Sorry that I’ve been missing in action for a bit, this past couple of weeks have been very busy. Swimming lessons, work, weddings, doctors appointments. It never seems to end. However, something pretty exciting happened and I’m finally getting around to writing about it.
When Thera came to me to see if I would be interested in collaborating with her, it was an obvious yes. For one, she’s an amazing photographer. How do I know? Well she has taken all of my families photos for years and is always willing to tackle the weird ass themes that I come up with without even batting an eye. For two, we have a love for the same aesthetic. Her vision always lines up perfectly with my vision. I would like to point out that it might have something to do with the fact that both of us are horror movie weirdos and always like to lean towards darker images. Either way, it works. She gets me and I get her and I think that it shows when we work together.
When it comes to what each of us do, to me it’s night and day different. We compliment each other’s jobs. If one of us is off, it can easily fuck the other one. So when we get together, we both have our game faces on because we don’t want to let the other one down. Nothing says that you respect someone like being scared you’ll be murdered if she has to edit her photos more because you screwed up on your end lol. And I do respect her. A lot. I respect her work, I respect her as a friend, and I respect her as an artist that I can collaborate with. With that being said, the biggest goal that we have each had is to have magazines interested in our work. It’s the one way that both of our jobs can be credited as a team. It’s not just about styling or makeup or photography. It’s that time when all three come together to make a very special image. Don’t get me wrong, we love what we do and we have a great time doing it. Career wise though, magazine work was a personal goal for the both of us.
When we found Katie, the perfect model for our themes, we put in a seven hour day of photos, styling and makeup. Normally that kind of day would be long and tedious, but with a photographer that has a vision and knows how to take a great shot, and a model that knows her angles and doesn’t complain once, even though people may or may not have been driving past staring at her, the day went by in a blink. We managed to get a lot of great photos. Photos that I’m very proud of. That was enough for me. To have actual photo verification of how well we work together hanging on my wall made my month. And then Thera called me…..
It turns out that Vogue Italia considered using one of our photos. Boom. I can die happy now, end of story. I would be happy if a grocery store flyer used one of our photos. Vogue Italia?!? Come on. That’s a big deal to me, to Thera, and to Katie. I am so proud and happy for all of us that it completely drowned out any negative compliments we have gotten. Yes, the makeup was weird. It was supposed to be. I took all of the credit? Impossible. The photos weren’t taken on an iPhone, which is all I’m capable of, so I’m pretty sure I’m well aware of how hard Thera works and I would never want to be that person who would downplay what she does. We think we are fancy now? Wrong again. We are just some girls from a small town that set a huge goal for ourselves, and we almost accomplished it. For us, that’s a pretty big deal guys. The icing on the cake is to be able to share it Thera and Katie. We are now bonded for life. In twenty years if we all ran into each other on the street, we can genuinely say “Hey, remember the time we were almost published in Vogue Italia?” And not be a bunch of liars lol.
So thank you. Thank you Thera for always being a step ahead of me. For being that girl that when we work together, makes me have my game face on. Without you we would literally have no images of that day. You are amazing at what you do. You’re willing to climb up a tree if it means getting the perfect shot. I, would not be in a tree lol. I am so appreciative that you came to me with your ideas, and that together, we could expand on them. I hope that this is the beginning of a lot of work together. Thank you Katie for being an absolute dream to work with. You. Are. Beautiful. When we told you that you would be showing lots of leg, that you’d be working with a horse, that you wouldn’t have a top on and a boob might pop out, you went with it. All of it. And you did an amazing job. Thank you to everyone that supports us. To you people not laughing behind our backs or saying negative comments, we appreciate it. We know that some of the things that we come up with aren’t for everyone. For those of you that can look past that and still be excited for what we are trying to do is amazing. You might not know this, but a lot of negativity flies around when someone tries something new, and it can make you feel pretty low. Just having one person say “I like what you girls are doing” or “Great work” can take us a long way. So thank you again. Thera, Katie and myself all appreciate it. We are lucky to have the friends, family and support that we do.
That is too bad you are running into negativity, this is what happens to creative people, I have run into lots myself. Ignore it and keep doing what you’re doing, I am loving it.
Thank you so much Barb. You’re a great friend to have cheering me on. I really appreciate it!