Dario Calmese is an American creative director, photographer, and design theorist. His work interrogates the mechanisms of cultural production and the ways in which image, environment, and technology shape the lived experience. Spanning across the fields of photography, design, fashion, and performance, his practice aims at repopulating the voids within the construction of historical narrative and identity by leveraging the very systems that dictate how we come to know ourselves both collectively and individually.

In 2020, Calmese made history as the first ever Black photographer to shoot a cover for Vanity Fair — in its 106-year existence — with his portrait of Oscar-winning actress Viola Davis. That same year, Calmese launched the Institute of Black Imagination (IBI), a design startup that works to preserve, integrate, and cultivate the Black imagination through innovative and interactive experiences. IBI's portfolio includes a widely acclaimed podcast, a powerful online archive of Black creativity, and a forthcoming location at the Oculus World Trade Centre, all of which tap into the “Pool of Black Genius” to share the visions of the modern iconoclasts taking the reins on cultural thought and innovation.

A 2023 Loeb Fellow at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Calmese serves on the global advisory board for Estée Lauder Companies and is a professor at The New School’s Parsons School of Design in New York City. He's also an NYC Urban Design Forum Fellow, show director for the fashion brand Pyer Moss, and collaborated with Adobe Lightroom to design presets specifically for people of color. Additional clients include Vogue, Rolling Stone, Esquire Magazine, Numero, ABC Studios, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.