Erica Génécé, the daughter of Haitian immigrants, is deeply inspired by her heritage and the African Diaspora. As a New York City-based photographer and filmmaker, Génécé has captured elements of history and heritage through the lens of her camera. Génécé states, she loves bringing strength, empowerment, and regality through photographs and film.”
Through her imagery, the viewer sees how Génécé mixes history with a modern-day sensibility to produce a new and eclectic style. Génécé describes her photography as a mix of a few different styles. “It crosses between fashion, beauty, portraiture, and contemporary art.
“I don’t put my work in a specific category, I like people to be able to have their own interpretation of what I do, instead of giving them a word like fashion [or] beauty.” Génécé has shot professionally for clients such as Essence magazine, Coco and Breezy Eyewear, Vaseline, and Zappo’s.
City: Brooklyn, New York
Social media: @EricaGenece
One thing cool about you: I’ve played the violin for 10 plus years
Favorite non-work hobby: Being in nature
What inspired you to pursue photography?
I’ve been carrying cameras and directing silly little home videos since I was a toddler, but it wasn’t until a life analyzing event in my junior year of college that made me start pursuing photography.
Have you ever been discouraged?
Everyone gets discouraged at one point or another. There are a few ways to approach feeling down or discouraged. Sometimes it’s shooting through the insecurities. Just putting small shoots together that you can experiment and play around without any expectations. In fact, it’s a moment where you can really look at all of the things that inspire you to get a more straightforward understanding of what you’re thinking about. I don’t let my down moments affect my work, I either push through it or step back to get inspiration and better understand my own point of view.
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Where is your studio?
I co-own a daylight studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn. A good amount of my personal work is
shot there. We also offer memberships and rentals, so there’s a lot of work that goes into maintaining the space and marketing it.
What represents a great photograph to you?
A great photograph is something I’ve never seen before. That can be within the styling,
makeup, lighting, etc. It’s telling me a deeper story than just a pretty picture and pulls me in to want to know more about the subject and what the photograph is about.
Film vs. digital?
I prefer film, but I shoot on both film and digital. There’s something about the quality of
the film that I’ve always loved. I shoot it for most of my personal projects both 120mm and 35mm. Digital is just the easiest way, but I love the uncertainty and surprises that come through with film.
