Sophie r

Sophie is an artist. She writes, paints, makes her own jewelry, and loves photography. 

While I had a sense of what she was like from her IG posts and photos, I had very little idea of who I was going to photograph. But after spending a couple of hours with her, I can easily describe Sophie in one word: ethereal. She seems to me to give off an aura of lightness, of sensibility, of otherworldliness. Another word that comes to mind is gauzy. 

When I asked Sophie what her happy place was, she mentioned that while she loves being in nature, her studio is one of her favorite places because that is where she gives free rein to her creativity, one of her loves. Her studio was nothing like what I had imagined. In fact, it was more as if her whole house was her canvas: full of vibrant colors, stuffed animals and whimsical decorative pieces everywhere. And then there were her paintings – abstract yet recognizable, transcendent yet distinguishable, a cross between the here and now and the invisible, and as diaphanous as the painter herself. 

To me, these 3+ things photo shoots are more of an adventure than a well-constructed plan. I do go into them with certain preconceived ideas and a shot list based on the conversation that I have with the participant ahead of time, but typically the venue is new to me and therefore, the background and light conditions unknown. And because I’m endeavoring to capture the essence of the person and not just posing them at my whim, I honestly never know what I’m going to get. Every shoot is real and fascinating to me. This one was no exception. There were so many possibilities. It was as if Sophie seemed to float gracefully from one place to another, leaving traces of herself everywhere she went.