Meet Gracie Gianoukos | Photographer

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

Hi Gracie, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
In order to be a creative in any kind of remark, you have to start alone. No one is going to make that decision for you, but yourself. With that being said, there are many other decisions along the road that us creatives must make in order to contribute to ourselves, our art, and our success.

The single most important decision that I have made that has contributed to my success has to be moving to New York City. Being in the city for a little over a year now has brought me so many opportunities and connections that I am so incredibly grateful for. Big cities like New York can chew you up and spit you out, so you must stay resilient to your craft and your kindness. Staying head strong on a straight path and genuinely being outside as much as possible has aided my craft’s growth so much.

Attending events, connecting with people, taking up as much work as possible has absolutely contributed to my success in myriad ways. New York City is what I truly owe a lot of my success to, there are just so many hardworking people here who want to work hard with you and I love that truly, so very much. There is still so much success to obtain and I am looking forward to continued growth and learning.

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.
My art is typically bright and colorful, which somewhat opposes from me outwardly. I typically dress in dark colors but I would say that my mind is very playful and imaginative. I enjoy making photos look so much more different than what it would look like to us in real life, hence the strobe and flash imagery with high contrasts and pops of color I go for.

I found my style of photography now about two years ago when I was working on a student ran magazine at Flagler College called “Strike Magazine: St. Augustine”. I remember following photographers like DEVIN IN A NEW DRESS & XAVIERLUGGAGE and being super inspired by their poppy, flashy, fisheye styles. I did a bunch of research on certain lighting and lenses and ended up renting a few different kinds to find out which I aligned the most with. I eventually found my niche and ran with it ever since.

Finding your style is definitely a journey in its own self and can be both easy and hard. It took me a little bit of time as there were not a lot of resources on the style, so that was a challenge to overcome. As well as self teaching and application, such as learning the strobe settings in tune with the camera’s settings, editing, etc. Some lessons I learned along the way was to be accessible to other creatives and share your knowledge as you learn. Lean on others, ask questions, and don’t be too hard on yourself as art is a long road and you don’t nail your style or craft overnight.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Love this question! There are too many good spots in New York City, but I would have to say you have got to start your day off in Bushwick at Foster Sundry by grabbing a coffee and their breakfast burrito, it is to die for. Then hop on the L train and head into Manhattan and hit up the Happy 99 store in China Town. After this you must grab boba at my favorite spot Xing Fu Tang in the East Village. Then take a walk in Washington Square Park, meet some people and chill out. Everyone says this is the most visited park but it is absolutely the best for people watching if that’s what you’re into.

After hanging out for a little, head over the Rogue on Stanton Street and check out some of her vintage pieces. Now for the best part, dinner time. Spaghetti Incident in the Lower East Side, which happens to be right by Rogue. It is by far the best and most genuine Italian food I have had in the city. Get their chitara pasta and cesar salad, you will not go wrong. After dinner, take a little walk over to the Soft Side for the best soft serve ice cream you have ever had in your life. Order “The Riff”, just trust me. Now end your night at Dimes for a glass of wine or a coffee, because why not!

This itinerary will surely make you extremely tired and I am not saying this is an ideal plan at all. Just absolutely some of my favorite spots that I think anyone in the city should take the time to checkout.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I have so many lovely people that I would love to shout out and thank them for their mentorship, love, & encouragement. As of recently I met Sophia Wilson, who is an incredible New York native photographer. I worked as a photographer for her most recent and first solo gallery: “Lovers & Friends” where she and Iza Nelms showcased a series of photos of Native New Yorker’s in their bedrooms. It was a thrilling experience where I got to connect with not only Sophia and Iza, but a handful of other insanely talented people in the industry.

Many of the connections I made were very flourishing and opened up other doors for me, as well as a recent publishing of my photography in Office Magazine. Sophia, Iza, Talia Garg, and many others deserve credit and recognition in my story and I am extremely grateful to know them and have stimulated genuine connections, growth and success for myself and countless others.

Website: https://g99productions.wixsite.com/g99prod

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gracie_gk/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQhwZuA4_FHrajHD6uHkfSA

Image Credits
Photo by Emily Kayayan. (Portrait image of me) ^ All images taken and edited by Gracie Gianoukos. (All other images) ^