Patrizia Messineo
Returning to the city to refashion her career, the NYC-based photographer is primed to prove that her artistry captures far more than a mosaic of models.
Making her mark amidst the saturated atmosphere of brands and brand ambassadors, Patrizia Messineo’s portraits often seem to document the delicacy in people. Quiet confidence pulled from a softened stare. Moments of tenderness captured from candidness.
The New Jersey native began her freelance business in 2018 after graduating from the acclaimed Fashion Institute of Technology, and her gallery of work has flourished since. She's photographed a multitude of local influencers and fashion bloggers, and accumulated a clientele of retail brands like Kate Spade, Everlane, and Anthropologie, to name only a few.
I meet Patrizia among the afternoon routines of passersby on MacDougal Street, a populated Manhattan avenue sewn together by assortments of small businesses and Saturday sidewalk brunches. It was where she’d done many of her past shoots, and spent many of her hours editing photos at one of the cafes. “I had a part-time job that I got fired from there,” she adds in jest. This was her memory lane.
Now, returning to New York City after more than a year-long interval in her hometown, Patrizia talks about her collaborations with brands and influencers, her experience at FIT, and how she’s reimagining the next phase of her career.
Attaining a degree in photography from FIT says a lot about your commitment to the craft. You knew you wanted this for the long haul. But how far back does your penchant for taking pictures go?
Basically since I was 12. I was gifted a point and shoot camera from my parents for Christmas one year, and I literally had no idea what to do with it. But I just started to take it places with me. I’d bring it along on trips, and taking photos grew into something that I really enjoyed doing. I actually took a lot of photos of nature back then. I didn’t get into portrait photography until my middle school years, where I really just took pictures of my friends at first. And that’s how it was for a while until college.
Did you have any early influences around that time?
Do you know who Olivia Bee is? Her style was very—how can I describe it—coming-into-age? People in their teenage years. Moments. And I really wanted to create stuff like that. I didn’t start off interested in fashion; I was more into portraiture and art.
What exactly was it that captivated you into photographing people almost exclusively?
It was more because of the bonding. All of my friends getting together, my sister also having a camera at the time. We would take pictures of each other. I like how taking portraits gets you really comfortable with people. When they allow you to take pictures of them, there’s this bond. And that connection is really what it’s all about for me.
Going to school versus going the self-taught route, do you feel there’s anything that FIT equipped you with for your work that’s helped you to this day?
Getting my photos critiqued. Critiquing other people’s photos. Showing my work to people was really intimidating at the time, and not something I was used to. Honestly, I didn’t enjoy it back then, but I learned a lot by seeing everyone else’s photos. I got to see them all grow into their own artists.
“I like how taking portraits gets you really comfortable with people. When they allow you to take pictures of them, there’s this bond. And that connection is really what it’s all about for me.”
Having grown up in New Jersey, what made you move to New York City?
I knew I wanted to move since I was 16. My parents were like, “There’s no way you’re going to afford to live there.” But I knew I wanted to go to art school and be in the city. The cheapest option was FIT. I was interested in fashion photography at the time, and I thought it would be a way to connect with people in the industry
I wanted to do high fashion, very creative shoots. But when I was in school, I got pigeonholed into a certain style. Other students were doing more of their own personal self-examination type of photos, whereas my photos felt more commercial. So my professors tried to gear me towards commercial work, and I think that was a mistake—at least at the time—because I was interested in doing other things.
There’s a subjective line many photographers cross where their photos transform from amateur to professional. When was that line crossed for you now that you’re a professional yourself?
I’m still accepting that title. [laughs] I guess I felt it in my second year of school. I was finally booking shoots for some bloggers and brands, which actually blew my mind that someone would pay me to take photos of them. Because a lot of other students weren’t trying to book shoots.
Most of your work involves brands and influencers, where photographers play a significant role. How did you first get started in that space, and what’s your process usually like working with your clients?
I started with bloggers. And that morphed into also shooting with brands, since those bloggers would work with brands, and those brands would like my work enough to want to do more shoots with me. I get a lot of brands or influencers reaching out to me—I really don’t do that much outreach myself. I think the work I do kind of advertises itself. After I’m contacted, moodboarding usually comes first. Then location scouting, which is my favorite part.
And I love editing photos. I would spend the longest time on Photoshop. I think my editing style would be the first thing people notice when reaching out to me. But I have a love-hate relationship with my editing. Every day, I look at my photos like, “Is this too saturated? Is there too much contrast?” Because I don’t just apply presets and send photos off. I like to approach each photo differently.
Patrizia Messineo
Patrizia Messineo
Patrizia Messineo
Is there a shoot you feel most proud of?
The first time I shot a professional model. I reached out to an agency in my second year of college, and they gave me a model to work with. I had no idea what I was doing at the time. [The model] was so experienced, and had been through a lot in the industry. She was also on Miss Universe one year, so I was kind of taken aback. Her name’s Melinda Elvenes.
We were shooting in the creative director of Supreme’s apartment. And I was kind of just like, “I have no idea what I’m doing here, but I’m going to make the most out of it.” And it went well. [Melinda] gave me so much advice afterwards. She sat me down at a coffee shop for an hour and a half, and just told me about how to better plan out shoots, how to better communicate with models. Just mentoring me. I was so happy and grateful. So much of her advice I still carry with me. It completely changed the way I approach things.
You’ve shared a story that a college professor said your nature and architectural photos were “bad tourist pictures,” which discouraged you for over a year—but you pulled yourself out of it. What’s been helping you erase any of that same doubt whenever you come across it again?
It’s hard, honestly. I still feel like I have to fight these doubtful thoughts about my work. But I kind of just know what I can do at this point, and I know what I want to do, so there’s nothing I can really talk myself out of anymore.
You once mentioned that you’d like to showcase your voice as an artist more—that you’re more than just a business. What are you pushing more of in your work to make that happen?
I’ve kept my Instagram pretty commercial-looking for a while. And I do share stuff I capture on the side. But nowadays, I find myself sharing more. I’m trying to show that I shoot not just for money, but also for myself. Even if it’s just incorporating more writing in my photo captions, which was something I started doing when I was 15. I used to tell myself, “That’s not something people want to see.” But you know what? That’s what I want to share.
What are some personal projects you’re working on?
I have ideas for projects, but I haven’t started. They’re so not concrete. But I wanted to do something with shooting places—shooting nature, shooting things other than portraits. I have this idea to go back to places that are memories of mine that I haven’t been to in a while, and just take pictures of those places. Explore the idea of memory. I’m taking a trip to Newport this month, and I’m starting to try it there.
“ I still feel like I have to fight these doubtful thoughts about my work. But I kind of just know what I can do at this point, and I know what I want to do, so there’s nothing I can really talk myself out of anymore.”
After two years working with a variety of clients, you’ve had time to explore your individual style as a photographer, and it’ll only continue to evolve from here. What would you like to be known for?
I almost want to be a combination of documentary and fashion. It’s complicated. I don’t want to just be known as an “Instagram photographer” anymore. I want to grow out of that. Documentary to me is about storytelling, and you as the photographer have the ability to portray certain things in a certain way. Just like with portraiture. Storytelling through portraits can be hard, but my work is meaningful to me—even stuff I shoot with models. The photos aren’t only meant to be pretty. I want all of my photos to show the connection I had with that person.
You’d recently decided to move back to New York City in the midst of a pandemic. How has all of this impacted your life as a photographer, especially someone early in their career?
It’s had a weirdly positive effect on my photography. I wasn’t really happy with my work a couple months ago, and with the pandemic, I got to completely stop everything I was doing. I feel like I’m in a better place now, and still getting hired. And it’s easy to social-distance when you’re shooting.
I didn’t have this same motivation before. I didn’t even intend to move back to New York six months ago. The pandemic kind of forced me to reevaluate things. After college, I moved here, had an apartment for three months and could not sustain myself, so I moved back home. I was commuting back and forth to the city for shoots, and landed a studio job at JCPenney taking pictures of kids. When I quit that job a year later, that’s when I decided to move back. And now, here I am.
Shortly after moving back to New York City, you shared that this is exactly where you need to be right now. How do you know that things are going to be different this time around?
I’ve got a different attitude this time around. I’ve already made all the mistakes I needed to make. If I were back home in New Jersey, I know that I wouldn't be pushing myself, and I have to push myself in order to survive and get to where I want to be. I feel like we all have to. I feel much more motivated here. I might not be here forever, but I’m confident that I’m going to be here for a while.