In a world where you can scroll through a thousand other creatives in an hour, the temptation to shape-shift is real. @frenchgold take is the opposite. 💭
“You have to be extremely confident in your vision and very sure about what you want to create. Because if you’re not sure, and you see something else, you can easily be influenced to start changing what you’re doing — and that may not be the best.” 💬
What he’s great at, someone else may not be. What someone else is great at, he can’t replicate. The minute either of them tries to chase the other, both lose.
The lesson: protect your lane. Sharpen what only you can do. The work that’s truly yours is the work no one else can copy. ✨
🔗 Full conversation on The Art School Graduate. Link in bio.
#SelfTaughtPhotographer #CreativeVoice #PortraitPhotography #CreativeCareer #PhotographyTips
Magical fabulous blessed and highly favoured dumpiana nyc you owe me nothing and ilysm. 2nd picture getting framed expeditiously + the 3rd one too 🥹
Also two friends put out amazing records yesterday! Go listen nowww @tygapaw + @setfiretoloraine ilysm
“As a photographer, you’re already in a unique position where you should be trusted, and it’s important to honor that.”
For @frenchgold , that means making sure his subjects never feel used, appropriated, or uncomfortable when the image is done. His safety zone is working with people he loves, who love him back. But when he’s working with someone new, the rule is simple: he has to be willing to expose himself the same way he’s asking them to.
“I can’t ask you to be vulnerable in front of me without me giving you something too.” 💬
That symbiotic exchange, that mutual trust is what separates a portrait that takes from a portrait that honors.
🔗 Full conversation on The Art School Graduate. Link in bio.
#PortraitPhotography #SelfTaughtPhotographer #CreativeCareer #BlackPhotographer #PhotographyTips
When asked what responsibility he feels when his work reflects Black and LGBTQ+ communities, @frenchgold didn’t hesitate. 💭
“It’s honestly one of the highest responsibilities. I don’t do it lightly. I do it because it is my community.”
These are the communities, he says, that shape culture and counterculture — that mull over the language, the perspectives, the ideas that don’t reach mainstream lips until decades later. The work isn’t always rewarded the way other work is. But it might be the most important.
“It’s about providing a record that real humans were here. Beautiful humans.” 💬
That’s the assignment. Not chasing applause. Leaving proof. ✨
🔗 Full conversation on The Art School Graduate. Link in bio.
#BlackPhotographer #PortraitPhotography #SelfTaughtPhotographer #BlackCreatives #CreativeLegacy
@frenchgold on why economics and photography are closer than they look: 📸
People hear “data analyst turned photographer” and think it’s a 180. Justin says the distance is shorter than it sounds.
His early dream was agricultural economic policy. He ended up in marketing — building data models, mapping audiences, figuring out how to help brands reach the right people in the right places. 📊
Years later, behind the camera, he realized he never stopped doing that work.
“I’m still doing the same prescriptive research I did before. Looking at the client, the campaign, the audience, the patterns — and bringing back the right creative for the moment.” 💬
The medium changed. The method didn’t.
The lesson for any creative making a pivot: the skills you think you’re leaving behind are often the ones quietly making your new work sharper. ✨
🔗 Full conversation on The Art School Graduate. Link in bio.
#SelfTaughtPhotographer #CreativeCareer #PortraitPhotography #CareerPivot #PhotographyTips
Meet @frenchgold : a self-taught photographer and director creating work at the intersection of fashion, mythology, and identity. 📸
His message is simple: stop chasing the gear and start telling the stories only you can tell. The people in front of you, the access you have, the world you’re already living in, that’s what makes your work unique. 👏🏾
🔗 Tap in as he shares how to build a creative career without art school. Link in bio.
#SelfTaughtPhotographer #PortraitPhotography #CreativeCareer #BlackPhotographer #PhotographyTips
@cultured_mag ’s annual CULT100 Issue is here.
The issue, which launches with over 400 pages and 13 covers, addresses what it means to shape culture today. The list offers a hundred distinct perspectives spanning art, fashion, film, food, literature, activism, and beyond.
The honorees move between disciplines with ease, guided by instinct, conviction, and a willingness to take risks. Some operate behind the scenes, others take center stage, but all share a singular point of view, one that resists convention and offers something no algorithm ever could. Together, they reflect a culture in motion–layered, evolving, and deeply human.
Featuring cover stars @lenadunham , @vinniehacker , Keke Palmer (@keke ), Naomi Watts, Marcello Hernández (@marcellohdz ), Carey Mulligan, @mradamscott , @davidjonsson__ , Salman Rushdie, @sombr , @maria.themarias , @gracejanegummer , and @emmanancycline .
Photography for Lena: Maddy Rotman
Photography for Vinnie: Charlie Denis
Photography for Keke: Daniel Jack Lyons
Photography for Naomi: Justin French
Photography for Marcello: Jeremy Liebman
Photography for Carey: Arash Khaksari
Photography for Adam: Sinna Nasseri
Photography for David: Christian Coppola
Photography for Salman: Sinna Nasseri
Photography for Sombr: Bea De Giacomo
Photography for María: Ian Markell / Noua Unu Studio
Photography for Grace: Cass Bird
Photography for Emma: Elizabeth Miranda
Events & Communications: @dadagoldberg
Meet the women of CULT100.
These women share a fierce, often hard-to-explain kind of individuality. Proud to have them on this year’s CULT100 covers 🖤 Keke, Carey, Grace, Naomi, Lena, Emma, and Maria.
