“ That was one of the first photos that I took where I felt like I knew I was a portrait photographer and I captured a moment, an essence of a culture and a people, how they lived — and that felt very real to me.”
32 st. george’s school
P I P E R ’ S FAVO R I T E P H OTO : Little girl in a Masai village in Kenya in 2010 (Left)
// SPRING 2018
CHASING A PASSION Once Rastello returned from Africa, she went back to school for photography and started working as a photographer in Nashville for musicians and celebrities such as Blake Shelton and The Kings of Leon before deciding to return to adventure-travel photography. “Although I had accomplished my dreams shooting for celebrities and models, I lacked the passion that I once had when I was shooting abroad,” Rastello said. “When I sat down and thought about what made me happiest about being a photographer, it all came back to the adventures that I had had while backpacking through Africa and capturing raw and rare, untouched moments of beauty.” Rastello started taking pictures throughout Colorado and abroad in South America before she traveled to Peru where she was first hired by WHOA to shoot a 12-day trek through the Andes to Machu Picchu in 2017, camping near glaciers and hiking through arid and jungle landscapes. “I was able to photograph and witness Machu Picchu at sunrise, which was absolutely incredible,” Rastello said. “Something I’ll probably never be able to experience again.” Rastello said the best part of her job as a photographer is how it enables her to travel the world and experience its different cultures. “I think the ability to travel is my favorite part of being a photographer. It’s a career that not only enables me to travel, but it pays me to travel and meet new people and experience different aspects of life and how other people live and see the world,” said Rastello. “I think it’s really shaped the person that I am now, just having the perspective of how other people live outside of the United States’ bubble.”