Meet Dannie Carreon | Contemporary Image Maker

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

Hi dannie, what do you attribute your success to?
Success comes in many forms, it takes many shapes depending on what you consider successful. Are you looking for internal success like mastering your mentality, emotions, intellect or is it external, like career, financial, social?
I would not say I am successful in terms of monetary income for my photography and recognition through the photographic elite, Yet! I would say I am currently successful in being relentlessly creative and having a intrinsic motivation that keeps me striving for knowledge and being interconnected with not just art but everything. So far I have been successful in bringing my vision in to the world, I get these visions of a setting, place, moment or aesthetic in my head. I can get these thoughts from any inspiration, could be a film, a song, a person on the street, anything that makes me think, hey!, that would be a cool image and I make it happen. I been lucky enough to have some close friends that let me play and do not mind being my muse. Nothing makes me feel more accomplished than manifesting something in life and seeing people react to the outcome of what I created. Hearing someone say, that looks dope without them knowing you took the photograph is a great feeling. That gratification of knowing I am good at something also has a strong influence on keeping me going to be better. I hope my personal life, education and career will continue to interconnect with everything, continue to learn and pass on my knowledge of art and photography like my indigenous ancestors have been doing for thousands of years. From rock art, cave paintings and etchings to digital art, visual art and photography thousands of years later, resilience.

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 first started my photography life with straight photography as a preteen and into my late teen years. One day I decided to edit one image. After editing that image I really got hooked with all the cool image manipulations I was doing. That really got me in to doing my whole digital and visual art era, which I really loved and enjoyed doing. I felt free to be expressive and experiment with anything I wanted too. I got so good at it, that I would take a few photos a day of something like a sky, building and some flowers and digitally edit them into something really trippy and cool, I was all about form and aesthetic. After I started going to college to get some education to back up my self taught abilities, I was told by a professor to put my digital art in the backseat and focus more on straight photography. Which I reluctantly did, but what that did, was, it forced me to be more creative in frame, allowed me to become more adaptive on site rather than in post. Fast forward some years and now I specialize in creating compelling portraits. My work explores the dynamic interplay of light, shadow, color and subject, with these elements I strive to produce images that are both visually striking and reflect their unique personality. I am all about aesthetic, I love a moody and dramatic image, something that just speaks to the viewer and captures their attention even if for a moment.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
When my family from out of town comes to visit, I have to take them to the Grand Central Market, the food there is literally amazing and they have all kinds of different culture eateries. The Getty Museum is another favorite of mine to not only get inspiration but to show my family the art and obviously the views there are amazing. The beach is also a must for any visitor coming into california, either Santa Monica or Venice, give them a little taste of the locals, lol. The Hollywood Bowl is another iconic experience anyone anyway should experience, the sound there is incredible

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Shout Out to my friends and family who might be too shy to let me photograph but are never too shy to show me love when they see me being recognized for my talents and hard work. It is their praise and well wishes that lets me know I am doing something right with my life, allows me to cultivate positivity and reassures me, that I am not alone.

Website: dancarpermedia.com and carreodp1026.myportfolio.com/

Instagram: dancarpermedia

Other: https://carreodp1026.myportfolio.com/

Image Credits
Dannie Carreon with Dancarpermedia