![](https://giannaleofalcon.s3.amazonaws.com/2024/03/171-1536x1024.jpg)
My grandfather gave me my first film camera at the age of 13. I remember walking around, shooting anything and everything, not yet realizing it would become my lifelong passion. I spent my twenties immersed in the underground fine art photography world of NYC. Working primarily in black and white self-portraits. I had an ongoing series where I would have people take selfies in my studio on a timer. This was a decade ago before “the selfie” took over the internet, even before instagram was a real thing. That series produced some of the most beautiful images I’ve ever seen and gave me the unique honor of seeing the inner workings of my subjects, something I could have never gotten had I been in the room. This really laid down my foundational love for documentary work and how powerful honest portraiture is. At my core, I am an artist, always deeply drawn to and inspired by work that speaks to real human emotions, the good and also the sometimes hard to witness. I stumbled upon wedding photography by chance on a Craigslist ad of all places, I then went on to work for that company for 5 years helping them in the inception stages of their business as their primary photographer. I quickly realized I loved this work and it it provided me with a genuine opportunity to make a living doing what I love. I am so deeply grateful for that.