We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful NV Gay. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with NV below.

Hi NV, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

I got into photography as a well to help people express themselves for who they are as a human. Too often, I see photographers showcasing their subjects in ways the distort reality; from highly editing subjects to creating unrealistic measures of beauty. I seek to show the true beauty and humanity of each of my subjects: empowering people to view themselves as beautiful for who they are. As a transgender individual, I sought to bring this message to my community by creating a project entitled “This is Trans.” This project, in collaboration with Stonewall Columbus, seeks to show the true beauty and diversity of individuals identifying under the transgender umbrella. There is a notable stigma surrounding the transgender community that in order to be valid, one must transition from binary gender to binary gender, aka male to female or female to male, with all necessary surgeries and hormone replacement. This stigma is harmful gatekeeping that only seeks to divide an already marginalized community. With this project, I have brought together over seventy transgender individuals to tell their story and showcase their beauty gender using portraits. This project is set to premiere at Stonewall Columbus, Saturday November 19th. More information on the project can be found at www.vincent-natasha.com/this-is-trans

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a professional photographer and digital artist who seeks to empower clients with beautiful creativity. I offer all types of photography services from portraits, weddings, events, curated galleries, editorial, and more. I have had my work shown in several galleries and publications all over the world. A huge passion of mine is to show the beauty of being truly human and authentic. This has been shown in several of my curated galleries such as “The Simplistic Beauty of the Vulva” and “Beauty of Being Human.”

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being and artist is being told how much my work has helped people love themselves. A lot of my clients work with me through referrals, and have not done many photoshoots or have a lot of self confidence. After work with me, my clients tell me how much working with me has given them the confidence and self reflection to see themselves as beautiful.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

My social media audience has been built through the idea of showing myself as an authentic individual. Both my personal account (@nv.gay) and professional account (@mx.gay_photography) on Instagram have been built following this philosophy. Too often, we view accounts that only showcase overly unrealistic aspects of living life. These accounts, while fun and creative, give us unrealistic measures to rate ourselves by. Instead, I seek to show my audience my authentic self and life; from the good to the bad.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vincent-natasha.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/nv.gay and www.instagram.com/mx.gay_photography