Justin Aversano makes a quantum leap for NFT photography – Cointelegraph Magazine

Artist name: Justin Aversano
Location: Los Angeles
Date minted initially NFT: Feb. 15, 2021
Which blockchains? Ethereum

Bio:

Unintentionally, the recovery procedure of losing his twin sibling at birth triggered Justin Aversano’s profession to end up being the poster kid for NFT photography. His most popular collection, “Twin Flames,” has 5,900 ETH in overall sales volume on OpenSea and numerous million-dollar sales, consisting of one auctioned at Christie’s. 

A multidisciplinary artist with a excellent eye and enthusiasm for photography, Aversano’s journey into NFTs began with a journey to Peru to deal with regional shamans to attempt to overcome a dependency and anxiety. It was on that journey that he began to recover and discovered a stimulate that would end up being the preliminary concept for his renowned collection. 

“I never questioned that I was an artist, but you know the feeling inside when you’re grappling with anger, depression, sadness and grief. I was looking to outgrow the grief and become whole. In San Pedro, there was a ceremony run by twins. It really opened my heart to connecting with my twin, who passed during my mom’s pregnancy. It felt like opening Pandora’s box. I remember thinking, ‘Okay, there’s something there, and I need to work on it.’” 

A couple of months gotten rid of from San Pedro, Aversano was at an exhibit and photographed a set of twins who pertained to his art program. That night, he understood he was all set to handle this brand-new job highlighting twins. 

“I just started with those twins that night. They then introduced me to other twins. It became a whole domino effect of connecting with twins. Understanding the feeling of what it would have been like to have a twin and honoring my twin, and also my mother, because I feel like losing my twin was also part of losing my mom and her getting ovarian cancer,” he states.

“There are so many different elements, and a lot of my art is for my mom, my family and honoring ancestors. I like it when you’re working in healing,” Aversano shares. 

Despite creating the Twin Flames job in a conventional sense, consisting of a book and an exhibit highlighting the work, it wasn’t till Aversano found NFTs that things got insane. 

“Another two years passed by. I had the Twin Flames project on my website and Instagram, but then I discovered NFTs. I didn’t see other photography projects online. I minted Twin Flames, and the next day it sold out — and changed my life.” 

Now, simply 2 years from his very first mint, Aversano —who is thought about by many to be at the top of the NFT photography food cycle — has actually generated over 8,100 ETH in sales volume on OpenSea alone.

Aversano is likewise suffering for budding professional photographers who wish to pivot their imaginative undertakings to the world of NFTs with Quantum Art, a platform concentrated on curating and dropping NFT collections released in September 2021, with a specific concentrate on photography NFTs.

“With Quantum, I’ve said this from the beginning: I want it to be what Art Blocks is for generative art. I have so much respect for Erick (Snowfro) with what he has done with Art Blocks, and we want the same for photography. There’s so much respect for generative art, and I can understand that because everyone’s computer native. I’d love to see photography get its heyday because it’s always been the underdog,” Aversano states. 

Notable sales:

Twin Flames #49. Alyson and Courtney Aliano: Sold for 888 ETH ($3.7 million at the time) on Nov. 23, 2021, making it the 8th most costly picture ever offered. Purchased through PartyBid.

Twin Flames #83. Bahaeeh and Farzaneh: Sold for $1.1 million on Oct. 6, 2021 at Christie’s.

Twin Flames #2. Jessica and Joyce Gayo: Sold for 207 ETH ($959,027) on Nov. 10, 2021.

Twin Flames #1. Ali and Gilli Glatt: Sold for 200 ETH ($686,696) on Sept. 7, 2021.

Influences:

Aversano points out the impact of professional photographers like Irving Penn, David LaChapelle, Diane Arbus, Vivian Maier and Robert Frank, in addition to painters like Alex Gray and Dustin Yellin. 

He is motivated by all NFT professional photographers however offers a unique shout-out to Beeple: “That guy is the biggest influence on everyone!”

Aversano likewise highlights the impact of popular NFT character Gmoney on his increase to NFT fame. 

“In terms of collectors, Gmoney was one of the biggest influences on my life. We spoke a bit, and I asked him if he was spending $250,000 on a monkey JPG, would he buy real art? He said to me he’d rather buy NFTs. He helped me by talking to Flamingo DAO and the CryptoPunks community. They all supported me with my NFT drops,” he states. 

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Which artist should we be taking note of? 

In regard to other artists in the area capturing his attention, Aversano keeps in mind IX Shells, a noise and visual artist whose piece Bend was just recently obtained by the Buffalo AKG Art Museum: “She’s one of my favorite artists. She’s cool as a person and artist.”

He likewise notes Summer Wagner, a professional photographer based out of Rockford, Illinois.

Process and individual design:

Talking about how his art work establishes with time, Aversano states, “Every project I’ve been thinking about has been thought about for years. There’s nothing I’ve created and thought of minting an NFT the next day. I’ve been working on these major projects for years, and it hasn’t existed in the art world as I wanted it to.”

“This is the best time in my life as an artist of this era — for everything that I create to be an NFT. I see a lot of other artists who have careers that are older than mine, and they’re getting into NFTs, and not all their stuff is on the blockchain. This is the perfect time for me as an artist to have all my art on the blockchain from the beginning.”

“I often think about minting art as NFTs like hand printing on ancient scrolls on the blockchain. It brings the past, present and future together in a special way, and you can live in your digital gallery in your own home,” he concludes.

Greg Oakford

Greg Oakford is the co-founder of NFT Fest Australia. A previous marketing and interactions expert in the sports world, Greg now focuses his time on running occasions, developing content and consulting in web3. He is a devoted NFT collector and hosts a weekly podcast covering all things NFTs.

Follow the author @GregOakford