As her photos grow in appeal among audiences, Destinee Condison remains candid. “It’s sort of surreal to think about,” the Kingstonian reflects halfway through our Zoom call. At 24, the multi-disciplinary artist has bridged the gulf from local freelancer to published photographer with works featured in Vogue and Billboard magazines, among other publications.

A moment’s glance at her portfolio is enough to get a sense of the how in this equation. Her photography swells with pure Jamaican vibrancy. It’s a quality that spans the breadth of her work, a gentle warmth brimming from images that trace the contours of the culture that nurtured her.

“I would describe it as visual poetry,” Condison offers. Still, this only scratches the surface of a talent championed by reggae singer Protoje as “one of the great photographers of our generation”.

Condison was born into a constellation of creatives. She describes her mother, Mojiba Williams Romanetti, as a “creative entrepreneur”, her father, Kanhai Condison, as “into video production”, and her maternal grandfather as “Count Ossie”, the eminent Rastafari drummer and band. At least professionally, the most consequential thread in this artistic lineage seems to be the Jamaican painter Hope Brooks, or “grandma”, as Condison calls her.

Known widely for her mixed media work, Brooks laid a foundation for her granddaughter to spring forth.

“Seeing my grandma build her life off of being an artist really encouraged me to pursue my dream,” Condison recalls.

It’s a connection with endless strands as Condison shares that she used Brooks’ old camera to frame her first subjects: the sky, flowers, and her sister.

As she began high school, Condison entered her point-and-shoot era. Gifted with a bare-bones camera, she immediately put the shutter through its paces by inviting friends over to her house, planning outfits and staging photoshoots. She clung to her tools throughout adolescence. Whether at school, in nature, or at concerts, her lens probed the world.

Eventually, her persistence bore fruit as eyes began to gravitate toward the familiar faces and places that she shared online.

“I was just a viewer in the concert crowds wanting to capture these moments and it sort of spiralled from there,” Condison notes before volunteering her intuitive marketing approach. “I tagged everybody that I photographed on social media and sometimes I’d get a response,” she explains.

“A lot of the photographers there are getting the same shot so it often comes down to how you present it online,” she offers before concluding, “sometimes how you edit the photos is the difference.”

As her creative ambitions bloomed in her late teens, Condison enrolled at Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts. Though initially hesitant about pursuing her passion academically, she grew to appreciate her decision. Now, two years after graduating, she reflects on the perspective gained from her time at “Edna”.

“After taking art history courses, I began to look at other regional artists to see what they were trying to say with their image or artwork, analysing the elements within that work to see what they built on to create stories or statements. It made me want to be more intentional with my own work,” she states.

Even as the wingspan of her interests stretches across photography genres — documentary, fashion, portrait — there is a patent consistency within her work. Though her compositions and subjects could — and at times do — command attention in grayscale, Condison mostly authors her images with colour. Her stills leap between hues, often saturated, sometimes muted, but always expressive.

“I think my environment has a lot of influence on me and my work. Jamaica is so exuberant and loud, but at the same time so tender,” she says.

Her Kingston upbringing was punctuated by sojourns in the countryside of St Mary, St Ann, and St Elizabeth. This exposure to the different shades and tempos of the island left its mark. The world of creation is as much a character in her images as it is a setting. Naturally, blues and greens abound.

In the latter half of college, Condison’s world expanded considerably: she grew firmly into herself, broadened her creative network and began to freelance more. At the same time, she propelled deeper into the orbit of the music scene that she’d been surveying for years. She eventually forged a collaborative relationship with Protoje and the members of his In.Digg.Nation Collective after their mutual friend Yannick Reid — a film-maker and Protoje’s creative director — spotlighted Destinee and her work.

On the music side, Condison has been commissioned to photograph artistes such as Koffee, Lila Iké, and Jaz Elise for projects ranging from album artwork to artiste profiles. Beyond that, she’s worked alongside stylist Mecca James-Williams for fashion spreads in publications such as 10 Magazine, Black Fashion Fair and Vogue.

Condison’s more personal dispatches — her odes to nature or her candid tableaux of Jamaicans embracing life — are no less stunning.

As early as she is into her career, Condison has produced an astounding body of work by any measure. Still, like many, she finds herself fending off the occasional siege of self-doubt. At one point, she sums it up with light-hearted candour: “Some days you can look at what you’ve done and say, ‘Yeah man, mi have it a gwaan,’ and others you might just wonder, ‘What’s happening?'”

She credits the affirmations of friends and family with helping her repel the grip of that spiritual morass.

“Of course, the biggest thing is to have that reassurance and confidence come from within,” she offers decisively.

To bolster that wisdom, Condison adds that growth can stem from doubt, too. “The good part is that I’m always pushing myself. I’m always willing to learn so I can improve my craft.”

For now, Condison is trying to be more conscious of time. Mapping out days overflowing with professional work, personal work, social engagements and hobbies — hairstyling, make-up artistry, drawing, guitar-playing, and so many more — is a high-wire act, but she’s finding her balance.

Before the call ends, Condison readily shares her personal credo with me: “Believe in yourself,” she begins before gently slipping into Patois, “and nuh watch no face”. A hard-won philosophy, no doubt.