Role: Project Management, Brand Strategy
A Practical Wedding is a digital media company that gets 1,000,000+ unique visitors each month, which means their site is their product. My project was to find a way to refresh the entire site: the UX, the logo and visuals, and the underlying code.
I found and hired both the Wordpress dev agency and designer. Together we revamped everything: new logo, new vendor directory, new block-based page layouts, new security measures, and a new (minimal) list of plugins.
We used data from A/B tests, heatmaps, and internal analytics to inform our decisions—things like: making a faster site to lower our bounce rate, reconfiguring content to optimize for search engine crawling, analyzing past search patterns to redesign site architecture, and switching to mobile-first to adapt to our rapidly growing mobile audience.
Results? Sitespeed jumped up, readers commented on feeling invigorated by the visuals, and the vendor directory became automated (and scalable!).
From a reader: “The new site is SO BEAUTIFUL. The logo is everything, the menus are lovely, it's just wonderful. And as a software engineer who absolutely hates doing frontend work, largely because it's so finicky, I can only imagine how much effort went into this. Congratulations to you all <3”
Role: Photographer
Donated photography services to Women of Letters, a monthly non-recorded storytelling event featuring a cross-section of powerful women. The photographs (taken quietly from afar) were the only documentation of the letter reading, which meant there was a real sense of freedom on stage, and intimacy with the audience.
All proceeds were donated to charities supporting women and children.
While all the guests were notable, some personal favorites included: Sasheer Zamata, Molly Ringwald, Rachel Antonoff, Aparna Nancherla, Cindy Gallop, Amanda Palmer, Mara Wilson, Libba Bray, Ariel Levy, Kim Boekbinder, and Maria Dahvana Headly.
"The most interesting and acclaimed writers, musicians, actors, comedians and politicians appear together on stage at a Women of Letters show, with the purpose of celebrating female talent and the lost art of letter-writing. The shows are funny and sad, and never recorded or filmed - part of the magic is that they exist in the moment, and the events are a safe storytelling space.”—Broadway World
Role: Creative Collaborator
Body language is often a forgotten form of storytelling, but over the course of my career I’ve collaborated with events, brands, and artists —using my physical form to translate and communicate their vision to a larger audience.
Final products of my collaborations have ended up in music videos with over a million views, on public walls from Brooklyn to Melbourne, featured in publications like i-D magazine, Artnet, and Noisey, art institutions like Bric Arts and Postmasters Gallery, limited edition art books, Netflix (find me in “She’s Gotta Have It”), and even in a Converse ad campaign (yes, those are my green socks).
I danced live and on screen with indie performers like Cocorosie, Balkan Beat Box, Big Freedia, Nicky Da B, and Natti Vogel, as well as established acts like Ella Mai, N.E.R.D. and Kimbra.
I’ve also regularly worked with 2D artists who have a more collaborative approach to image-making, and want the subject to convey a message: Molly Crabapple, Tatyana Fazalizadeh, Corwin Prescott, Jessica Yatrofsky, Miss Saffaa.
Role: User Interviewer, Brand Strategist, Budgeter, Audience Developer, Photographer
Daughter’s Rising is an anti-trafficking non-profit based in Northern Thailand that works to empower at-risk women (particularly those of indigenous descent or refugees). Through the course of multiple consulting sessions and an on-site visit, I worked with the co-founders to develop a multi-prong strategic plan for the organization.
Daughter’s Rising programming is funded mostly via the income from The Chai Lai Orchid, an eco-hotel and elephant rescue center, which is also the location of DR’s vocational training program. I worked remotely with the CL/DR team to work on Chai Lai’s web presence, using analytics data and audience insights to refine site design, architecture, and SEO/copy.
When on-site, I project managed the core Daughters Rising team to build a working budget and goals for both the hotel and the non-profit, which was no easy feat. Turns out elephants are expensive.
I also distilled a co-founders vision for the Rise Up shop, which involves breaking the vulnerable poverty cycle by providing financial opportunity to mothers in at-risk communities. We conducted a series of user interviews to understand and adjust the program to the needs of the community. I shot a portrait series to represent the core artisan/mothers alongside their stories.
Guided by the budgeting insights, I taught core Daughter’s Rising members about content and digital community strategy, with a focus on instagram and influencer partnerships.
I hosted an instagram story takeover on A Practical Wedding’s account featuring Chai Lai as an ideal wedding and honeymoon destination, and shot additional stock photos that Chai Lai could use to feature certain under-documented offerings.
Role: Creative Director, Photographer
Sade.Gold is new handmade jewelry project, and the founder wanted to showcase the first line of rings in a way that spoke to both their elegant simplicity and lushness. Contrasted against painted fingertips, I captured the clean metals without sacrificing a hint of motion.
From conception to production in a two week span, we were able to create images for all social media, press, and the online shop in one fell swoop. While Sade.Gold is still quite new, there’s already a slew of taste-making creatives who are fans. In fact, HBO filmmaker Naima Ramos-Chapman was caught wearing Sade.Gold pieces in a recent issue of The Cut.
Role: Brand Storyteller, Creative Director, Photographer
I founded With Sol Studio to provide saturated, photojournalism-inspired brand storytelling. I work alongside creatives to visually narrate their work to a larger audience.
My photos have been used in online shops, publications, ad campaigns, and pitch decks. My colorful clients have included:
Kim Boekbinder—a noise witch that casts spells in song form and produces animations on pressing political issues like transgender rights (with Laverne Cox), and the drug war (with Jay Z).
Restaurare— a vegan locavore restaurant in the jungles of Tulum that was a New York Times pick
Neon Zinn—a rope jewelry designer whose work was featured on Grace and Frankie
Julia Weldon—queer crooner and actor recently seen in High Maintenance
Marcia Baczynski—co-founder of Cuddle Parties and sexual communication expert
I also did extensive work alongside the political photography team at Panoramic Visions to document the 2012 Democratic campaign trail, including being one of the only women photographers on the DNC floor.
With Sol Studio also offers wedding, portraiture, and maternity services. Click here to see a more extensive portfolio of past works.
Role: Creative Director, Photographer
Sponsored by Lomography, Transmography was a collaborative series shot by me and illustrated by Molly Crabapple. All the works were shot on the Lubitel 166+, and were displayed in parallel shows at both the San Franscisco and New York Lomography locations, as well as featured on their website.
Lomography wanted artists that would create works to specifically highlight the benefits of a fully manual, medium format camera—an intentional, detail oriented tool. The series was designed to emphasize these elements.
Many of our subjects hadn’t been photographed nude before. The deliberateness of the camera required a level of intimacy with the subject, as you slowly adjust and focus. The results are true to the eye and authentic, partially because my gaze isn’t objectifying, and partially because the twin lens medium format is a truth teller.
The original description:
“Transmography:
Thirteen Fairytale Portraits of Queers Beyond the Gender Binary
Transmogrify, Verb:
To transform, esp. in a surprising or magical manner
From poets to porn-stars, computer nerds to community gardeners, artists to activists: these portraits capture some of the real gender warriors today. They are trans, genderqueer, or just gender-fabulous, and they deserve their own magical realm.”
