2009 - With just one idea and minimal knowledge of how to work a camera, Danny Steezy began taking photographs of his friends at booze-fueled house parties in his small hometown of Thousand Oaks, CA. Instantly, he was hooked and set out to photograph anything and everything. In the beginning, it was challenging for him to find diverse subjects to photograph. Naturally, to compensate, he would point the lens at his girlfriend at the time.

2010 - The journey was only enhanced when Steezy purchased a Leica Minilux 35mm film camera. Rather than editing his images, he discovered true beauty in film candids. They resonated with his childhood, and with ease, he suddenly found himself falling in love with the timeless qualities of film.

2011 - Steezy successfully published numerous images and began manufacturing his first screen-printed T-shirts. Completely self-taught in branding and product development, he noticed he was gaining a small following of repeat customers. Immediately, the products were selling out through word of mouth, Tumblr, and his website at the time, Simply Steezy.

2012 - To pursue his new life, Steezy gave up his job and his car and began living in hostels and hotels all over Los Angeles. He thrived off the energy of the city and the dynamic faces that resided within it. This year was rich in partying, photographing, and living life without restraint. Traveling with only two bags in hand—one containing clothes and the other with his cameras—Danny knew he had to establish stability.

2013 - Seeking stability, Steezy moved into a friend’s living room in Hollywood, right next to Supreme® on Fairfax Avenue. At that time, the area was the mecca of street fashion, and his rent was only $300 a month. At night, he slept on the hardwood floor. During the day, he walked up and down "the block," trying to make friends and gain clients. Although Steezy was penniless, he was rich with determination to figure out the key to success. Slowly, he began meeting innovative people and started shooting small projects for them. By consistently putting out new content on blogs and habitually shooting for any brand within reach, Danny noticed he was getting booked and promoted by many of the brands he had admired, such as Fuct® and Stussy®. Unexpectedly, Fuct® published Steezy's photos in multiple publications around Japan, and almost immediately, Danny noticed significant changes in his professional life.

2014 - Steezy moved into an extraordinarily small one-bedroom apartment just a couple of streets down from the floor he had once slept on. During this period, Danny began to increase his focus and knew he had to work harder than ever just to afford his rent. With persistence, his clientele grew, along with the quality of his products. Eventually, he started shooting editorials for international publications located in Paris and Asia. Shortly thereafter, Steezy was offered by Blackscale® to shoot a new group of artists he had never heard of: A$AP Mob. Completely oblivious to their music, he accepted the offer and shot the assignment in an empty swimming pool in the middle of Inglewood, CA. The photographs quickly gained traction on Hypebeast® and numerous other influential websites of the time. From then on, getting booked became consistent. Danny enjoyed this steadiness for a couple of years but eventually began to feel burnt out with that particular aspect of the industry. Once again, he sought a change. As his taste for quality evolved, Steezy knew he had to alter what and who he photographed.

2016 - At this point, Danny Steezy had worked for many of the lifestyle brands he admired but decided to switch up his rhythm and start incorporating high-end and vintage fashion pieces into his artistic vision. By continuously applying all the accumulated knowledge he'd gained throughout the years in branding, strategizing, and creative directing, Steezy spearheaded the trajectory of like-minded companies deliberately seeking to expand their audience. At the end of the year, Steezy moved into his biggest apartment yet and started building his team. With direct involvement and equity in a handful of companies, Steezy progressively strived for more while managing to keep his identity anonymous, allowing his work to speak for itself.

2017 - This website was launched, and more companies were added to the branding and consulting clientele.

2018 - Danny put down the camera, gave it all up, and walked away from the life he had worked so hard to build. No longer impressed with shiny things, he embarked on a new journey—one of healing.

Written by - Shohreh Khalilova

2024 - I haven't read this timeline since I decided to completely detach from my old life in 2018.

I must say, there's a tremendous amount of nostalgia mixed with a deep sense of gratitude for all the roads that have led me to who I am, where I am, and how I am in this very moment. I couldn't see it before, but now I can vividly understand that I had to go through the storm to reach this 'sunshine' state of mind. Those relentless years of grinding, the uncertainty, the self-destruction, the striving for hollow trophies, and the external shiny things to fill the voids within me. Those years of lacking an authentic identity and clinging to the only label that made me feel good about myself—'photographer.' Those were all roads on my journey that led me to me. Not the facade or the mask that I wore to feel like I had any value and significance, but the me that's always been here, waiting to be found, loved, and unleashed.

My motivation, inspiration, aspiration, and creativity are some of my biggest gifts, but now it's time to harness and transmute them into a new creative output. My creativity is a driving force of my happiness, but my definition of happiness has shifted as I've grown and expanded. I'm now in a state of consciousness where I want my work to elevate as much as I have. I want to help add beauty to the world through my skill sets while always leaving behind a fingerprint of positivity on everything I touch. I look forward to seeing where this mission-driven, highly intentional, and motivated trajectory takes us.

As of right now, September 10th, 2024, I have spent four days overhauling this website to communicate the aesthetic of my new experience, and I welcome you to be a part of it. I pray, hope, and wish for us to grow together!

-Your friend, Danny