05/01/2024
FULL HEART ❤
In 2017, my 2nd year of , I was juggling 3 related but different services: Event Design, Graphic Design + Prop Styling. Truth was, at 30 years old, I was still trying to decide WTF I wanted to do professionally.
That was also the year that the editors of “found” me. After chatting over coffee, I was asked whether I’d be interested in producing & styling a holiday-centric shoot. I tried to be chill about it, but internally I was freaking out. All I had ever wanted to do since I was 13 was to work on shoots for magazines. I couldn’t believe that an editor had asked me to do JUST THAT.
The shoot I put together that year was called “Friendsgiving Feast”. I ran around Baltimore, introducing myself to local shops, restaurants + makers that I thought would be cool to collaborate with. I thrifted antiques & dishware. I brought everything together in a church & styled a Thanksgiving tablescape. It was the most elaborate project I’d ever done.
That night, Nate came home & innocently asked ‘how’d it go?’. I immediately burst into tears — the happy kind. “I don’t know how to explain it, but now I know: THIS is what I was always meant to do” I said with wet cheeks.
7 years later — I’m still in mild shock I get to make a living by collecting props, collaborating with creatives & telling stories through imagery — here in Baltimore none-the-less; A city where my grandparents + Dad immigrated to from Italy, which I abandoned for NYC, never thinking I’d ever return to, only to find my truest self here, years later.
Thank you , most especially . You’re the catalysts that made me realize that THIS is the career for me & that THIS is my city. Thank you so much for sharing my story - my family’s story - with Baltimore ❤
Photos by the wonderful
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