We were lucky to catch up with Daniel Roa recently and have shared our conversation below.

Daniel, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

My parents always encouraged me to be a free thinker, leader, and to always stay true to myself. I was pushed to be the best version of myself but also to lead with compassion and kindness. This has been monumental to me within my career and past experiences.

As a proud queer and non-binary person there can be many challenges within the workplace or clients. I did the Disney College Program when I was a senior in college. Disney can be very strict on their rules, especially their “Disney Look” dress code. As a non-binary person who was assigned male at birth, I noticed the only rules regarding makeup were for girls so I did my makeup how the girl’s were doing their makeup – some foundation, mascara, natural eyeshadow, and a red lip. This however presented a problem with the company because they didn’t understand how to handle a non-binary person’s dress code for the work place. There were no rules stating I couldn’t wear makeup but it still presented as an issue and I was harassed a myriad of times by fellow employees and leaders to take off my makeup. Their reasoning at first was I’m a boy and if I look like a boy, I need to dress like one. Once I shut that down, their next issue was that my lipstick was red and that’s not allowed, despite all the girls wearing red lipstick (one even said she’d been wearing the same red lipstick for 5 years and there was never an issue). This was really heartbreaking to me because none of the girls were being told to take off their makeup, just me. However, my parents always taught me to fight for myself and to stick up for others. I began to question the leadership on their discrimination and researched similar court cases to my situation where the harassed individual won. I also really dove into Disney’s guidelines and the laws surrounding workplace harassment and discrimination. If the issue was actually just my lipstick color, then why were none of the girls told to take off theirs? This lead to many meetings and sparked a conversation with upper management of the company. 2 years later, Disney has a gender neutral dress code.

Change only happens when you’re willing to fight for it. My parents taught me to celebrate my authentic self and I’m not going to compromise who I am just to satisfy someone else’s needs and comfort levels.

Daniel, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’m a queer, Colombian, non-binary photographer currently based in Brooklyn, New York. What got me started in photography, honestly was America’s Next Top Model. I would watch it after school and would obsess over the photoshoots they were doing. I wanted to do fun, creative things like that but knew I wasn’t “model material” so I started getting into photography. After trying it out, I was having lots of fun with it so I really started to develop my craft and now I offer a myriad of services!

I provide my clients with a full breadth of options: photography, content creation, creative direction, production, retouching, etc. I believe what sets me apart from others is my personality and skills working with analog film cameras. I’ve been described as eccentric and bubbly and I believe that’s very visible in my work. I photograph a lot with old cameras using film and I create a vibrant yet intimate look for my clients’ photos. I truly believe this helps me stick out from competitors as the photoshoot themselves are also a fun experience!

I’m really proud of the level of creativity within my own work and the amount of representation I’ve created. I never would see people like me in magazines growing up so I started creating the work that I wanted to see, where I felt represented. I’ve come so far from where I began and I love that I’ll always continue to grow and build community.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

Lack of Representation is a huge driving force for what I do. While representation has significantly increased over the years, there’s still not as much as I’d like to see. I grew up in South Carolina and being queer, non-binary and Latinx presented its own challenges. It could be very isolating at times to not really see anyone like you or have someone like you to look up to in mainstream media. It really pushes me to continue creating and pushes my business to foster a welcoming and diverse environment.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

Picture this. I was fresh out of college and I moved to New York City from the south without ever having even been to New York. I had just started my photography business and was determined to be this big fashion photographer. Back in college at SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design) I explored other forms of photography that weren’t fashion but I never thought much of it. I had only been here in New York for 2 months when covid happened. Every business was shutting down and while I was trying to start mine. I was really wanting to photograph fashion content and was stuck in the idea that I was a failure if I wasn’t. I was pigeon-holing myself by not showcasing my skillset in every avenue I could.

I had to re-evaluate my priorities and I started getting back into product, lifestyle, portrait, and other forms of photography. I developed a bunch of different portfolios for different types of photography. I started reaching out to people/brands and sharing the portfolios that matched their needs the best. Things started to pick up and I was having a great time creating all types of work. I could have a fashion shoot on Monday and then photograph some e-commerce items on Wednesday and then have a beautiful engagement session on Friday. It’s so exciting that every week there could be a completely different project and I never would have realized how much I love it all.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.DanielRoaART.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danielroaart/
• Other: All my social handles (like tik tok) are: @DanielRoaART

Image Credits
ALL Photographs by me: @DanielRoaART 1) Model: @amerys.the.empress Creative Director: __alyssa_davis__ 2) Model: @iamelazar Stylist: @__alyssa_davis__ 3) Brand: @renebriandsparkling Model: @smittpujara Stylist: @angelemmanuel Creative Director: @__alyssa_davis__ Makeup Artist: @katpackis 4) Brand: @renebriandsparkling Model: @bentonmcclintock Stylist: @angelemmanuel Creative Director: @__alyssa_davis__ 5) Brand: @museumoficecream Model: @das.vidana 6) Brand: @museumoficecream Model: @xunamimuse 7) Brand: @museumoficecream Model: @lanajarae 8) Model: @harlan.98