“Every time I take a photo, I close my eyes and it is like a movie”
This interview was first published on medium.com, February 10, 2023
From the #ReflectionStories series by Monaris. Captioned: Less than a second but felt like an eternity. How long has it been since she looked just like that? Her youth had disappeared captured by the weight of never-ending memories.
by Anna Seaman
Monaris didn’t plan to become an artist. It wasn’t her plan to embrace the photographic medium, nor to become one of the first NFT photographers. But her pursuit was instinctive and the results testify to a labour of dedication to an innate vision; her success came as a natural and deserved progression.
Almost everyone in today’s world sports a smartphone; and with advances in camera technology, taking ‘good’ photographs has become easier. However, turning a ‘good’ photograph into something great is a talent few possess. Monaris discovered this gift in 2014 after joining a group of photographers on Instagram and experimenting with her iPhone.
“Back then, the Instagram community was strong and we would meet up in New York City,” she said. “I started experimenting and it was street photography that made me fall in love with photography — it opened a new portal in my mind. Capturing moments that would never happen again was something that kept me inspired and motivated because life is precious and too short.”.
As she spent time watching the chaos of life flow around her, she fine-tuned a method to capture moments that would otherwise be overlooked and introduce narrative into the frame.
“It’s been a journey but as I developed my skill, I found I was able to know what the photo was going to look like before I took it,” she explained. “Every time I take a photo, I close my eyes and it is like a movie. I can see the story around it and I know the way I want it to look.”
Cine & Color: A Sleepless Soul by Monaris
She then sought effects to make photos look cinematic and experimented with different techniques until she identified her signature process; the Monaris “special sauce”.
“Suddenly, something I had never done before happened and I started editing with the same consistent tones and posting them on Instagram and that is when everything changed,” she said.
With over 377,000 followers on Instagram and as one of the first artists to mint directly on the platform, Monaris has a recognisable style, a large collector base and a commitment to her art.
“I am always fascinated with human expression,” she said. “It is connection that I feel and I after take a photo and edit it, I add to the story with a caption that feeds a little imagination to the viewer. It doesn’t always have to be a face, there is beauty in the mundane and ordinary, it all depends on the story you want to tell.”
As with any digital artist, the evolution of blockchain technology and NFTs revolutionised her career. After gaining some success, Monaris made a leap of faith in 2017 and gave up her full-time job to dedicate herself to her art. After that, brands such as Adobe, Sony and Nike started offering her opportunities but it wasn’t until 2021 that Monaris made her mark as one of the leading photographic crypto artists in the world. At first, she spent hours in Clubhouse chats with other photographers discussing how to persuade collectors to buy photography NFTs. She even built an entire PC to attempt to animate her photographs and bring them into 3D. However, it would be another leap of faith that triggered her NFT success.
“I remember saying, ‘no, this is wrong’, photography should be enough. So, in April 2021, I minted my first image on Foundation. It was one of my all-time favourite images, in fact, the cover of my photography book but after I minted it, nothing happened. It was like crickets,” she laughed. “I was waiting and waiting but finally after a few weeks, the auction started and it sold for 1eth. It was a huge moment for me and after that all the puzzle pieces started falling into place.”
Collecting Hands, #11 _ Edition of 1 by Monaris. This collection is a grounding prompt that no pair of hands share or tell the same story, yet somehow, despite our different experiences in life, we’re able to relate to one another on one common ground: “Life.”
A notable recent collection is Collection of Hands; images of people with their hands clasped behind their backs. Her limited edition Do Not Cross sold 15 pieces for 1eth each, it’s caption states it is the single photograph that changed her perspective. “My introduction to the world of street photography. It opened my eyes to the beauty of the everyday”.
She now titles herself as a life photographer, rather than a street photographer because she is interested in documenting all aspects of life unfolding around her. “We are continually evolving and changing, but that is part of being human,” she said. “I’m sure that in 10 years from now I will think differently but one thing I am learning is to let go a little, to stop looking and let things come to you.” With this attitude, the future is unpredictable, but that is an uncertainty Monaris will certainly embrace.
Monaris, courtesy of the artist