PHOTOGRAPHERS TO KNOW: CARMEN DANESHMANDI
CARMEN DANESHMANDI
Originally from California and now based in Barcelona, Carmen Daneshmandi is a Spanish-Iranian photographer, videographer & visual artist. Carmen’s work combines portraiture and storytelling and disrupts it with a sensibility of color, playfulness, and mixed media. As an advocate for sharing resources among artists, Carmen is truly an inspiration on how we can effectively uplift and empower our global community of creators.
SHEER: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
CARMEN DANESHMANDI: I wish I could make this whole sentence into an acronym/jingle/really smooth elevator pitch because it would be so much easier to explain! haha buuuuut I am a queer first-gen Spanish-Iranian photographer, videographer, and artist. My mom is from Sevilla, Spain and my dad is from Shiraz, Iran. I was born in Northridge, California and raised in a fairly diverse then mostly-white suburb outside of Seattle. I was previously based in New York for a few years but have recently relocated to Barcelona after an almost two-year stint in Zaragoza (it’s ok if you don’t know it bc I didn’t either! My sister’s job placed us there). Once this pandemic heals up I am hoping to go back to splitting my time between here and NY as so much of my social/creative life is still active in New York. Plus, it will always be home for me in countless ways<3
SHEER: What led you to pursue photography and film as creative outlets or did you try other forms of expression before finding your niche?
CD: I was always a pretty creative child but what actually took a hold of me first was writing! I was obsessed with creating fantasy in descriptive short-story writing (shoutout to our family computer’s desktop folder I aptly named “Lickity Split Literature”… I was already my own brand manager at 8 years old lol) and by the time I was a freshman in high school this had evolved into seeking that fantasy through metaphor in poetry and the music I listened to: Jill Scott, A Tribe Called Quest, Portishead, Blonde Redhead….the lyrics! When I was 15 my teacher picked up on my interest and pulled me aside after class and put me on to spoken word and the poetry slam scene she used to be a part of in Oakland. By my sophomore year I actually got placed into the semi-finals to be on the Seattle team for a nationwide poetry slam competition that was happening at the Nuyorican Cafe in New York - serendipitous!
At the same time I had also been taking an Intro to Darkroom film photography class and was the backpage editor of my school newspaper and all of that informed my new obsession. I loved spending time in the darkroom and going to the library by my house and entrenching myself deeply into these heavy books of the works of Jamel Shabazz, Shirin Neshat, Annie Leibovitz, Juergen Teller, Malick Sidibé, Helmut Newton, the Surrealists, etc….whenever I would go to a poetry slam I would bring my camera with me and take portraits or snaps of my environment. For my page in the newspaper I had free-range to come up with photojournalistic concepts and shoot them and lay them out. Soon I was “casting” my friends and family and art directing into more fashion-inspired shoots but all of this comes from concept, from ideation, writing! It all lives in what I do, who I am today and I’m excited that I’m finally coming to a place where all facets of my expression are harmonizing.
SHEER: How would you say your upbringing and culture influence your work?
CD: I definitely think growing up in a household where we had multiple languages and religions and cultures and foods and music and color and richness and traditions and pride….RIGHT in the middle of a very white suburb was a HUGE influence, how could it not be? Beyond the whole common experience of being-a-child-of-immigrant-parents-in-a-white-neighborhood-oh-and-youre-also-the-bigger-girl-in-class, I believe there was something more profound, powerful, brewing inside of me, waiting to bring me to my greatness. Let’s just go ahead and call it “ancestral calling”. This happens when I watch a bulería (a traditional flamenco from my mother’s hometown) and there’s all this jaleo which is a slang word meant to define all the clapping and energy, rhythm, laughter, joy, uplifting, POWER that naturally comes when someone is feeling themselves dancing flamenco. It’s palpable. I feel it too when I’m back in Iran visiting my family and hear a call to prayer or when my Baba Karim would sing a traditional song or recite poetry.
All of this is POWER in FANTASY. Everyday people, anybody really! Just straight up EXUDING and turning the room inside out with their culture of self, what comes to them naturally from within who they are. THAT. THAT is what I see and what I feel when I take a portrait or create a collage that sends electricity from my spine to my heart. Art is a way to uncork that brilliance and let the metaphor stand for something greater than the vessel that carries it. That’s what I strive for and looking back on my upbringing I knew that there was more to me than maybe what my environment led me to believe.
“Beyond the whole common experience of being-a-child-of-immigrant-parents-in-a-white-neighborhood-oh-and-youre-also-the-bigger-girl-in-class, I believe there was something more profound, powerful, brewing inside of me, waiting to bring me to my greatness. Let’s just go ahead and call it “ancestral calling”. This happens when I watch a bulería (a traditional flamenco from my mother’s hometown) and there’s all this jaleo which is a slang word meant to define all the clapping and energy, rhythm, laughter, joy, uplifting, POWER that naturally comes when someone is feeling themselves dancing flamenco. It’s palpable.”
SHEER: You photographed the very first SHEER shoot which was a huge honor to me for such an early vision! How do you decide which projects and brands to partner with?
CD: Oh my gosh, yes I did! It was such a sweet, sweet moment and experience and honor for me too! Honestly, values are really important to me. Who you are as a person and how you treat people and talk about your ideas and vision is just as important to me as the vision itself. I still remember us meeting up after work (bc yes! everybody still has their day jobs!) to talk about the shoot and the conversations we were having that led up to that moment really informed the final images. It also tells me there’s intention for you in these images too. Which for our SHEER shoot was without a doubt but oftentimes in our industry I see so much of those values being shifted from authenticity to social clout. Or people have brilliant ideas but they are awful to their team and everyone on set so then it’s like how great is that image, really? I just don’t think it’s that hard to treat people with respect and have self-awareness and create amazing imagery. Also, if I’m being really-truly-absolutely honest I think I also seek to work with people who have that unspoken understanding of my lived experience because I know that we share the same values. It’s not even pigeon-holing myself but the truth is we are still so far from who gets the jobs/commissions/features/budgets/etc and I want to see that change.
“ I just don’t think it’s that hard to treat people with respect and have self-awareness and create amazing imagery. Also, if I’m being really-truly-absolutely honest I think I also seek to work with people who have that unspoken understanding of my lived experience because I know that we share the same values. It’s not even pigeon-holing myself but the truth is we are still so far from who gets the jobs/commissions/features/budgets/etc and I want to see that change. ”
SHEER: How did moving from NYC to Barcelona impact your art/creative process?
CD: I should clarify that I’ve only been in Barcelona since October. Very short time. Up until then I was in this smaller city called Zaragoza that really doesn’t have much job opportunity or industry for my work but it’s where my sister’s job placed us and to me I saw it as a foot in the European door. It allowed me (up until the pandemic) to travel and take jobs around Europe (my first time in Milan and Paris on my own and I was shooting Men’s Fashion Week! An experience I will never forget!) and also go back to New York often without a crazy rent hanging over my head. Also, when you're stripped from structure and those familiar basics elements that support your art - a network of clients, your community of friends and family, the spaces you regularly socialize in/inspire you/logistically need for shoots - you end up finding inspiration in less calculated ways. Or, you simply don’t go seeking inspiration. Which, despite the initial frustration of your lack of resources, is actually GREAT. When you have less of what you like around you it quiets the mind and things that before might’ve not had a creative pathway for you all of a sudden are a new spark.
I started using traditional Spanish tapas like sardines and jamón into my collage work because my food was just different here. I’m having a different interaction with the things I see everyday and that is making me look at the format of my image-making in a new and exciting way. I also just love being able to speak Spanish and reconnect to things that remind me of my own family and being in a culture that has a better boundary on capitalism in our day-to-day. People who are fully working also make time to have their espresso in the morning SEATED. There’s no rush and life still goes on. There isn’t this tense FOMO-infused productivity obsession. You don’t need a reason to slow down and enjoy simple things in life, people make time for it and it's not corny or hidden behind some new thing you’re trying out in your life. It just is. I think that loosened up the grip on my creativity after leaving New York in ways I really needed.
SHEER: In what ways do you approach your creative style in film differently from your photography?
CD: When I shoot photos I feel like it’s second nature, it’s a muscle that’s built in and I’ve been flexing since I was 14. I got less years on that with film and video and am constantly learning. I think ignorance is bliss sometimes and because I am not as well versed I’m willing to just try something without the predetermined failure in my mind. The fun part is that often what starts out as a photo leads to an idea for motion and they help each other out. I’ve also gotten into these “Screen Tests” (on my Vimeo page) where I collage with video and that has me excited all over again.
SHEER: How have you remained inspired and kept the passion in your work alive throughout this chaotic and uncertain year?
CD: I definitely don’t feel like I have! In fact, right now I feel like I am unraveling a bit. Moving to Barcelona on my own looks chic on paper but this is my lowest financial point yet. Because of the travel restrictions I am unable to go back to New York where most of my clients are so I lost all my income for the foreseeable future and wasn’t able to claim unemployment. I haven’t seen my family or friends in a long, long time. We lost my last living grandparent in Iran and had to attend a virtual memorial through FaceTime. I’m dealing with things in another country that usually I knew the systems around. It’s the most untethered I’ve felt yet. BUT. What has held me down are the people I’ve crossed paths with. When we first went into lockdown in Zaragoza, that was the most time I spent in town. Everybody started coming out on their balconies and that’s how I met my neighbors, let alone even saw them. Soon, I became friends with the people in front, above, and below my piso.
Real community formed on our street and it ended up turning into this visual diary I pitched and wrote about for PAPER. They even surprised me and had the whole block sing me Happy Birthday when I turned 30 in quarantine which was really special. When I made the decision to move to Barcelona it was my neighbors who I had photographed and become friends with that drove me down with all my things. When I got there, I became really close to the family that I Airbnb’d with and I now eat dinner with them every week. The other guy that was in the room next to mine ended up helping me move into my new spot. A family friend of a friend is the one that gave me a ride on her moped to the rental agency to make sure everything looked right when I signed my papers. A girl who stopped me on the street to photograph my outfit has become a friend in the neighborhood I grab dinner with. I may be freaking out a little career-wise and on the money front but my community is starting to blossom and really show itself, so deep down I know I’m exactly where I need to be and that my work will come around.
SHEER: What advice do you have for women of color artists carving our own lane through our work while navigating a world where we are often underrepresented?
CD: Omgggg I could do a whole SEMINAR on this! There is so much to say. When SHEER Worldwide had its own version of a Teen Vogue Summit we can cover it allllll haha but I’ll narrow it down:
Be about your business! Become well versed and build your knowledge on everything business-related from how to pitch for a job to how to properly invoice to things you can write off for your taxes to how to communicate in an email to what your rates should be, pre-production, etc etc etc. Find peers (or a collective, links below!) you trust in your field and who have your best intentions in mind and that believe in abundance and want to see you win and go to those people and ask their advice about any and all of this. And pass that knowledge on! It’s the only way I learned out in the real world and how I really learned to value myself. I have an incredible group of people on my side who from day one have told me that I should be charging more, that I shouldn’t give up, that have advised me through tricky paper work and business deals, and have referred me for jobs and I have done the same. We need to be having these conversations! If we keep to ourselves and aren’t transparent about the real business side of things and keep that knowledge circulating within our own community that’s how we get taken advantage of and the same cycle continues. The more business savvy we are, the better. It’s empowering to be able to talk creative AND know your numbers. I would highly recommend checking out these pages:
Authority Collective - https://www.instagram.com/authoritycollective/ (I’m currently a member!)
Women Photograph - https://www.instagram.com/womenphotograph/
Don't Be A Starving Artist - https://www.instagram.com/dont_be_a_starving_artist/
A PhotoEditor's "Pricing & Negotiating" - https://aphotoeditor.com/category/pricing-negotiating/
Letting go of the lack mentality. This is something I actually recently came to terms with when I was really going through it during my move to Barcelona. I think as womxn of color we often feel less valuable and build up a lot of resentment around the opportunities we don’t have. It’s something I know has hardened in me ever since I was little and would often show itself in my career as a form of “me vs them”, assumed failure, spiraling self-comparison and anger when I saw others getting paid more or getting the jobs that I wanted and often times more qualified for. I’m not sure how much more acknowledgement I can give to the unjust systems at play before it starts just eating away at my spirit and leaves me with no energy for my own hustle and what actually matters. Will I continue to call out things as I see them? Always. But is carrying all of that pre-packed anger and everything that comes along with it in me actually telling me something I don’t already know? It’s no longer serving me. Truly. And that’s the whole point. The thing we criticize the most that makes us feel less than is actually also a pattern that’s draining us and we need to break. We can’t keep showing up for ourselves with a glass half empty. If we are left drained by our own anger and frustration by the industry then we will end up leaving it and that’s not what we want or need.
“I think as womxn of color we often feel less valuable and build up a lot of resentment around the opportunities we don’t have. It’s something I know has hardened in me ever since I was little and would often show itself in my career as a form of “me vs them”, assumed failure, spiraling self-comparison and anger when I saw others getting paid more or getting the jobs that I wanted and often times more qualified for. I’m not sure how much more acknowledgement I can give to the unjust systems at play before it starts just eating away at my spirit and leaves me with no energy for my own hustle and what actually matters.”
SHEER: What is the lasting impact you hope your art will have on the world?
CD: Whatever that spark, that feeling, that ancestral calling I have when I make my work is something I hope transmits to people who participate and interact with my work. I want to witness and support the evolution of the people I photograph. I want to visually ride tough for my Andalusian and Iranian heritage and leave that palpable feeling of spirit in every image I make. I want to be part of the much-needed shift our industry needs and be a working artist until my last days, a part of a great global community of creators.
