Feature of The Week: Gabriel Gomez
Gabriel Gomez is a Clio award-winning director, producer, & entrepreneur born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. He was a prestigious member of Brooklyn Magazine's "30 Under 30" Class of 2018. Specializing in commercial & documentary, his work focuses on raw character, compelling compositions, and dynamic stories. He’s directed projects for H&M, CNN, Discovery Network, Columbia Records, 300 Entertainment, Mom+Pop Records, TNT, Chandelier, The Guardian, Refinery29, Bon Appetít, and many more. Gabriel is also the founder/creative director of Crooked Letter, an entertainment company specializing in film production & the visual branding, curation, and crafting of their roster of talent's brands & careers. His leading talent Caleb Eberhardt AKA Rosehardt made his debut in 2019 starring in Tarrell Alvin McCranney's Tony-nominated play Choir Boy, Crystal Moselle / HBO’s Betty, and the upcoming Ryan Coogler-produced “Untitled Fred Hampton Project”. Amidst COVID, Gabriel has launched Crooked Letter Radio Hour—a weekly radio show consisting of music, interviews, and guest mixes. The mission of the project is to provide a space to reflect, inform and heal through music and in-depth conversations with guest speakers and DJ's in various fields. Recent guests include Zazie Beetz (Atlanta, Deadpool 2, Joker), Jeremy Allen White (Shameless), Matt FX (Music Supervisor on Broad City), Bluestone Babe and more.
Despite being born & raised in Brooklyn, Gabriel is not a member of BCD (yet)—that being said, he’s been following the darkroom for a really long time, in complete admiration. Gabriel has a handful of friends that only go to BCD for development/self-development, and hearing "Bushwick Darkroom" is just so commonplace in his life/social circles at this point. He’s been keeping tabs on the darkroom amidst COVID and in awe of the community/make our services available amidst this time. This time in history has really lit a fire under the long-time passion of photography for Gabriel and feels the ambition to pursue the craft further.
Gabriel is actively rediscovering his passion for photography through this time. It is such an extension of all the other territories of arts that his career & artistic voice are founded on - film, music, radio, events, etc. It is something he subconsciously has felt as though didn't belong to me—or rather, he hadn't earned the right to claim photography as his own. When the protests began, some fervor inside of his heart allowed him to grab his Canon AE1 & Nikon 28ti cameras and capture what he saw. Gabriel needed to document what was occurring around & throughout his friends, community, our generation. It just felt important. Gabriel is able to pursue his photographic journey - he certainly admires the work of my friends and fellow artists who have been actively refining their craft for so long. He’s grateful to be able to try.
Photography is an extension of Gabriel’s overall goal to tell important stories and nurture community through art making. He hopes to provide nourishing work for people. Gabriel says “A good photo can take my breath away. It makes me feel. I also love supporting small NYC print/development houses that have been doing it for a long time. Any excuse to take pictures of beautiful, important people & situations is a win-win-win situation, as far as I'm concerned.”
Gabriel is supporting The ACLU, various bail funds around the country, Yardy's free meal program, LGBTQ Freedom Fund, Planned Parenthood, ActBlue, Black Lives Matter, GLITS Inc.
Make sure to follow Gabriel on Instagram @gabrielgomez
Also check out his 30 UNDER 30 article with BROOKLYN MAGAZINE
FOUNDER of CROOKED LETTER
