#DearDiary - Capim Durado with Tielly Ogura

I don't discuss my personal history on here very much, but as this season ends and a new year is prepared for I feel like it's the right time to share. 

I studied photography and art history at Rhode Island School of Design, a very good but ultimately overinflated school where I learned to pull rigorous all-nighters and drink chai lattes while looking at a printmaker's installation art. I should pause here though, before you think I regret it. I don't. But right after school and for years after, I felt burnt out of photography. I had nothing to say with it, nothing to write a real dissertation on, and I thought that was the the only kind of photography that was valuable. 

Thankfully, through the time that's passed, I've learned so much about what it means to make images and create art. There's value in beauty for beauty's sake, and there's a technical as well as a production side to art that I've grown to realize I truly deeply love. And more than that, I'm good at it. 

That dovetails nicely into what I do now: art direction, and (less often) professional retouching. A few months ago in Brazil gave me the opportunity to do both! 

In Bonito I discovered capim dourado (literally, "golden grass"), a type of plant that people in Jalapão, Brazil use to create spectacular jewelry like in the photos above. I saw a window display and was instantly captivated by the richness of the grass and the delicacy of the design. It felt JUST like gold & diamonds, but was significantly cheaper and better for the world than either of those materials. The  jewelry lit my brain up like a firework and I begged the owner to let me borrow a few pieces to shoot with the uber talented Tielly Ogura. They agreed to let us have them for an afternoon, so I quickly put these looks together with a simple scarf & the most beautiful spots in our guesthouse, and Tielly let me retouch the files so they fit my specific vision. I'm always grateful when a photographer allows me that level of control- I know it doesn't work for everyone in every situation, but I feel my best when I can see an concept through from start to finish. It's probably why I (and so many other models) do so much self portraiture. 

What do you think? Do you like how this photo editorial turned out? 

xoxo, Nicole