FITZ HENLEY
name: Fitz Henley
occupation: film / photographer / model / chef
age you feel: i feel young... if anything i feel better than i did in my 20s... { but i'm 36 }
CAREER
GGNYC: lets talk career
FH: i'm jamaican! i have like five occupations!
GGNYC: noted! so the latest venture is modeling... can you tell us more about that?
FH: yes that's fairly new. for years i was nothing close to a model... my sister was though, so i was around that industry. then i got out of a long relationship and started to workout, and really get into fitness and health ... i used that as my healing process. one day i was approached by a photographer who wanted to shoot, after that a few agencies reached out and now i'm a working model.
GGNYC: thats so exciting! any big projects we should be on the lookout for?
FH: i just did a big commercial with maybelline. i can't really talk about it until it comes out {laughs} but its going to be a huge stepping stone for me. i'm still new so i've mainly done e-commerce and look books.
GGNYC: tell us more about your work with the visual arts
FH: well i was doing selfies, or rather video selfies, before that was even a thing. i ended up buying a camera and flew to central america, backpacking, and i started to shoot everything until i came up with my "thing" ... which is travel photography. and from that came videography which has become my biggest passion.
GGNYC: very cool! what are some your favorite places you've traveled to?
FH: well, my favorite place is a little island called culebra. it belongs to puerto rico, but they're fiercely independent and call themselves culebrences. i started going there because i had lost my passport and being from jamaica it was like pulling teeth to get a new one, so i started going to culebra because i love to snorkel and its basically a deserted beach. another favorite is bluefields in nicaragua. i went there with a buddy of mine, and it was just magical. their english is patois and that was part of why i fell in love with it. i could essentially live there without any issues.
JUST FOR FUN
GGNYC: tell us about your first kiss!
FH: it was a friend of my sisters, she was babysitting my friend and i, or rather she was the parental influence--- which sounds really weird {laughs)-- but we were hanging out and it just happened! i was like 13 and she was like 16... i liked them older girls!
GGNYC: tell us about your first heartache
FH: it was from the first real relationship i had here in new york, my early 20s, i really loved the girl... after a couple of years she ended up getting with someone i knew, which was hard because when you have circles that collide its not a good feeling to keep seeing that.
GGNYC: ouch! so women don't get why men do certain things. imagine you're talking to your daughter or baby sister-- what advice would you give them?
FH: the best advice is to follow your instincts. try to investigate their spirit before giving yourself to them... be aware, see who they surround themselves with. know that influences matter.
GGNYC: name a website you look at that no one would think you did
FH: msnbc! im a news geek.
GGNYC: your boys are roasting you, what topics come up?
FH: the modeling! that's the main thing... my guys are former athletes, so they're having a blast getting at me for the modeling and the things i post on my instagram.
LETS GET PERSONAL
GGNYC: name one thing you want recognition for
FH: i would say, contributing to the betterment of the human race... i know that's a broad statement but i'm a spiritual guy and i was raised on a religion that promoted unifying people. so if anything, i want to be recognized for facilitating that process.
GGNYC: favorite thing your mom cooked growing up
FH: you see, my mothers cooking is the reason why i became a chef early on, but it was turkey burgers {laughs}... i hated them then, but now i miss them. my grandma on other hand, i loved her lasagna and this weird shrimp cocktail thing dipped in cream cheese and ritz crackers she would make.
GGNYC: secrets to fitz's heart! tell us one of your fondest memories growing up
FH: i remember this big division high school game, we were playing this team that was really good, they had this guy named boof bonser who ended up playing in the majors, he was a freshman and i was a senior and he was the best pitcher in the state. my whole team was scared of him because he threw 97 which was unheard of in high school. i was rallying my team, and then boof strikes out the first two batters, and i knew i couldn't let him do that to me... so i hit a line driver which almost blew his head off! and that opened the flood gates. and we beat the team!
GGNYC: finish this sentence: the women in my life are ___
FH: supportive.
loved fitz? follow him on:
instagram: @fitztheworldcitizen