well i have to admit that i would have never imagined for things to unfold this way. i remember in january when the most important thing was trying to get the couch i ordered to fit through the door. that was some serious pain that i even blogged about it. and now here we are six months later and things are beginning to feel like it's about to blow up!
a lot of people have wondered how things have evolved so fast since i moved to dc in january 2010. i mean, really though, it hasn't been that fast. but things did move fast once it started moving. not sure if that made sense, but it's like when the ball is rolling, it rolls.
it all started when i tried to get in new york fashion week. i contacted IMG, who manages it, and they said my portfolio was good enough, but i needed to be backed up by a major media outlet or something. even the PR manager called me and said she'd love to get me in, but she couldn't do it. she said to try again in september. so i said ok.
after that, i ran into a link for "pink jams, fashion rocks". i emailed christa and asked if i could participate as a photographer and she said yes. considering i had only shot 1 fashion show before, i figured i needed some practice. so i googled fashion shows in dc and ran into what is called "dc fashion week". it's not really your typical city fashion week, but i won't get into that now. i ended up shooting all 4 days and definitely gained some experience. after dc fashion week, i was fully prepared for the pink jams, fashion rocks show. that show turned out to be a major MAJOR milestone. i did not know it at the time, of course, but the photos that came out of that show somehow put me on the map. considering that nobody knew who the hell i was, people were starting to wonder. but again, nothing would come to fruition until much much later.
after shooting 5 fashion shows in a span of three weeks, i was hooked. fortunately for me, dc was brimming with fashion shows. and not only that, they were non profit events too! i thought it was perfect. next up would be fashion for paws and couture for a cure and a tigerlily event.
before i talk about those events, i want to give a shout out to models chelsea alexander, dana filatova, and kate michael and also to designer liz stajka and hair and makeup artist mari shten. these wondeful individuals all agreed to do a photoshoot with me before any of this "fun" stuff was happening. they definitely made me feel like i belonged and that my work was worth something. it's funny how you email so many people and you only get one or two responses back. and i emailed tons! but fortunately for me, the responses i got were from awesome individuals.
what's funny is that after the fashion for paws show, i was pretty exhausted. this was in april and i was starting to feel a little burned out. i even proclaimed that i would not do another fashion show again! then of course came the email from jennifer harlow asking me to be a part of the tigerlily garden fashion event and couture for a cure. i remember telling her that i MIGHT do it, but it would totally depend on the dates.
i was already booked to shoot claire and dave's wedding in may and after so many fashion shows already, the last thing i wanted to do was shoot more fashion shows. i mean, once you've taken pictures of dogs in tutus and diamonds, what more do you really need? at any rate, the dates turned out to be ok and jen was a pretty good closer. i told her i'd be part of the tigerlily event and couture for a cure.
prior to all this, i also emailed fashion fights poverty and asked them if i could do a photoshoot with them. funny enough, michael dumlao originally asked me to do another project, but it was so hard that i had to tell him i couldn't do it (he wanted me to find an abandoned textile mill and find an ex worker who worked there). i mean, i didn't want to say no, but i had to be realistic. fortunately, he was ok with my answer and he booked me for a fashion spread instead. i was so nervous to work with the creative geniuses such as michael, elaine mensah, and kemy greene that i couldn't even change a lens! hahaaha. luckily, they were all easy and fun to work with and i had a blast shooting with lisa and anthony. and it was really fun to see my fashion photos in a magazine for the first time.
somewhere in the middle of all this was dominique fierro's photo exhibit. she had emailed me on shoot for change and was interested in the idea. we emailed back and forth and she invited me to her photo exhibit. when i accepted it on facebook, i noticed that jen harlow also signed up to go. she actually thought it was mine and when she realized it wasn't, she asked me when i would have a show in dc. she was shocked that this hasn't happened yet. she talked to her friend, angela steever-diba, who also happened to like my work. three weeks later, i'm at the peacock cafe being introduced to shahab, maziar, and micky farivar. and of course shortly after that, in the month of JUNE, i had my first show in dc.
and in the next few days, in the month of JUNE, i was blogged, written about, and interviewed. in the month of JUNE, i was invited to be part of BoConcept's fall launch party. how did that happen? jen met a girl in her real estate class who happened to be a designer at BoConcept. one conversation led to another and jen invited tia to the 10x10 event. unfortunately, she couldn't come, but their conversation led to SFC being part of the BoConcept launch party. Wow. i actually had to email jen the next morning to make sure i heard her correctly. and i did. i then went to a lunch where we discussed how Shoot for Change could be part of their event and how chanel will be there to do makeup. CHANEL? really? BoConcept? are you kidding me? it all felt like a dream!
i kinda wish that all months could be like JUNE. but at the same time, i remember what last june was like and it was definitely not this fun. honestly, i don't really know where it's going, but i do know that it's going somewhere. i'm grateful for all the incredible people that i've met and who have been interested to know me. i've lived in many places around the country and in some parts of the world, but so far, moving to virginia turned out to be a pretty cool idea.
let's see what happens next!
