Meet Giann Enid | Photographer & Retoucher

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

Hi Giann, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
Growing up my family was super artsy, my mother was an aspiring illustrator who made banners for birthday parties, my grandmother made our clothing for school events and so I picked up drawing and making clothing out of old pieces of clothes but it kind of fizzled out over time. I grew up in Puerto Rico until the age of 10 and my grandfather and uncle’s were part of a local Puerto Rican folk music band and so my sister and I joined in as lead singers of the band, which eventually allowed us to do a bit of traveling and we were making some money out off it. However growing up I have always suffered with anxiety and in turn that anxiety would eventually put a holt on me continuing to pursue music. I couldn’t deal with learning songs in a weeks time, I couldn’t get on stage without feeling physically sick. I simply realized that I hated being the center of attention and it just wasn’t for me. So, at 12 years old I walked off stage and never sang again. From that time on I remember always looking for some sort of creative outlet that I could deeply connect with and that’s where photography came in to my life. In high school I joined the marching band for a while and played the quad drums for most of the time but junior year I had my eyes set on something else, yearbook photography. I left the band and placed my focus on capturing every event, portrait and moment for our high school yearbook and since then photography has been my greatest pursuit.

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
I have A LOT to say here. I started photography back in 2011 I remember wanting to create conceptual/story telling photographs. I was really drawn to the eerie/dark fine art photography style and growing up in Ohio allowed to me to have every scene from foggy creepy woods, to abandoned vintage houses and buildings. And for years I would work my main job (I worked at a bank), and went to college at the same time so whenever there was any free time at all I would make sure to have shoots set up with my little sister who was the perfect model for the style I was going for. I eventually started shooting friends and anyone who’s look inspired me. I slowly started finding my place in the photo community and started hosting photo meet ups in my town with my good friend Nicole who was also a fine art photographer. It was such an incredible feeling to create for myself and just having fun shooting with friends. I eventually started shooting weddings to make money while I still worked my main job and went to school. But in 2015 I decided school wasn’t for me anymore because I knew I wanted to just do photography and it was something I knew I could teach myself. I had visited friends in LA at the time and felt so drawn to the city, I knew there was opportunity here to pursue photography so I left everything I knew in Ohio and moved to Los Angeles in 2016. Moving here was intense at the beginning, I truly had no idea what I was doing or what kind of photography could make me money. I had a friend at the time who started a social media company and needed someone to shoot the products she received from brands and so I started playing around with product photography and completely hated it at first because it was so different from what I loved shooting but I wanted to be good at it so bad so I kept learning. I was still working my main job while also working with her company on the side. I finally got my first client on my own but of course kept working at the bank as I needed the steady income. I kept doing as many photo jobs as possible on my off time so for a while, I never ever had time off. I would work on my lunch breaks and when I got home. I was sick of working at the bank, it was so far from a creative job but I couldn’t just leave, I had bills and responsibilities to take care of. So, with the portfolio I had at the time I started reaching out to brands while also applying for full time/in-house photography jobs but with no luck. I tried and tried and nothing was coming my way. At the time it was so heartbreaking, I felt like I would never get anywhere. I felt like a lot of unfortunate things kept happening to me so I decided to take some sort of control and booked my self a trip to China to get out of my comfort zone and hopefully find some sort of new inspiration/way of thinking. On my way back from the trip I promised myself that no matter what I would at-least cut my hours significantly at the bank and just keep trying to freelance. I applied to one last job, it was a cosmetics company and they needed a photographer/retoucher to shoot their products/models and long and behold they hired me. Fast forward 3 years from that time I have learned so much and have been able to work on some incredible projects. Now my main focus is to continue to build my photo business and eventually start a content creation agency.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
These days I stay inside a lot but thanks to apps like Doordash I can have anything delivered (not an AD lol) but here it goes:

Eat:

I live in Los Feliz so 99% of places in the area are amazing but I love Atrium the most (super cute space and super yummy food and drinks), HomeState makes amazing brekky tacos. Tirsa’s is near DTLA and when I tell you the food NEVER disappoints and the owner is the most beautiful person ever I mean it! For a fancy night out I’d say Perch all the way, they also never disappoint. Some other spots I love are Zinc Cafe in the Arts district and Cafe Gratitude, both have super cute spaces and yummy food.

Drinks:

For the coffee and tea lovers Maru has been a favorite lately, my partner is a coffee connoisseur and swears by this place. Also Cafecito Organico in Atwater Village is amazing! Now for a boozy night out I love The Dresden, super cute, super moody and super jazzy. Hyperion Public is also a nice drink spot and they serve you drinks on a side walk. One of my favorite places pre pandemic was Breakroom 86 in K-town, I love 80’s music and quirky drinks so it easily became a fave spot.

Visit/Hangout:

I am scared of the ocean and wouldn’t dare swim in it but something about strolls/drives overlooking the pacific ocean and mountains does something for me. I love hiking at Runyon and Griffith park on the weekends to start my day and art museums like The Broad and LACMA are always a must see!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I’ve been lucky as most people in my life have believed in me even more than I have believed in myself at times (I am my own worst critic). But with that being said one person in particular not only pushed me in the begging but went as far as lending me gear, was my high school art teacher/fashion designer Thomas Horst. Even after high school he provided me with his amazing gowns to photograph and just thought me everything he knew about photography. Another person who I feel like I have to mention is Brooke Shaden. I don’t know her personally but in early 2013-2015 when I was discovering my style she was one of my biggest inspirations and one of the best photo educators out there.

Instagram: @giaoliv

Image Credits
Dalton B – Sofia D