Today we’d like to introduce you to Dane Mellino.
Dane, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I have carried around a disposable camera with me for the past three years, always on me anywhere I go. In May I went to a graduation weekend, packed multiple disposable cameras with me, and took photos of a lot of people for fun. When I got those photos back the film made it feel like I had captured the essence of everyone in a way that I had never seen with a digital image. That made me change the subject of my photos from me and things around me, to people that gave me inspiration or joy. That inspired me to take more and more pictures of people around me and try to capture them and my memory of them in a way that digital pictures could not do. I knew I wanted to refine my photography but I was overwhelmed by the range of different film cameras. I did not know what camera would capture photos in the way I had envisioned until one day my friend Elizabeth asked me to pick up a roll of film to get developed from her. Her pictures were insanely inspiring to me and exactly what I wanted mine to look like. I then researched and bought the same camera as her. After that, I started taking pictures of my friends and playing around with the camera and its settings. My friends shared their photos online and next thing I knew I had multiple people wanting me to take pictures of them. After going through a couple rolls of film I started a photography account on Instagram. I wanted to use it as a portfolio and my way to show my photography. I wanted to create a place that was mine to express and show the fantasy of the film that I took from the reality around us, hence the title 4DanesWorld. I want to create a world through my film pictures, give the inspiration others give me back through my photos, put my all into taking them and doing it 4 my world.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has been an incredibly smooth journey for me thus far, making it feel even more like this is my calling.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I take 35mm film photos and I specialize in portrait-style photography. I am known for capturing people in a way that a lot of them have not seen before, by highlighting and celebrating them for who they are. I am proud of the response and reactions I have gotten from the subjects thus far. I am obviously proud of and love my images, but to see the people I take them of see themselves in a way that they are not typically used to seeing to this extent warms my heart and makes me want to keep going. I always say I try to capture the essence and aura of someone in my pictures. Some people see them and gain confidence from them, either seeing their essences from this point of view for the first time or because it reminds them of the spark that they have, that they had forgotten about. I would say what sets me apart is I am not taking this super seriously, by the book or rule defined. I kinda just live life and let inspiration flow in and out of me. And at the end of the day, the only thing I really want to get out of this is the chance to share my inspiration and to make memories for me and my subjects to hold onto forever.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I have yet to find a mentor, I am not necessarily looking for one but I am open to the idea. The best networking advice I have is to utilize social media. I would not have gotten any of the opportunities I have gotten today if I did not create an Instagram account to show my content. Use Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, anything you can because you never know who can see your work or who you can get in contact through social media that would have been improbable any other way.
Contact Info:
- Email: 4danesworldbusiness@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/4danesworld/
