Catching Up with Justin Aversano of Twin Flames

When Justin and I spoke in May of this year, the floor for Twin Flames was roughly .5 ETH. At the time of this writing, the floor has eclipsed 70 ETH. In our initial conversation, I remember being struck by Justin's confidence in the trajectory of the photo collection. Three months later, Justin can count some of the biggest names in the world of NFTs amongst his collectors. With sales as high as 170 ETH, Twin Flames has become the blueprint for NFT photo projects. Despite the incredible hype surrounding Twin Flames and other projects of his, Justin is—as always—kind as ever and exceptionally easy to get back in touch with to discuss his project.

First, I had to ask Justin a simple: how are you? With a cheek to cheek grin, he responded: "Confident and happy." Twin Flames was a multi-year effort. Although it's had an immense explosion over the past few months, it took over a year to shoot and went through years of exhibits and promotion before getting to where we are today. Justin told me: "I'm just happy that my work is getting the exposure it deserves. I've been pushing it for years." And when I asked him to characterize the last month and change, he gave me a succinct answer: "Amazing and surreal."

In our first convo, I asked Justin if he had any favorites from the project. I was curious if any of the recent moves had affected his takes, so I wanted to ask again. "I love the Sotheby's one and Christie's one, 49 and 83. And of course number 80, because it's the love of my life." For context, #49 sold through Sotheby's in late May for about $35,000. #83 will be on sale through Christie's Auction House on October 6th.

Then we had to talk about what's next. Justin is an exceptionally busy guy. He's launching a photo NFT platform/marketplace in November, called Quantum.Art. The marketplace will feature a combination of curated works and selections from submissions. The launch will feature three curated drops, and then they'll start doing weekly drops every Thursday. Justin has truly demonstrated that he knows—perhaps better than anybody—what makes a good NFT photo project. As one of the founders of SaveArtSpace and an exceptional photographer, creating a marketplace is the next rational step for Aversano.

Naturally, a photographers gotta photograph. So Justin has also been hard at work on another project of his, entitled "Smoke and Mirrors." Here's a blurb about the project from his website:

"For 'Smoke and Mirrors' I am photographing 78 sets of artists, astrologers, psychics, tarot readers, and other forms of mystics from all around the world. Each subject represents a unique tarot card. I am creating a body of work focused on the existence of magic and mysticism through an immersive portrait survey and tarot readings. In the proverb of storytelling, psychics, astrologers, et al."

Justin tells me that he's almost done with the collection, with only 6 subjects yet to shoot. The project will be minted in February of 2022 and will drop through Quantum.Art as Project 0 on the platform.

I also wanted to hear about any other photographers in the space that Justin's been watching. He immediately mentioned the late great Chi Modu, who shot some of history's most recognizable images of hip hop artists.

Justin also shouted out the infinitely talented portrait photographer Kris Graves. His collection, the Testament Project, "is an exploration and re-conception of the contemporary black experience in America." Read the full description on Open Sea.

Graves is an amazing photographer who works with his subjects to create the best possible representation of themselves. It is a truly breathtaking and revolutionary series.

If you want to read more about Justin's other projects, read our profile on SaveArtSpace and browse the non-profit's website. Keep an eye on Justin's twitter for announcements surrounding Quantum.Art / Smoke and Mirrors, and the continued success of Twin Flames. The sky is truly the limit.