PLAID, PLAID

The reason these photos exist? I got stood up by a photographer.

He had flaked on me twice before, and this was the third time. We were supposed to shoot at golden hour on a Tuesday, and it wasn’t until an hour past our shoot time that he even attempted to call me. For the record, about a week later I ended up shooting with him anyways, and he turned out to be a total piece of shit. Bullet dodged.

But I had gone out to buy the dress + the props for this shoot, and I was really excited to shoot it. Sitting fucking depressed as shit in my living room, Julio (@juliojimenezgallery) grabbed his camera and offered to snap some pictures in an empty field up the road from our house. The lighting is insanely beautiful at the end of each day in that little spot, so I knew it would give off the same energy I had been chasing. Creating with Julio always leaves me with my favorite pictures.

THE IDEA:

I really let the outfit lead me on this one. The concept was just ‘picnic’, but I hadn’t visualized what it would look like past a few reference photos of my favorite model, @leleberlin, laying on a sheet in a field with some fruit. Due to naturally wanting to turn everything more erotic, I knew there would be less modesty. Oftentimes it’s the simplest ideas that turn into the best work.

THE OUTFIT:

My first time shopping in a mall in months. I like to frequent H&M if I’m shopping for a shoot, because they always have such a diverse range of clothing for a generally affordable price. Plus, they have that discount program now if you sign up with an email! I’ve given them like, ten emails.

The shoes were borrowed from my roommate Julia. The underwear was a red set purchased and never shot in from Shein — bought around Valentines Day, when I decided I was done creating boring boudoir art. The cherry earrings were on clearance at aforementioned H&M. I found the dress on one of their ‘trendier’ racks, and almost gravitated away from it. To be honest, I probably would have if the fitting rooms had been open. The way the dress sits around my waist was looser than I normally like, and the shoulders puffier. To be honest though, I don’t think this would have been executed as well with any other dress. The lack of form-fitting fabric gave me room to move and do my job better. The yellow toes were coincidence and the lipstick was Tarte.

THE STYLING:

Though my hair is short now, I loved shooting with a low ponytail when it was long (RIP my length). I pinned my bangs away and kept my makeup relatively simple. A red lip tied in the cherries, strawberries, and lingerie. The lemons and the yellow nails matched insanely perfectly. The white sheet + black shoes and white + black dress? Godsent.

THE SHOT:

It’s hard for me to pick a favorite from this shoot. If I’m being honest, this is the set that I go back and look at when I need to be reminded that I’m a pretty damn good model. I really loved editing them and bringing them to life. I loved the memory of creating them with Julio. There’s nothing but good ass energy in these pictures, and therefore I love and treasure them all.

The one that catches my eye more than any is the first one featured on this page — mid-bite, glass in hand, legs crossed uncomfortably. I love that it makes you fucking stop for a second and figure out what the hell is happening. Most of my favorite shots of myself are generally in-between poses, when my mind isn’t focused on being physically stiff. I work best with movement.

We got damn lucky with how clean the lighting was that day. The sunset was unreal and the lack of a concept made the movement and poses super affordable (and fun). AND I just got to look cute and eat strawberries — pretty cool flex if you ask me.