Don’t Stress Too Much and Trust Your Gut

Featuring Guen Fiore Words by Nastasia Khmelnitski

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Honest, unexpected, challenging the norms, while researching beauty, and presenting the theme of love through the micro and macro perspective, Guen creates a new language - unapologetic, making an existential statement. The right to be a true self is mirrored through her works, gaining more acknowledgment through exhibitions curated for more people to see. The ability to find your voice through candid analysis of the surrounding topics and stereotypes enables an artist to break through and be heard.

Guen Fiore is an Italian photographer, currently based in London. Guen studied towards a degree in Industrial Engineering in Tor Vergata, Rome to get a classical profession, however the creative sphere of photography took over her plans. Working together with artists in Europe, Guen decided to move to London and to continue polishing her expertise while working on personal projects and commissioned campaigns. She worked with clients like Vogue Italia, Jalouse, Adobe, Converse. During 2019, Guen had been a part of several exhibitions in Milan and London, the latest one being Photo Vogue Festival.

Guen has recently come back from traveling and we decided to speak with her and discuss the challenges of the profession, choosing her path while at first support was a deficit, and her major milestones like being shortlisted to exhibit in the National Portrait Gallery in London last year. Guen speaks from the heart and approaches subjects like diversity and the hardship of people to be accepted. We touch the topic of photographers starting their career and offer some insights and tips.

‘I think that traveling and making your experience abroad opens your mind in many different ways. I've been living in Rome for many years and, although I was not a professional photographer, I always had the impression that the photographic reality there did not fit my imagery.’

Hi Guen, thanks for agreeing to take part and contribute to our magazine! How did your day start?

Hi, thank you for having me! My day started very well. I came back yesterday after ten days of traveling, so I'm quite happy to be back and relax a bit today.

Tell about your hometown of Pescara. What is the brightest memory from your childhood you can share with us? 

My home and my dear ones. I spent all of my childhood and my adolescence there, and I had the most amazing and carefree time. I remember playing non stop at my family home with my friends.

What role does it play for you to know at least two languages, and the experience of living in several cities in Europe?

Being able to speak English is crucial in general, and especially if you have to work with people coming from all around the world. While working in London or Paris it’s very rare that you get to work with a team that speaks your own language, you always have to speak English.

I think that traveling and making your experience abroad opens your mind in many different ways. I've been living in Rome for many years and, although I was not a professional photographer, I always had the impression that the photographic reality there did not fit my imagery. I found in London the inspiration and the motivation I needed to change my life and this city had a huge impact on me. I learned everything I know about this job here and there is still so much to learn. Everyone is very open and curious and is amazing how photographers help each other.

‘I think the most important thing is to keep working on personal projects. This will always give the idea of who you really are and what you believe in. This should be the starting point.’

You have studied Industrial Engineering. Do you plan on pursuing this career, or will photography remain your main focus?

At the moment, photography is the only focus I have, we'll see what happens in the future.

What’s your favorite place in Pescara? 

My home. When I travel, I feel the absence of 'feeling at home.' It's exciting but at the same time exhausting when you have been away for a while. I like the feeling of being at home when I go back.

From working on portrait photography that requires certain attention to details and work with a model to working on fashion editorials, to developing your voice in focusing on the human body. How do you think your development and different types of work helped each of your next steps? 

I think the most important thing is to keep working on personal projects. This will always give the idea of who you really are and what you believe in. This should be the starting point.

At the same time, we all need money, and just a few lucky ones get to survive just with personal work. I'm really enjoying working on commissions, for me being published in a magazine for an amazing project is as rewarding as working on a personal one (this, of course, depends on the commission and the project), and I like the trust that people put in me.

The ideal would be to get commissioned by someone who wants to bring your vision to something that totally fits your style, but this is not always possible.

Let’s talk a moment about your family. What was your parents' influence, in your opinion, on your decision to start with photography? 

My parents did not support me in the beginning. I was studying engineering and photography, to me, it was a huge distraction. There are no artists in my family, and everyone believed in the importance of a classic degree. They were also worried about the fact of me 'wasting' time on something that could potentially bring nothing in the future. I totally understood their point of view, but at the same time, I did not feel supported (although they supported me in everything else).

My parents' opinion has always been very important to me, so it was a bit frustrating, and I was sorry about the fact they could not see any potential in what I was doing. Then I realized that I had to be the one who had to believe in this, and I'm glad I did. They are now very supportive and proud of me, and I think they started to see me with different eyes.

Artists today struggle with creating differentiation from so many visions and voices available on social media. Building connections and finding commission projects is a process that takes time and networking. You’re represented by Supervision Agency, how do you find it helpful in building a career?

Instagram is so important, but at the same time very 'dangerous.' We are literally looking at images every day, every minute. All of us are looking at the same things, we have the same references. It's easy to get lost and confused in this way. It would be better to find your own way without being distracted by what other people are doing, though it's not easy at all!

I started with Supervision less than one month ago, and at the moment, I'm just very excited about it. People who are helping me are all very nice, and I'm happy to be part of the family that includes some of my favorite artists. The time will tell!

Some of your achievements include a publication in the Italian Vogue, an International Photography Award, exhibitions in the US, Italy, China. What do you think was a decisive moment for you that was also a certain milestone when you understood that you’re on the right path? 

For me, it was being exhibited last year at the National Portrait Gallery in London, as part of the Taylor Wessing Portrait Prize. I've always looked at that prize like something out of reach, and I heard of photographers who have been trying to get into the exhibition for many, many years. I was shortlisted at my first attempt, and it was incredible. After that, I decided to move to London.

Also, being part of the PhotoVogue Festival has been a dream of mine for a long time, I'm glad it finally happened this year. This made me feel part of something beautiful.

What is the most inspiring shoot you have worked on?

Maybe the personal project I shoot last year Summer of Love in Rome, with real-life couple Beatrice and Alberto.

What was your highlight during the recent Photo Vogue Festival exhibition you have been a part of?

I presented a series of portraits of young women, and one of them was in the exhibition. It was a portrait of Vida and an English girl photographed in her room.

As a woman photographer myself, I’ve noticed that nowadays, when it comes to aesthetics, people are ready to embrace diversity only if they relate to that diversity personally, other kinds of diversity will still leave them puzzled or even annoyed when shown in a picture.

I like to think that I can bring back a hint of honesty in my work, proposing a variety of young women portrayed with simplicity and obtaining photographs empowered just by the people and the atmosphere that they depict.

It was beautiful to be there and meet so many artists that I've been following for a long time but never met in person. It was also incredible to finally meet Alessia Glaviano, Francesca Marani, and Chiara Nonino. I'm very grateful for being part of the show. 

What would be your advice to yourself five years ago?  

I would probably tell her not to stress too much about the future and to trust her gut.

What’s next?

For now, I'll keep doing what I've been doing in the past months. I'll be working on a few personal projects and experimenting. Hopefully, something good will come up!