621 Fabrication st is equivalent to a lonely, vibrant sunflower swaying with the wind in a field of dying greenery suffering from the season change. The surrounding location is ugly, definitely an eye sore. It didn’t help that the recent rainy weather created a number of mud puddles that became acquainted with my skate shoes and car tires. The Fabrication Yard is smack dab in the middle of an old industrial area, located on the west side of Dallas. The location itself is, what seems to be, an old warehouse, filled with very vibrant and awe- inspiring graffiti art by some of Dallas’ amazing graffiti artists. Many photoshoots, vlogs and events have taken place at the yard, it’s visually compelling. One can’t help but to scan the walls while attempting to avoid tripping over used spray paint cans. The harsh aroma of paint is present yet appreciated by those who understand and love the art. This is where I was introduced to Dante Roberts, aka Hollywood. Prior to the engagement, we followed each other on Twitter. The piece of knowledge I had of him was that he is an avid concert photographer . I was impressed by his work as he consistently post his photography via Twitter and Instagram. He posted that he was hosting an instameet at the yard and I decided to attend. At first I didn’t know what to expect from Dante, granted we communicated through texting but nothing more. I could tell he had a cool vibe about him, plus he is a photographer so there was always something to talk about. After our initial greeting, it was all love from there. Watching him grow as a photographer and entrepreneur was always inspiring, similar to watching a sibling passionately chase their dreams. The one thing that puzzled me was how fast he came up and started making a name for himself. Things happened so fast that it was easier to maintain eye sight on the puck at a professional hockey game. Without further ado, let’s get to know Dante “Hollywood” Roberts.

In his younger years, Dante moved around quite a bit. Born in San Antonio, he moved to Irving at 6 years old, went back to San Antonio at 8 years old and stayed a for a year. During the second time back in San Antonio, his mom became acquainted with his step dad through mutual friends. Not long after, his step dad landed a job in Dallas, from there they high tailed it back to North Texas. When they got back, the family resided in Grand Prairie for about a year before eventually settling in Arlington for a bit, long enough for Dante to graduate from Mansfield Timberview High school. Being the oldest of 3 sisters and 1 brother had its perks, in Dante’s words. He was the “experiment” child but on the contrary, he states that he got his ass beat for everything. He also expresses the challenge of growing up with a young mother, “ My mom was still trying to learn herself”, he says “ as I was growing up, she was growing up as well.” There was never a dull moment in his household. A lot of her time was spent working, which meant more free time and having a cool step father was a plus but that also meant extra eyes on him so he had to be sneaky. In his adolescence, he was a self proclaimed “know at all” that had the tendency to catch on to things pretty quickly and learned faster than his peers. As a result, it hindered him from maintaining friendships. In high school, Dante had a nonchalant, careless attitude about our American school curriculum. He was the kid in class that did everything else but his school work. I can’t blame him either; Mansfield Timberview was recognized as a National Blue Ribbon High School and purchased IPads for their students as an educational tool, which made perfect sense as to why he never paid my attention in class. He spent most of his time using the iPad for drawing, painting, graphic design and playing games. If you’re telling me that if your high school gave the students iPads and the only thing you were using it for is educational reasons, I’d would call you a liar. Even though he was aware of his creative talents, he didn’t take art seriously until after he graduated high school in 2015.

Life went down a challenging path after graduation. Quarrels ensued during that time between Dante, his mom and his biological father. It created distance between them and a sense of irrationality. After getting kicked out, Dante decided to stay with numerous friends in Arlington as his mom and step father moved to Plano. A month of struggling and trying to survive off of graduation money, Dante decided the next best thing to do was move in with his biological father and step mom in Ft Worth. Fortunately he was able to land a job at a local Panda Express and was on his way of getting his self together. Living with his father was short lived, his step mom decided to kick him out of the house, “ Yeah, my step mom kicked me out of some shit”, he says as he inhales from the blunt before passing it, “ It was really on some hoe shit.” Shortly after moving in with his mom, he met Connor Gibbons through mutual friends from school and a local Starbucks he worked at in Plano. Two and a half months after meeting Connor, Dante got kicked out for the third time and found himself sleeping in his car in front of Connor’s house. Connor’s mother became aware of Dante’s living situation and invited him to move into their home.

“I believe that everyone is photogenic, its just that they have to feel good and comfortable with their selves”

Dante started his journey in photography around the same time he moved into Connor’s home. His first camera was the Canon T3 rebel DSLR camera. Before the summer of 2017, he indulged himself in portrait photography with his close associates, “I believe that everyone is photogenic, its just that they have to feel good and comfortable with their selves”, he explains, “when you boost their confidence, their photos come out great.” Around this time, Connor and Dante landed a gig as nightlife photographers for Dallas Texas Entertainment, shooting photos at two local clubs, Playhouse and CoED. Unfortunately, they weren’t compensated but seized the opportunity to get their names out there and ended up seeing artist Gucci Mane and Travis Scott for free. In August 2017, Dante converted to concert photography, starting out with shooting the Lil Yachty show. A couple months later, he shot the Chief Keef show, at this point he switched from Sports Mode to Manual Mode on his camera.

Not long after, he became one of Aeronotiqz’s official concert photographers. Initially, Connor made a connection with Aeronotiqz through an associate named Calypso. Calypso contacted Connor to inform him that Aeronotiqz was looking to sell slots for an upcoming event. Connor contacted Tiron from Aeronotiqz about performing at the event, with Dante there to take his photos. Dante claims that when he started showing up to Aeronotiqz shows with his camera in hand, he wasn’t take seriously. A little while after he started to feel that he was getting the respect that he deserved. As time went on, Connor started selling more and more tickets and Dante eventually linked up with Tiron and ultimately became his creative director.

When asked about his favorite genre of photography, the answer was undoubtedly obvious; concert photography, “ It’s fun, it’s natural, it’s candid.” He admits that he always had a love for fashion photography. His admiration for fabrics and fashion styles you don’t see often has kept his mind open to pursuing the fashion world in the future. Recently, he made the controversial switch from Canon to Nikon. Personally, I felt that it was a smart move ( I’m a faithful and stubborn Nikon photographer so there’s nothing you can tell me). Many people disapproved (of course they would but whatever) of his decision but what matters is that he’s happy with his purchase. Primarily he wanted to go mirrorless with the Lumix G7 but due lack of knowledge and expensive lens, he decided to get the Nikon d7200. Dante has a handful of plans for the near future; visiting Atlanta for a week or so in January 2019, staying in Los Angeles for a month next spring and in the process. With his mind set on accomplishing goals and having fun, there’s nothing that’s going to stop him from reaching success.

p.s shoutout to SouthSide Kaleeks for believing in Dante and motivating him to keep going

Check out Dante’ Instagram in the link below:

Instagram