Pictorial: Zachary Paul
When I started mapping out my ideas for shooting this series, I wanted to ensure that the beauty and essence behind this piece, as well as the brand it comes from, was captured and placed at the forefront of the viewer’s attention.
In doing so, I unintentionally managed to capture and place something else at the forefront: myself. You see, I normally don’t put myself in front of the camera. It’s a rarity if I do, and it’s always on my own accord if that’s the case. A lack of confidence is a brief way to describe the reason for such absence, but I gravitate more towards the art and design elements that go into creating and seeing a project through.
Cut to this year. I find myself both behind the camera, as well as in front of the camera, capturing a side of myself that I don’t explore often, especially not in such a public way like this. I manage to keep my sensuality quite private mostly because, again, a lack of confidence I have regarding how I look. Or, rather, how I don’t look. The more photos I took of myself, the more I started to notice how I looked. Not how I didn’t look, but how I really, truly, authentically looked. And, to be honest, I liked what I saw.
What this opportunity lent itself to me is something I didn’t at all expect, and that is the power of confidence. In this series of photos, I was able to harness my love for art and design and combine it with a newfound confidence I have in myself.
