1. Dope Vitals: Born and raised in RI, but also transient among New England states. I'm a photographer, marketer and creative leader in the Providence area. I've balanced my career between advertising and photography, working for ad agencies in Providence and Boston, and in 2015, I created  Piquant Photo, my photography side-hustle that has blossomed into (quite frankly) a lifestyle. I've focused my work on embracing the self and transforming power through art. My style and creative flow lean into the weird and celebrate the taboo with no apologies necessary. It's taken me years to develop my brand and it's still evolving. As am I.

2. Dopest Thing Done: Virtual photoshoots. Most recently, I photographed a brand campaign over Zoom for Lifetherapy and Alice Magazine, involving 15 influencers across the country during the national lockdown and the BLM protests. Since social distancing began, I started experimenting with different ways to shoot photos over Zoom/Facetime, leading to strange and exciting results. So the collaboration with Lifetherapy and Alice Magazine was a challenging but fulfilling exercise in creativity, patience, and execution. It was the first virtual photoshoot for many of the subjects and with emotions at a high for everyone, the sessions were a great way to connect and create art as a form of catharsis. The work we produced told unique visual stories and the experience opened up the doors to promising new adventures.

3. Dopest Thing to Do: Back in March, pre-COVID lockdown, I was very close to opening a photography studio but I had to hold off. So it's going to happen eventually. And when it does, magic will happen.

4. Dope Fact about Justine: I went to Space Camp when I was 10 years old. 

5. A Dope Life that Inspires Justine:  Growing up as a kid in the 90's, I learned how to be badass from Buffy. She was the imperfect role model I needed in my youth who showed me how to wield her power for good in a scary world. To this day, when I'm in need of some inner cheerleading, I think "slayer strength" and pick myself back up.

6. Where You Can Catch Justine Being Dope: I'm running a special on virtual photoshoots right now for Clambake followers - $100 for a 45-minute virtual session, 30+ photos, 100% of the fee goes to the Black Lives Matter Global Network charity.  

Check out my work on:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/piquant.photo/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/piquant.photo

My website: https://www.piquantphoto.com/

Justine’s Key/s to Living a Dope and Doing Dope Things

I try to live my life following the laws of karma - don't be an asshole and your good vibration will bring about good things. We're obviously living through strange times which takes a toll on everything we do, but by not being an asshole, you learn to practice compassion, and with compassion comes empathy for other living things. The wars of our time are social and spiritual and in order to overcome them, we need to care for each other. Caring for each other raises our vibrations, which in turn strengthens the community around us. And dope things happen when we thrive.