We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Denique Nashay a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Denique , looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

My most meaningful project recently was a project where I got to work with the Thunder Organization. They reached out to me to be a part of their first exclusive Unscripted event where photographers get to document game day events and combine sports entertainment with their style of photography. I was very excited for the opportunity as this was my first time getting into sports photography. It’s a very different approach versus editorial and portrait. With that, I quickly figured out I do not have as much control over my surroundings. I have to be ready and calculative with how I take pictures. Ultimately this is why it meant so much to me. It was challenging and pushed my knowledge on photography in its entirety. I got to confirm my knowledge on the technical side of things and study lighting. It also pushed my comfort zone within design because I had to remember to showcase sports and the love of the game versus just focusing solely on the images looking a certain way. I feel like this project helped refine my approach to shooting pictures. I don’t feel like every project can be executed or approached the same way, you have to adapt to whatever the project needs. I definitely felt accomplished with me being able to adapt but also hold true to how I like to add in my style to things.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your background and context?

I am a natural creator. I like making things look nice and putting things together. Since I was a kid, I’ve always liked expressing myself through whatever medium I chose. I got into my career because I have an appreciation of many facets of art. I like the idea of working with my favorite brands and artists. Because of this I wanted to figure out how I could be a part of that world. I went to school and got my associate’s degree in graphic design and certification in photography. Using everything I learned in school and freelancing I decided to create my own brand called SIGHTOFSHE. I share my artwork, prints, collaborate with local artists and overall showcase my work as well as offering services like photoshoots, cover art, flyers etc to clients.

I am the most proud of my versatility. I have taken product, beauty, portrait, lifestyle and concert photography thus far. I intend to keep adding on to these experiences just so I can fully understand the differences and similarities of each speciality. Possibly learn some things in one and add it to how I like to capture images personally. I’m very curious about the process for almost everything. Why things are the way they are or how did it come to be or look that way. Overall I think the more you know and have experienced, the more perspective you have to approach projects and strengthen ideas. Take things to the next level and push boundaries. This is how I want my brand to be perceived as well in regards to versatility. I am a photographer and graphic designer but I really want SIGHTOFSHE to become a staple brand as far as having notable artwork, prints, merchandise etc. Art is a part of a lot of things. There’s so many parts to it that I feel like my brand can encompass whatever I like and am interested in.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

There is one goal that I have wanted since the start of my career, which is to be able to get featured with some of my favorite magazines like GQ, Fader, Ebony, Dazed to name a few. I love how they get to build concepts and sets for their new issues, to be apart of something like that would be amazing. Not only magazines but music artists that I adore as well.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

My most rewarding aspect is being able to do what I love and make a living off of it. I never liked the idea of doing something you didn’t enjoy doing for majority of your days. For me to be able to hit milestones In my career and also be able to say I truly do love what I do. It’s a nice feeling of fulfillment.

Contact Info:

• Website: sightofshe.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sightofshe/

Image Credits
Thank you to my lovely models: Nadia Greer, Graceline Davis, Anna Melher, Chefbxy, Ellesse, Perrier Flannigan, & Tierra Matthews!