed through my website (darethedream.co) and showcases my most recent COVID inspired art. My second project is called The Photo Assignment and it’s A platform that helps photographers develop their visual voice through novel photo assignments and reviews. Each week I also award a photographer with a fine art print anywhere in the world. Anyone interested can subscribe to our YouTube Channel (The Photo Assignment) or visit the website at thephotoassignment.co

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I consider myself a fine art photographer who sculpts with shadows and paints with light. As a fine art photographer, I uniquely define elegance within form by sculpting my subjects with shadows while painting their symmetry with light. The relationship that is formed between shadow and light leaves behind a void which I then use to excite the viewer’s imagination beyond what is visually present. By capturing my subjects from unconventional angles I am also able to defragment or contort the human body in abstract ways. These techniques are the key accents that define my body of work before they are produced on either Dye-Sublimated Metal or Fine Art Hahnemühle Printing Paper. I’m most excited about a large scale, 22-subject project that’s currently in the works. To date, my largest project framed 13 people, including a pregnant model, in one frame. The shoot also required 2 assistants, a comprehensive list of props, and a large scale studio in order to bring the vision to life. I appreciate these larger-scale projects because like a short-film, it requires a lot more attention to detail which if coordinated right tells a more comprehensive story. My professional career started when I had to take a mandatory “experimentation in digital photography” class. I got used to experimenting with different techniques through weekly assignments and by my final project I had found a unique style. It was after that last class that I decided to continue my own projects and would soon start sending my art to local art galleries. One of my artworks got accepted into a Wynwood group show and won first place in the photography category. But it was only after being accepted by other artists in that group that I considered myself an artist. Like any career, I’ve had my fair share of challenges like my art being sold without my knowledge and being held, hostage. These challenges have made me more cautious when working with art dealers. The most important lesson I’ve learned over my career, especially within photography, has been to not create art that is too obvious and that’s why I believe that my images should both hide and tell a story. In closing I want people to remember me as the Magnum photographer who sculpted with shadows and painted with lights.

Any great local spots you’d like to shoutout?
My checklist would be: Art: PAMM (Museum), Miami Art Society gallery, Zenith Art and Fashion Gallery, and The Bass (Museum). Food: Tropical China (Best Dim Sum in Miami), The Taco Stand Miami, Mojito Company (Bar),and 1800-LUCKY (Bar/Restaurant). Nightlife: The Corner (Drinks/Sandwich), Club Space (Club), E11even (Club) Shhh Miami (Speakeasy). In closing, we would have some deep conversations over tea at the Purple Lotus and afterward walk over to the beach.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
On the very top of the list, there is no one other than my family. From the very beginning as a kid, my radio-DJ-mom thought me about good music, and not just any good music, I’m talking Marvin Gaye good music. That gave me a certain type of soul compared to my friends and today this soul lives in my art and swagger. On the side of art, I must thank Miles Regis, an L.A. based artist I look up to and who has mentored me as a younger artist. Another person is JP Sanches, owner, and curator of the Miami Art Society Gallery, who believed in my work and gave me my first solo show. I’m extremely grateful to have these two individuals in my corner and, even more, to call them friends. And the last one is the one that got away. The one that gave me the drive to pursue her attention.

Website: http://darethedream.co/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gianocurrie/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gianocurrie/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gianocurrie
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GianoCurrieFineArt/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/gianocurrie1
Other: COVID Inspired Virtual Exhibit: http://darethedream.co/dark-times-bright-lights

Image Credits
All images owned by the artist.