Take Us Back To Where It All Started: Robbie Quinn
When life gives you pivots, you give it purpose. If we look throughout our lives, our interests, and our not-so-great moments, we will find our sense of fulfillment in the cracks. I cannot envision a life without an individual choosing to embrace themselves, and others. We were put on this earth to share, empathize with, and recognize one another. Just imagine what that would look like. Well, thanks to the Street Uniter Robbie Quinn, we don't have to wonder anymore! Robbie Quinn is the Author of Street Unicorns, (a love letter to those who are authentically themselves), a Badass Street Photographer, Musician, Amplifier, and Memory Bank that is showing us all the duality of human nature. I was blessed with the opportunity to sit down with this trailblazer, and I am so excited to share. I hope in Robbie's responses you learn how to tap into your inner Street Unicorn!
Who are you?
I started as a musician in a rock band. Our image was very important to me and I lived it. Often, my family voiced their disapproval and did not accept me and how I wished to express myself through style. But the band didn’t last. Amid several record companies wanting to sign the group, we had childish arguments and broke up.
After that, I fell into the concert promotion business and was very successful, but my creative juices were going to waste. I decided that with what I had learned in the music business, perhaps I could manage some acts. I had always done a little photography and ended up posting photos I had done of my acts on MySpace, for those of you that remember the social platform. I immediately started receiving requests for photography work from other managers, record producers, and artists. All of a sudden I stumbled upon a creative outlet that I hadn’t expected. Fast forward twenty years and here I am.
Why do you do what you do?
After moving back to New York, I took advantage of my days off from commercial photography and considered them an opportunity to go out and photograph everything that the city offers. Along the way, I kept seeing people that were very intentional about their style and looked like such interesting people that I was anxious to get to know. These encounters often led to impromptu photo sessions and interviews. After a few years of posting these images and interviews, I started to get lots of requests wanting to know where they could get my book. Since I didn’t have one, I took this as a cue that perhaps I should.
It’s a beautiful thing to share visual, wearable joy with others, is this healing for you?
I get such great feedback from my posts. In the interviews, I do my best to stay out of the way and simply amplify others’ voices. Their stories inspire readers and it gives me such joy to have a platform to share what their personal style does for them as they navigate life. Along the way, I have made great friends and gained a better understanding of how style helps me express myself more confidently.
Music to fashion melodically parallels themselves, do you feel like street photography was another hidden component to your love for music, or something special of its own?
I feel as though each art form has its own instrument, be it a pen, paintbrush, piano, or Pentax Camera. Each art form is like its own language, but what’s being expressed is still from the artist and the instrument is simply there to help communicate that thought or feeling. I do find a correlation between music and photography though as I see a scene and where it is bright, my mind looks at it as though it is treble on an EQ and likewise, darkness is the bass and the same for everything in between.
Your claim to style and expression found you during a challenging time in your life, do you think that helped the way you view and value style? If so, why?
Nobody truly understands another’s circumstances, but I’ve gained a certain amount of empathy through my own experiences and part of that is listening to others. I’ve concluded that we should all be wanting to be curious and learn from each other rather than fearful and closed off which is small-minded and ultimately turns to prejudice and hate. And we all know there’s way too much hate in the world. Through my book Street Unicorns, I hope to inspire people to take some risks with their own authentic style and accept and appreciate others. I’ve already received a lot of feedback from readers that their circle of community has grown since reading the book and that in itself is so rewarding for me.
The work you assemble is so powerful, so groundbreaking, and so necessary. Your work has the power to make everyone feel like they can show up as themselves in this world. Would you say it does the same for you?
When I started out photographing Street Unicorns, there wasn’t any intentionality. It was random. It wasn’t until a year or so into it that I could feel that there was a real narrative that had a common denominator across immigration, racism, ageism, LGBTQ+, and more. That narrative included everyone being their most authentic selves even if it meant risking not being accepted. This has often brought me to tears and helped me accept and appreciate myself. I’m still sorting out what this means for me stylistically, but I feel as though I've made great progress and am happy watching my own style reflect more of who I am inside.
Is current and younger Robbie Quinn proud of who he is now?
I’d say who I am and who I aspire to be is coming more and more into focus every day. I don’t think I’ll ever get there, but sometimes I surprise myself and see that I’ve accomplished things personally and career-wise that I never expected. It's those gifts life has that has me doing my best to be prepared for them and accept them with lots of gratitude.
In what ways can readers support you along your journey?
In what ways can readers support me along my journey? If they like what I do, buy a copy of Street Unicorns. If they have a copy, buy ten more and give them away as gifts. If they want to connect with me for commercial work, they can find me at robbiequinnnyc.com and on most social platforms @robbiequinnnyc
Purchase “Street Unicorns” Today!
https://www.amazon.com/Street-Unicorns-Robbie-Quinn/dp/1419762044
Connect With Robbie Today!
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Instagram.com/robbiequinnnyc