Meet Samuel Avery Giardina | Artist

We had the good fortune of connecting with Samuel Avery Giardina and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Samuel, how does your business help the community?
As a trans artist, I try and make it a point to raise awareness for the trans community with my work. I started photography the year I started my transition and it’s been my goal ever since to bring more light to my community with my photos. My self portraits have been dedicated to sharing my own story through conceptual, thought-provoking, and meaningful photos. Since then I created a brand where I sell my art prints, stickers, merchandise, and more that focuses on the queer community and mental health. My work is meant to give people an insight into the trans experience while also allowing others in my community to feel less alone. I offer editorial photoshoots for my community where I capture the hardships of their trans journey through a shoot and I capture the trans joy of their journey through a shoot. Each shoot involves a lot of concept planning where I essentially give them a chance to talk to me about their journey and I then create a concept that resonates with their experience and ultimately turn their story into art. I like to think my work is a form of art therapy and it allows my clients to see themselves and their experience in a different light… giving them a voice.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I think the one thing I’m most proud of about my art is how I create it. I’m not your typical photographer who meets you at a gorgeous park and takes a few professional headshots of you in front of a nice landscape and that’s it. I take the time to get to know my clients and listen to their stories so that I could create something unique for them that captures each and every aspect of their story. My client’s aren’t just trans people either. Although I dedicate a lot of my time to my trans projects, I also work with people of all identities to capture their stories. I want people to be able to share their experience through art and I think that’s the biggest difference between my work and a lot of other artists too. Even with my self portrait work, I always make it a point to capture and convey a concept with each photoshoot. I’ve dedicated so much of my life over the past 3 years to this business and creating this art and I’m so proud of how far I’ve come. Less than 4 years ago I had no idea who I was never mind what my passion was. I found myself through my work and that’s one of the biggest things for me. It was not easy getting to where I am today. I never took a photography class in my life. I had never run a business before nor did I even think I would be able to. I was working as a restaurant manager when I started pursuing my art and creating and the more time I put into my craft, the more I realized what I was meant to do in this world. I spent all of my free time diving into my work. I wasn’t making anything from my art at all for awhile and still barely make enough to make ends meet. So I can’t say any of it was easy. But I can say all of it was worth it. I learned how to put myself and my business first, what it meant to follow your dreams, and most importantly…I learned to never give up on them. Success doesn’t happen overnight. But if you have the motivation and the drive to get to where you want to be… you will get there. 4 years ago I told myself I would never tell a single soul that I was transgender. Now, I’m currently running a business that promotes trans awareness, I’m an advocate for my community, and I’m happy. I hope that the world sees my work and sees the impact it could have on my community because I’ve dedicated my whole life to this and I hope that my art continues to reach more people.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Well, my girlfriend and I actually just signed a lease on a space in Chester, CT where we’ll be putting in our very own combined creative art studio. I’ll be offering my photography services, we’ll be selling our art and we’ll have a little gallery room where we will be hosting gallery nights, workshops, events and more! The shop will be called THE STUDIO and we will be opening on December 1st at 5 W Main Street, Chester CT, so if I had to take a friend anywhere in the Connecticut area I’d 100% take them to Chester. This has been a dream of mine for a long time and the fact that I finally get to say that I own a studio is still so surreal to me. So any chance I get to show people the space, I will most definitely take. Plus, Chester is such a cute small artsy town so it’s the perfect place for a small little trip. There’s amazing food places in the area as well as other amazing artists all up and down Main Street. While this will be our little creative space to get away from the world, there’s still so much of it that I want to see. I also travel in a converted van with my girlfriend while we plan road trips all around the US and book shoots along the way. So I’d have to say if we weren’t going to Chester, CT for a little trip we’d be taking a road trip to some National Parks in our van. Being able to see the beauty of the world is a privilege and it’s something that I hope to spend the rest of my life doing. Some of the best experiences and adventures are the ones you haven’t had yet. I lived 21 years of my life as someone I wasn’t. I experienced places and seen a lot of the world when I was pretending to be someone else. Now that I’ve finally found myself and my passion I want to see more and more of the world as I am. I like to capture beautiful moments that I want to remember for the rest of my life.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I think the trans community as a whole deserves more recognition in general and I’d have to say, I wouldn’t be here without them. I learned who I was through other people in my community sharing their story. I wouldn’t have found my passion if I didn’t find myself first. Community is such a beautiful thing and I think especially for the trans community, it’s important to have the right kind of representation in media and in society in general. It allows others to be seen and allows them to see that they’re not alone in this journey. There’s a huge issues with the lack of transgender representing in the media and in the world so I try my best to put my work out there as a way to fight for my community and give us the recognition and awareness that we deserve.

Website: https://www.samaverymedia.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sam_giardina/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sam_giardina

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100081947407687

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVNKvta_HVgN8mrB4wFH7oA

Image Credits
All Image Credits: Samuel Avery