The fall season is one of my favorite seasons that I always look forward to the most. The weather is more chill and crisp, outfits are more cozy and comfy, and listening to your favorite fall playlists just hits different during this time of year. For our 72nd issue, the team and I decided to bring back the iconic theme– the Photography issue. We’re beyond excited to feature midwest based photographer, Christian Sarkine on the cover of our Fall 2025 issue. It truly felt like the stars aligned as Christian’s work is not only inspiring but his creativity is unreal and he deserves all the stars for his incredibly talented portfolio. The issue is filled with an awesome roster of photographers– Bella Peterson, Lauren Alex Kim, Lia Hansen and Zuly Garcia. This issue was by far a labor of love as I collaborated with fellow photographer, Alex Lam on a collaboration feature titled,
“Reflecting: The Photos That Made Us,” featuring a curated list of diverse photographers where they reflect on their own photos from their perspective in a reflective capsule of things that shaped who they are. On behalf of our team and I, we hope you enjoy this read and get inspired to go outside and take photos of what brings you the most joy whether it’s on your digicam, camera phone, or thrifted film camera you just found– go discover the unknown!
Cathrine Khom
ISSUE 72 — CHRISTIAN SARKINE FALL 2025
FOUNDER & EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Cathrine Khom
COPY EDITOR
Sophia Khom
DESIGNERS
Lisa Lok, Yoolim Moon
SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATORS
Jessica Spiers, Tatiana Diaz de Leon
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Ang Cruz, Ashley Bulayo, Jessica Spiers, Natalie Howard, Uma Snow
CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
Anson Tong, Dylan Tabirara, Elissa Mentesana, Emily Machan, Julianne Han, Juri Kim, Lewen Han, Lianna Glennon, Misha Yu, Shantell Cruz, Selina Pan, Storm Kiet Nguyen, Uma Snow
Airis Encarnacion, Alex Lam, Alexxus Browning, Bella Peterson, Kevin Delgado, Jaden Da Rosa, Lauren Alex Kim, Lauren Nieves, Lia Hansen, Lianna Glennon, Uma Snow, VX Media, Zuly Garcia
FEATURING
Christian Sarkine
THEME
Photography
COVER PHOTO
Mackenzie Ryan
COVER DESIGN
Lisa Lok
LOGO
Lisa Lok, Fiona Yeung
CONTACT
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Press: press@localwolves.com
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Get Involved: community@localwolves.com
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ON THE COVER CHRISTIAN SARKINE
COVER Christian Sarkine STORY
Uma Snow
PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION
Mackenzie Ryan
BTS PHOTOGRAPHY
Kayla Simons
STYLING
J amar Mitchell
I spent this past December and January in India. After a lot of trips that lasted only 2 weeks at a time, having two whole months to stay with my extended family and visit my childhood friends was very special. My mom’s side of the family is in the state of Maharashtra (in Mumbai and Pune), and my dad’s side is in Gujarat (in Ahmedabad and Baroda). I went through 3 rolls of film across my time in the two states.
When in Ahmedabad, we stayed with my aunt and uncle. Their house has grown to feel like another home. I’ve always had a lot of fun watching baby monkeys play around in the neighborhood. My aunt feeds the peacocks every day and, like clockwork, they show up at the back door in the afternoon, waiting for their snack. It took them a bit to warm up to me, but then I was able to feed them too!
For the first time since we moved back to the US in 2014, my brother and I were able to visit our old school in Ahmedabad. My brother took the picture of me on the elementary school swing.
The L.D. Museum in Ahmedabad, which houses a lot of historical Indian art. The building was designed by B. V. Doshi, an important figure in Indian architecture.
The street my uncle lives on in Baroda.
The Baroda Museum & Picture Gallery, built in 1894.
I love my grandmother’s house. When he was alive, my grandfather used to spend hours taking care of the garden every morning. It still blooms beautifully. They have a giant coconut tree in the backyard!
Gaura is my best friend in the whole world. Seeing her is one of my favorite parts of visiting India. In January, she flew with me from Ahmedabad to Pune, to spend some time at my grandmother’s house together.
Gaura and I went on a photo walk around the city of Pune. CineStill is such a beautiful film stock.
I taught Gaura how to use a film camera and these are some pictures from her first roll of film. I love this image.
Me in my grandmother’s backyard, taking a picture of the coconut tree.
My grandmother and I.
For our 72nd issue, we’re focusing on photography. It has always been a huge part of who we are— whether you take photos on your phone, webcam, point and shoot camera, 35mm film cameras or other types of cameras available. There are a plethora of reasons why the importance of photography continues to grow and expand as inspiration to us. What is your perspective on photography and the impact it has on your life?
WOLFIE SUBMISSIONS PHOTOGRAPHY
Kai
MICHELLE CASTILLO, SAN FRANCISCO, CA, USA
Photography by Michelle Castillo
Creative Direction & Model — Kai Toney
Hair, Makeup & Styling — Helen
Jewelry — Megan Nguyen
Keeping Memories
"My phone camera isn't very good."
"I absolutely have no idea how to strike a pose."
"Does it even really matter?"
Those three sentences were never far from my lips when it came to taking pictures. I never really liked how I looked, and while I would take pictures of the mundane things; the sky, the pretty flowers I walked past on my way to class, directions when I got to a new place so I didn't get lost, I hardly ever took pictures of myself.
Then there was my 20th birthday. I had five of my closest friends come over, and as customary, we had to take pictures. I didn't have the excuse of not having a good phone camera, my friends had better ones, not like mine was even bad in the first place. I could come up with every possible reason I didn't want to take a picture, but they wouldn't let me.
And so we did take pictures, using my T's phone.
Three years later, I got a call. T was gone. T was a sickle cell warrior, and I was anything but prepared for the pain of losing. I never cried in front of other people, but this time, I cried. My friend was gone. I and her other friends did a thing, gathering pictures and notes from all those who loved her. I'd changed phones through the years, never bothered backing up my photos or trying to save them, and it never bothered me until now.
T and I had many pictures. We'd met on the staircase in our faculty just before a class and remained friends ever since. She'd been
the reason I'd taken a number of pictures as she was one of the easiest people to compel me to. I never really bothered saving them, and now that I had taken all the photos I would with T in my life, our past pictures were like treasures, and I hadn't even saved them. A friend had saved some pictures of us through time, but they weren't the most intimate ones of my friend, or the ones with so much back stories.
Months after we buried T, my brother would find a memory card. He inserts it in his phone, wanting to transfer some files. Then I catch a glimpse of two people, one wearing green, another in brown.
It's a picture I know even in my dreams; it's T and I at my 20th. I fight the tears, seeing her face again, all bright. I stare at the picture, and it's like my friend is alive all over again, at her happiest, even despite the pain she felt, that I have a memory of her I can view and go back to over and over again.
These days, I don't really care that much about what I look like or if I'm my most put together. I take pictures of myself. I allow my loved ones to take pictures of me. I take the most random selfies, not caring if I look funny. Those are the selfies I like the most. I don't hesitate to ask my friends to let us take a picture. There's the nudging insecurity sometimes, but I take pictures despite them.
Finding that memory card was a reminder of capturing and keeping memories safe. Five years down the line, you wouldn't care how you looked in those photos, more than anything, you'll remember the joy of those moments.
And I want to keep many of those moments as much as I possibly can.
ADEBISI AMORI , IBADAN, OYO STATE, NG
People always say a photo is worth a thousand words, and they’re right. I’ve moved 9 times in the last 6.5 years, with half of those years as a seasonal worker in different tourist towns across Western Canada. When I look back at the photos I’ve taken over the years, I’m immediately transported back to the moments they were taken; where I was living, the people I’ve met and befriended, the food we ate together, the laughter we shared and all of the moments we celebrated. Looking back at these photos fills me with an immense sense of nostalgia, and with it, a sincere love for this world and the people in it.
It fills me with pride. When I was younger and battling severe depression, the thought of travelling was one of the only things that brought any sense of comfort and peace. I’d watch YouTube travel videos, and make countless Pinterest boards of what I hoped my life would look like. Looking back on these photos, I’m reminded I’ve become someone that my younger self always dreamed of being.
It fills me with gratitude. The years I spent in these towns drastically changed me for the better. I met people from all over the world; people I would’ve never met otherwise. They sat with me in my grief, hugged me tight when I needed it, saw my potential when no one else did and held me accountable when no one else would. We celebrated each other's accomplishments and shared our excitement wholeheartedly. My perspectives of the world changed and empathy grew substantially. These years not only changed my life, but saved it too.
It fills me with hope, knowing that when I’m struggling mentally, I have the courage and strength to get through whatever I’m dealing with. One day when I achieve the current dreams I have, I’ll be able to look back at the photos I’m taking now and experience all of these emotions over again.That hope alone is enough to stick around and fight like hell to get through the rough patches.
CHLOEE HALL , VICTORIA, B.C., CANADA
Photography & Creative Direction by Chloe Kern
Photo Assistant — Vivien Habegger
Hair & Makeup — Anne-Laure Lescot & Lila Rgabi
Styling — Anna Billon
Model — Onvera Aalto
CHLOE KERN , DANA POINT, CA, USA
Serendipiti
PHOEBE FAYE , MAGANDJIN/BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AU
Photography by Phoebe Faye
Creative Direction — Phoebe Faye & Jess Chate
Styling — Phoebe Faye
Model — Jess Chate
My Life’s Unfolding Story
Photography has always been an inseparable part of me for as long as I could remember. My dad gifted me a Sony Handycam Camcorder for our travels and it quickly became an extension for my curiosity, documenting the world through my very own lens. From the earliest days, our family photo albums were filled with images I captured of my family, scenery, and often, silly random things that caught my eye. You could always see me with a camera dangling around my neck, my favourite fashion accessory.
As I got older, one of my birthday presents was a Nikon Coolpix, marking my first foray into the digital world. It was so exhilarating to experiment with it. I loved seeing the moments that I lived in captured, instantly on the spot.
Years went by and it was around the era of the pandemic when I officially discovered my love for 35mm film photography. I bought my first film camera in 2020, a new year gift for myself, a thrifted Cosina Hi-Lite 405. I didn’t really know how to work around it, yet I didn’t really mind. It’s a journey, one I am still learning. It’s wondrous not knowing what I am going to capture and then being completely awe-struck by the images developed. The magic of film is simply inspiring for me.
The whole concept of “point and shoot” is what truly draws me in; it allows me to stay present in the moment rather than being distracted by the urge to review it afterwards. Sometimes, the film scans are not what I expect, yet seeing the accidental film photographs is surprisingly fun! Now, my current go-to cameras are a Pentax PC-550 film camera and a Pentax digital still camera.
For me, photography is more than just pressing the shutter; it’s about holding onto these moments in every way possible. I want to keep these memories tucked in tangible forms and digital archives before it all goes away. There’s something incredibly precious about looking into a piece of the past.
It's never just about taking the photo. I want to remember the feeling. The laughs shared. That moment transfixed in time. The subtle little moments people often miss. I want to capture stories, the untold narratives woven into every glance, in every smile, in every fleeting interaction. Photography allows me to immortalize not just an image, but the very essence of life’s precious moments.
AISHATH LAISHA FAHEEM , MALE' CITY, MV
When you’re overexposed to imperfection, that light can get in I’ve never been a perfectionist, probably because I know that I’ve never created anything perfect in my life. Everything I create is rough around the edges, largely because I force myself to press “publish” or send a pitch for a story before I know I’m fully ready. I also know that my work will take on a new life once it’s out in the world and people can react to it, telling me the lines that resonated with them. Sometimes, people thank me for writing about things that a lot of people don’t talk about publicly, like drafting a pre-nup, negotiating your salary, and admitting that your wedding wasn’t the best day of your life and probably never will be. In these moments, I’m reminded that I get the most joy out of my work when I let people into my thought process, even the messy parts.
While I’m okay with my writing being imperfect, I have less grace for myself when it comes to photography. If I have an ostensibly infinite number of shots, shouldn’t I get it right every time? Much to the chagrin of my back, I carried my DSLR camera with me everywhere, often shooting senior portraits and events in the hopes of getting better, playing with brightness and highlights until every image looked as beautiful as it was when I saw it in real life.
And then came film photography. It’s a hobby I picked up from my wife, and I was feeling the sticker shock of the price of buying film and developing images when you had no way of knowing if you actually love them until you see the final pictures. She gifted me a film roll and a camera, so I decided to test it out for myself as a true hobby instead of immediately monetizing it. It was hard to relinquish control by taking a photo and having no idea what the final version would look like. Even harder was resisting the urge to take a photo on my phone as backup, which would leave me with a collection of duplicate images that feel less special. So true to form, it was a point-and-shoot hobby that left little to be perfectionism in the moment.
When I finally got my first roll of film developed, most of my photos were encircled by a beam of light. Despite the reassurance from a Facebook Marketplace seller, this was a light leak that was suspiciously absent from the test photos they had sent us. I had trusted my camera and myself to get it right and both had let me down. But as I looked at that set of photos, I started to find them a little more endearing, bringing the center object into a softer focus. I ended up getting a camera without a light leak, but I still held this set of photos close to my heart.
It took me a while to realize that like my writing, my film photos would never be perfect. There’s always something you wish you could tweak: The film so it brings out the right tones, the lighting, the angle that seemed straight at the time, but now you realize your framing was off, rule of thirds be damned. Embracing film photography comes with loving the process as much as the final product, and relinquishing the pressure for every image to be the best thing I’ve ever captured. These days, when I look at my film photos, I see them for what they are: Special, ephemeral moments frozen in time, framed by the light, and full of joy.
ALEENAH ANSARI , SEATTLE, WA, USA
A Mosaic of Memories
I’ve always admired photography as a portal into other corners of the world, into other places in time, into new ways of thinking and seeing. I see the art of photography as a confession of the photographer’s inner worlds, a reflection of the unique perspectives and stories that shape the one hidden behind the lens. The revelation is in what is decidedly photo-worthy, what is chosen to be captured, what gets the honor of being preserved in memory and imbued with meaning. To freeze a particular moment in time is to recognize that something is special enough to want to remember it.
This line from The Perks of Being a Wallflower has always resonated with me since I came upon it as a Tumblr era teenager, and it remains stuck to the back of my brain whenever I pick up a camera:
“I know these will all be stories someday, and our pictures will become old photographs.”
In my life, photography serves as a reminder to appreciate the experience of living and everything unfolding in-between, from the seemingly small to the grand milestones. Maybe I’m just a sentimental girl with a penchant for nostalgia, but I’m always trying to appreciate the magic in the mundane. We only get one life to live, and I want to be able to look back at a mosaic of memories, flipping through dusty time capsules filled with sweetness, laughter, the special people I’ve crossed paths with, and the things that set my heart on fire. Being able to use photography to share our personal experiences can help make us feel less alone, because at the heart of photography is humanity and our stories that connect us through our collective experience of being human.
LAUREN LEE , LOS ANGELES,
CA, USA
Photography by Ginger Gordon
Photo Assistant — Lauren Nieves
Styling — Emily Darling
Models — Emily Darling & Madeline Davis
GINGER GORDON , LOS ANGELES, CA, USA
JAMESON RAMSEY, MERIDIAN, MS, USA
Photography by Jameson Ramsey Hair, Makeup & Model — Lauren Carter
Photography, by the definition of Merriam Webster Dictionary, means “ the art of producing images by the action of radiant energy.” Now, by any means, this definition is spectacular, and honestly, a little true. The photo below depicts this “radiant energy,” the happiness that surrounds the camera, subject, and photographer.
The lightheartedness of the photo, the relaxed sensation one gets, these are things I’ve heard people describe in this photo, and yes, these are sensations and emotions one can subjectively feel. Even the model herself has expressed these thoughts. Yet as a photographer, as a young woman who is just beginning her journey outside of the cocoon her family raised her in, I see the free will, the freedom, or the carefreeness in her smile, her movements, and in her eyes. I‘m envious. Not one calculated thought, not one single worry. Truly envious. And yet it’s beautiful. Everyone: subject, photographer, and viewers, all the different perspectives and viewpoints on one single art medium, and one single piece of art.
Photography to me is an escape, is something that added to my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined… It provided an outlet to express my deepest, truest feelings without being judged. And yet it has shown me the different perspectives you face in life. Yes, I had my intentions on my photo, but its interpretation can and was completely different. It’s beautiful. The different perspectives are wonderful and absolutely amazing. And that’s the beauty in photography, the beauty behind the means, and the BEAUTY of the world
of photography. Showing you that there is beauty in everything, every little detail, every piece and part of anything in this world. And that is simply what photography is; what it means to me; how it continues to add to my life, and grow alongside me. Showing me the beauty in differences, the importance of them, and why we should embrace them. If I didn’t know how others viewed my work, I would have just assumed that my photos were perfect, that they displayed my thoughts, emotions, and intentions, and that others understood them completely. Naively, it seems like the perfect world, but on a deeper dive into what that really means, it means that we wouldn’t see the beautiful minds and thoughts of those around us. We wouldn’t come to understand how our pieces of work add to their lives, how they see different aspects of the beauty that is art, that is photography.
All in all, photography in my world and in my mind is the expression of one's truest self. A photograph, giving society the chance to think differently, to think freely and openly, in a community that welcomes differences, questions them with delight, understands them, and respects them completely.
EMMA ENCISO RÍOS , RIVERSIDE, CA, USA
Words & Photography by Emma Enciso Ríos
Creative Direction — Emma Enciso Ríos & Maya Ríos
Onsite Assistant — Christian Ríos
Styling & Model — Maya Ríos
Photography takes as much as it gives.
You receive a moment suspended in time: a piece of your past, a gift in your present
You sacrifice the moment that exists out of frame, arms and legs incomplete, lost to the unreliable neural pathways of memory
But I drive a good bargain. I strive to capture the moments-in-between, places devoid of curated sets and perfected poses.
Who do you want to be remembered as? Who do you want to be?
You’ll find a version in my photos that is somewhere in the middle answering the question:
‘who are you now?’
MARIYAM KODVAVI , KARACHI, SINDH, PK
Words, Photography & Creative Direction by Mariyam Kodvavi Models — Vaneeza Sohail & Ayesha
Salt Shells
GOPI VADSAK , LONG BEACH, CA, USA
Photography & Creative Direction by Gopi Vadsak
Crush
BELLA MØRK , OSLO, NO
Photography, Creative Direction & Styling by Bella Mørk
Model — Julie Smith
Designs — White outfit by Mari Sundal / Blue dress by Mari Sundal / Pink dress by Alva Ringdal Billström
June Daydream
JADA BEE , BELLINGHAM, WA, USA
Photography by Jada Bee
Model — Jada Bee
Freeway at Covell and Shasta
This shoot was inspired by buses, romanticism and being roadside, the unsureness of waiting and surreality of a liminal space. In North Davis, CA, some of the bus stops are near the freeway and literal edge of town, on top of dry grass and crops. It’s hot, noisy and waiting can feel like a lifetime, but that wait for the bus can also behold whimsy, a gorgeous view and creates the opportunity to find enrichment through letting the mind wander. The surreality of the space, and different situations I’ve been in (late for class, going to a show/rave, on the way to a party) mixed well with a romantic, hazy vibe, a nostalgic reminder of why this setting helped me grow to become more comfortable expressing myself, artistically. This shoot was to memorialize self expression and who I once was while roadside, in a town and by a road (Shasta Dr/Covell Blvd) that taught me a lot about living in the moment.
HAILE UBAMADU, DAVIS, CA, USA
Words, Photography & Creative Direction by Haile Ubamadu
I was goddamn hungover. I was all alone in Japan. My brother had planned a date with his classmate despite my visiting him—as if I’m there all of the time—so I was off and exploring by my lonesome, wandering the streets and tucking myself into train car corners. I decided to visit Osaka’s Expo Commemorative Park, opened in 1970 as home of the first World’s Fair in Asia. The theme was Progress and Harmony for Mankind.
Greeting me at the park’s entrance was the Tower of the Sun, a massive moon-faced giant with outstretched arms. There were groups of people idling here, waiting to pose in front of the structure. Some things must be photographed. I fumbled clumsily with my 35mm camera, which I barely knew how to use, and took a picture. To just stroll past such an unusual thing, offering it a passive glance and nothing more, felt blasphemous. In a way, raising my camera indicated a certain reverence for the subject, as if to say, y ou are important enough for me to remember.
Walking through the park, the camera became my sort of companion. When I would have, if travelling with another person, stopped to say something like, “Isn’t that beautiful?” or “I’m so glad we came here,” I instead photographed whatever sight held my attention. A sand formation in the Ancient Garden. Sunlight coming
through the trees of a shaded walkway. A thousand wonders every way I turned.
Weeks later, once I had returned home and fallen back into familiar routines, I received my film scans from the trip. It was hard to believe I had really stood in all of those places, been there on the other side of the world. Clicking through the files, I recalled the highlights. The scenic seaside views in Amanohashidate and Ine, the narrow vibrant alleyways of Golden Gai, the temple-to-temple Philosopher’s Walk in Kyoto. Surprisingly, though, my favorite photograph was taken that day at Expo Park. It was a blurry capture of a father carrying his daughter. Something ultimately mundane. This memory stirred more emotion in me than any other because, perhaps, I remembered being in motion, I remembered the uphill pathway and the burning in my legs, and the way the sun warmed my face, the noise of children around me and the adults watching them run, all of us there to enjoy something, all of us there to see something new.
That’s when photography really moves me—when it serves as a reminder of the life swirling on its own, all around me, all of the time. When the human spirit is eternized. It paints my daily life with new color, and I remember not to wait for extraordinary circumstances to find things beautiful. I remember to slow down and look.
DELANEY STAACK , ST. PETERSBURG, FL, USA
I’m so aware of time but I lose track when I’m on the street. With my camera as my compass, I record a time and a place that feels instinctual — making space for the ordinary and often unseen moments. Living in NYC, it’s easy to observe. I get it when they say NYC is good for people watching. And the stories are worth preserving: for memory and time, but also obsession over the human condition. From a whisper between boys to a newspaper headline to a line cook returning from lunch, it’s the reason I can’t stop staring. While the photos seem like disjointed stories, they are all connected by the human experience.
All photos shot on 35mm film.
Photograph as a Means of Memory
I have been taking photos for as long as I can remember. My photos have become the keeper of my memories, my camera a crutch. I have had a few head injuries thus making my memory and mind into a jumbled mess. It has become more difficult to remember everything, every moment, all the years that pass, how I felt, what I thought. The scattered images are my scattered memories. I use photography not only as a keepsake of times I hope not to forget, but as a means to feel through art. My photos are the windows to my mind, and the camera is simply the frame of the window, helping me to look through and show others inside. I photograph to remember, I photograph to better understand, I photograph to feel and become less of a mess of memory.
AMY FAN , NEW YORK, NY, USA
EMMA KAY, LINTHICUM, MD, USA
Top - Culture Not Commodity
Bottom - Taiwan: The Urban Environment
MEGAN HIRAO, San Diego, CA, USA
Photography & Creative Direction by Megan Hirao Model — Audrey Nguyen
SEPIDEH OWLAD, HOUSTON, TX, USA
Photography & Creative Direction by Sepideh Owlad
Hair & Makeup — Rasheed & Alondra
Styling — Rasheed
Models — Rasheed, Alondra, Mo, Noli
The Threads of Her World
MEGHANA NUTHI , SAN RAMON, CA, USA
Photography & Creative Direction by Meghana Nuthi
Assistant Photographers — Emma Nguyen & Erik Phan
Lighting Assistant — Erik Phan
Models — Andrea Shah, Lauren Vongthavaravat, Megan Phan, Meghana Nuthi, Sarah Kim, Washy Yang, Yara Ketaneh
DEJECTED SUMMER
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
CREATIVE DIRECTION BY TRILLIUM
LIGHTING ASSISTANTS — MATT WALTER & MEG COURNOYER
STYLING —
&
BY TRILLIUM BENTLEY
ELISSA MENTESANA
BENTLEY
ELISSA MENTESANA
TRILLIUM BENTLEY MODEL — SIENA CHANEL
An exploration of how young people are coping with uncertainty and looming surveillance in America through detachment and consumption.
ZULY GARCIA
BY ASHLEY BULAYO
PHOTOGRAPHY BY SHANTELL CRUZ
Sitting down with ZULY GARCIA over Zoom, one theme stood out: With great delulu comes great opportunities.
For the Los Angeles–based photographer, embracing “delusion” is what propelled her career forward. “I feel like I’ve manifested a lot of what I am today just by being delusional and thinking that it’s already mine and it’s gonna happen. It’s just a matter of time, and I just have to be patient.”
And guess what? Her patience (and her belief in her vision) paid off.
Zuly’s photography story began at 13 while shooting at Vans Warped Tour. Capturing artists and posting her work on Tumblr, she experienced an awakening as her photos gained attention from both fans and musicians, even though she was still learning how to navigate social media.
That first Warped Tour moment happened by chance, but college gave her a deeper understanding of identity. Something she now leans on heavily in her work. Studying sociology at California State University, Long Beach— Zuly began to see photography as more than art. It was activism. Her mission became clear: "How do I give others a voice through imagery?”
Zuly’s drive to create a space for underrepresented voices came to life in her 2017 breakout project, “Flores Políticos.” Motivated by a lack of media representation in her childhood, she empowered others to challenge the European beauty standard and celebrate indigenous beauty, a message that resonated beyond Los Angeles and gained her notoriety.
“I saw how well it was received, and it was a turning point for other Oaxacans and other indigenous people, too. That was really the turning point, because I remember going to Oaxaca once and someone random came up to me asking, ‘Are you Zuly?’ [...] And they said, ‘Oh, I love your project.’ And that’s when I knew.”
Building on that momentum, her later projects kept the same goal. On set for certain projects, she often asks her models, “What would you want to see in terms of representation? What would you want a younger version of you who was suffering or going through these things to see, hear, or have wanted to see on social media so you could feel seen?”
That commitment to representation didn’t stop with “Flores Políticos.” It became even more personal in “Ciclos y Linaje” (cycles and lineage), where she turns the camera inward, documenting her family’s history and traditions. The project bridges the past and the present, built on Zuly's efforts to foster a better relationship with her mother. According to Zuly, “Ciclos y Linaje” has inspired conversations about generational trauma and agency in her community by showing how sharing personal stories can encourage healing and understanding.
Beyond her personal projects, Zuly made significant strides in the corporate world as an Image Quality Expert at Google. For three years, she collaborated with creatives to ensure accurate representation of skin tones across Pixel devices. Notably, her work on Real Tone for the Pixel 6 led to advancements in how cameras capture diverse skin tones, prompting industry discussions about inclusive technology standards.
"This could be gone tomorrow, so I need to enjoy it. I need to be grateful and humble through it.”
With so much momentum and growth fueling her rise, it’s easy to see why Zuly’s career is blossoming. Her storytelling, creative eye, and passion paved the way for collaborations not only with Google but also with Adidas. For Adidas, she contributed to their new Mexico jersey and covered the UltraBoost 5 shoe launch with Hermanos Koumori. Building on these successes, her journey continues: look for her on the sidelines as the official photographer for the Los Angeles Rams, or keep an eye out for her upcoming Nike shoot. Needless to say, Zuly is booked and busy.
“A lot of people who hire me, they trust me and they want me to do my own thing with my work. And I think that’s the dopest part, [Adidas or Nike are] allowing me to tell the story in my own way. That’s what makes certain brands better than others, is them not wanting to control things and allowing creatives to have creative freedom and expression.”
Despite her growing acclaim, Zuly remains grounded with a good head on her shoulders. “It’s funny. I don’t see myself as confident because, deep down, I have so many insecurities, you know, but people perceive me as that through my art form and my art. It’s crazy how I’ve gotten to this point because I don’t even know how I got here.”
“I think now that I’ve gotten to a place in my career, I just always, always tell myself, ‘This could be gone tomorrow, so I need to enjoy it. I need to be grateful and humble through it.’”
That gratitude fuels her work at Intersect Crenshaw, where Zuly opens the door to her small business and empowers her community to express their creativity, providing a space for others to create whatever they want. At the core, Intersect Crenshaw is about passing opportunities to the next generation, and during our call, you can feel the excitement and attachment Zuly has to the studio as she explains the reason behind it.
“I opened that space, specifically in the community I went to school in, because all those years through middle school and high school, I wanted access to studio lighting or photography, and I just didn’t have that. I did have a photography teacher, Mr. Jeffers, who was the reason why I picked up a camera and started doing it more professionally,” says Zuly. “Seeing other people do that for me inspired me to want to do that for others."
She continues, “Honestly, I really want to uplift those people who live within that area (Mid-City or Crenshaw) who feel insecure, not delulu enough, don’t have that confidence, and go into my studio and come out, ‘Oh my God, I learned so many new things today and I’m going to be even better tomorrow.’ That’s all I want. Just to help them become a better version of themselves as creatives."
As she looks ahead, Zuly is excited to keep challenging herself and sticking to her guiding principles.
“My whole life, I just wanted to see someone that looked like me, or that was in the same skin tone or even darker than me, being represented in a way that is beautiful or just in general having representation. So for me to have my work [circulated in real life], it’s a full circle moment for me,” shares Zuly.
“It feels like I’m ending a chapter. It also makes me realize, okay. What’s the next step? What other types of representation can I get into now?”
Whatever direction she takes, Zuly will bring her signature passion and delulu, staying true to her purpose.
(But hey, if Bad Bunny or Rauw Alejandro are available and reading this, Zuly is ready for the opportunity. “I would love to emphasize Puerto Rico, what’s going on in Puerto Rico, their culture, their identity, who they are, who they’ve been, that would be a dope experience.”)
MAR’S UPRISING, MERCURY’S CALAMITY
PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION BY STORM KIET NGUYEN PRODUCTION & LIGHTING ASSISTANT — ALEX LOMAS
HAIR & MAKEUP — LULA ABRAHA, STYLING — AVERY ROSE GAR MODELS — JOHN PAUL PURUGGANAN & DAN SON NGUYEN
LIA HANSEN
BY JESSICA SPIERS
PHOTOGRAPHY BY LEWEN HAN
LIA HANSEN didn’t grow up dreaming about becoming a photographer. She started out in the creative world creating content for her social media. If you go to her Instagram, you’ll find well tailored content with illustrations, videos, collaborations with brands and more about life as a creative. After quitting her part time job to focus on content creation full time, she decided she wanted to work somewhere in the music industry but didn’t know where, until she saw a photographer at a concert. After that day, she considered what it would be like to be a live music photographer. Hansen then found the photographer on Instagram and sent her a message asking for any advice on how to get into the music industry as a photographer. After this, she took her new photography career into her own hands. At only nineteen-years-old, the Vancouver based photographer has shot for countless concerts and artists, worked on artist portrait and editorial shoots and more while still maintaining her content creation.
Stepping into a creative field like photography can feel like a lot of pressure. There’s pressure to be everything at once, to be able to shoot photo and video, edit, do effects and illustrations, run socials and more. “Especially with social media, there’s the pressure to be the best at everything. Even working with bands, it’s like ‘oh so you know how to do video, socials, photo?’ There’s pressure to have your one thing that you’re super good at and you have to narrow it down,” Hansen said. “I feel like you can’t win. Is it better to be okay at a bunch of things or just focus all of my time and really focus on this one thing?” Working in a creative industry, it can also be expected that a person is “on” at all times. A creative person should be ready to make something at any time, respond to any emails or messages at all hours of the day, work long and late hours, and post on social media accounts consistently. The line between work and play can become blurred because of this, which is something Hansen says she deals with constantly. “Sometimes I document my creative projects and it’s like, ‘am I doing this because I love it and I’m a creative person or am I doing this for work?’ I think I’ve gotten better at it and it’s come at the cost of posting less and trying to protect the peace,” Hansen said. “I’m still in the middle of finding that balance of being productive and still putting out the kind of content that I want while also being okay with not sharing everything.”
After gaining some experience in the concert photography world, Hansen got an inside look into how to work with publications and outlets and wanted to create a media outlet herself. She created Cool Creators, a community for creators in all industries can come together for inspiration and to connect. The Instagram account and website were started in late 2024 and have since gained a lot of traction. Cool Creators shares inspiration, creator spotlights, interviews with artists, photography skills and more. They recently hosted a meetup in Vancouver where creatives of all kinds got to meet each other.
Hansen also hopes that the project will be able to host more events in the future and host unique opportunities like Zoom lessons where a creative gets to share their specific skill set and other people can learn from them. “I like to be connected in a bunch of different creative fields and learn so many different things. You can kind of get in the mindset where you only want to be inspired by people who are doing the exact same thing and you might not even know of this other world,” Hansen said. “The hope is that someone could see it as a content creator and think ‘oh wow, maybe I’m interested in photography too’ and find people who don’t do your type of thing but inspire you.”
While Hansen has already accomplished a lot for being a young photographer, she continues to challenge herself with new ideas and new projects. Along with building her photography and content portfolios and continuing to build Cool Creators, she wants to create longer form content and potentially direct short films. While Hansen never originally saw herself on the path of becoming a photographer, she’s made a name for herself and has learned a lot from working in a creative field full time. “It has made me appreciate how important art is and how it brings people together. Being able to see a show being put together from behind the scenes and seeing people cry because they’re seeing their favorite song is really powerful,” Hansen said. “I’ve had to put myself out there and learn how to make my own opportunities happen because there’s no one out there who is going to do it for you.”
“It has made me appreciate how important art is and how it brings people together.”
THIS House IS MY Stage
PHOTOGRAPHY BY EMILY MACHAN
CREATIVE DIRECTION BY EMILY MACHAN & KAYA COLEMAN
HAIR & MAKEUP — AMENJOT MINHAS
STYLING — TONY POTEET, STYLIST & DESIGNER OF LABELLED 7701
MODEL – KAYA COLEMAN
MOMENTS IN TIME
WORDS BY UMA SNOW
PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION BY MACKENZIE RYAN
BTS PHOTOGRAPHY — KAYLA SIMONS
STYLING — JAMAR MITCHELL
CHRISTIAN SARKINE
stumbled into concert photography nearly a decade ago. Now, 28-years-old and behind the camera fulltime, his style is distinctly recognizable and every aspiring photographer knows his name.
“It didn't happen overnight. It didn't happen fast. It was a very slow, tumultuous process, but it definitely built a lot of character and a lot of resilience.” I’m on a video call with Sarkine, and he’s telling me about his journey as a photographer. According to his mom, it all began in 2011 when she gave him an old Pentax camera and he went on a road trip with his dad, documenting the ride from his home in Indianapolis all the way to California. For him, the real catalyst came later, when he was in a high school yearbook class and their only photographers withdrew from school. “Our teacher comes into the classroom and she goes, ‘Does anybody here have a camera? We don't have a photographer anymore.’ And I go, ‘Uhh, my aunt just gave my mom a camera.’ They had someone come in to teach me how to use this camera, and I did photos for the yearbook.”
It was like a switch flipped. After graduating, Sarkine brought his camera everywhere, taking infinite photos of his friends and shooting his first concert by request of a classmate who played in a local band. “Man, was my world blown open after that. I immediately went online and started looking up concert photographers, discovered Ashley Osborn and Adam Elmakias, and from there my life just went on a completely different path.”
After that first show, Sarkine started frequenting small venues in Indianapolis, anywhere that would let him in with a camera. “I’d go every time there was a show. It didn't matter who it was. I would take pictures, I would upload them on Dropbox or Google Drive and DM the bands like, ‘Hey, I saw your set, here are the photos.’ And I did that for like a year.” At this point, Sarkine was just doing it for the love of the game—he had no idea he could get paid for his photography. The first time an artist handed him a twenty dollar bill, he was giddy with excitement.
From there, he bloomed. Sarkine continued shooting small local shows, went on a few short runs with some bands and started working with publications. As he grew, the venues he gained access to grew, too, from bars and clubs to arenas to stadiums. He eventually dropped out of college to pursue photography full-time. Now, nearly ten years from when he started, Sarkine has just embarked on his first international tour, following singer-songwriter Lauren Spencer Smith across Europe.
I’m fascinated by the life of a photographer on tour. I imagine it to be fast-paced, with quick turnarounds, cramped spaces, and little sleep. I ask Sarkine what helps make the tour life easier for him. He replies that it’s community. “If I'm on tour with you, if we're spending all this time together, it makes it so much easier if we're homies. We don't have to talk about our deepest secrets but camaraderie helps so much. Just having that on-the-road family makes it so much better. Not having that makes it miserable. It's very comforting when you have that sense of familiarity on the road.”
I wonder how, when shooting the same show every single night for weeks at a time, Sarkine keeps things interesting. One thing that helps is seeing how other photographers capture the tour—it’s inspiring and pushes him to see the show in different ways each night. Beyond that, variety is key. “What have I done before? What did I do with the last few shows? I didn't do enough crowd shots. I didn't do enough detailed shots. I didn't do enough close-ups or wides. I didn't get enough of the band.” Sarkine constantly mentally catalogs the types of photos he takes. The variables are endless. “I try to look around. Are people behaving differently than the last crowd? Do they have big signs? Are they going to hand a friendship bracelet to whoever's on stage? Is the artist feeling the energy tonight? Are they going to just go hop in the crowd? Are they going to hold a fan’s hand?”
Sarkine has just as sharp an eye for his editing style, monitoring its evolution over the years. Scrolling through his Instagram profile, you can see that growth, how his work went from low contrast and a small range of colors to high contrast with bright pops of color. Sarkine says it took a lot of trial and error to get to where he is now. What gave him the biggest push was watching editing tutorials during the pandemic.
“I had all this time and I thought, ‘Okay, there's nothing happening. I want to get better.’ So I literally spent hours on YouTube. Not even watching how to edit concerts, but how to edit portraits, how to edit landscapes. And I factored all of these little things into my presets. Over that year, I [re-edited] all of my old photos.” Around this time, Sarkine bought a drone. He developed an interest in night photography and sky photography. “I thought, ‘I don't want to pigeonhole myself into one thing. I want to be able to do all sorts of photography.’ By just trying other things and doing portraits and landscapes and night sky stuff—that is when I really honed in on what my style is. It has become an evolution since then.”
Of course, Sarkine still has moments of self-doubt and burnout, times when he has no idea what to do with his photos or simply doesn’t want to be anywhere near a camera. He’s found that the best thing for him, personally, is to step away.
“I know that people experience burnout in different ways, but it's a very real thing. And it sucks. It's not fun, but it's also your body and life's way of saying, ‘Hey, you need to slow down, you're going to explode, and you do not want that.’ I have had some bad burnout moments. I've had burnout moments where I don't want to touch a camera for a month. And I just go outside, walk my dog, rock climb, and watch Netflix movies. I really think that stepping away instead of trying to force yourself through it is a great way to get through it.”
Earlier this year, when he was feeling frustrated and stagnant with his work, what reignited Sarkine’s creative spark was his time at Nikon’s Creator Camp in Austin, Texas. A long weekend away from the outside world, surrounded by people as passionate about photography as him, reenergized Sarkine. I’m amazed as he describes the creative opportunities Nikon had planned for them. A walk through downtown Austin, a private show by The Summer Set, studios, models, stylists, and lights. What Sarkine describes as a creative playground, a man’s backyard turned into different sets. A greenhouse; a checkered floor; a giant duck.
“It was literally the coolest photo setting I’ve been to,” Sarkine says, still in awe of the setup months later. “There is something that feels so good and so inspiring, being completely engulfed by like minded people. Watching other people shoot, talking about it. Being around creative people for me is so energizing. I remember before that I was just feeling kind of bummed. And then that weekend—I just felt so recharged and creatively inclined. It was amazing.”
Sarkine’s evolution is exponential; soon, it will take him out of his hometown of Indianapolis. He had tried to move a few times over the past few years, but somehow always found himself coming back. “I’m close with my family. I'm close to my friends that live here. But the big thing for me is my dog lives here. My dog that I've had for 14 years, who is old and sick. He's my main connection to this city and state.” Sarkine articulates why he’s had difficulty biting the bullet and making the move. “On one hand, it's just intimidating to go that far away, be away from everything you're so familiar with. And two, being that attached to someone you've grown up with is really tough [when it comes to leaving].”
Still, he feels he’s been shooting himself in the foot by staying in Indianapolis, career-wise, and plans on making his way to a bigger city like Nashville or Chicago. Somewhere that traveling for shows will be less expensive and more convenient. This move feels like the next logical step of his rise in the industry. International tour, check. Representing one of the biggest camera manufacturers, check. Next, moving to a bigger city. And after that, who knows? Really, Christian Sarkine is just getting started.
NESSA BARRETT
CHAPPELL ROAN
DJO, LOLLAPALOOZA CHICAGO 2025
There are an infinite amount of things I could say about photography. How it’s shaped me, the places it’s taken me, and the life it’s given me. What began as a last-minute favor in high school, covering for yearbook class after our photographers switched schools, quickly turned into something far bigger than I could ever expect. Picking up a camera opened doors I otherwise would’ve never known existed. It’s introduced me to incredible people, given me some of my closest and most meaningful friendships, unforgettable experiences and a sense of purpose I couldn’t imagine living without.
One moment that’s always stuck with me is something a friend once said. He told me “my mom was talking about how cool it is that we have a photographer friend like you, you’re documenting all these moments we’ll look back on fondly 15-20 years from now.” And it really hit me. That’s the beauty of this work: Capturing moments that are fleeting by nature, but somehow letting them live on forever.
I like to photograph all sorts of things, but I primarily shoot concerts. It’s my favorite thing to do. I love the passion and energy at every show I go to. There’s truly nothing like freezing a moment in time and capturing those moments from nights people will never forget. There’s so much beauty to be captured and I love capturing as much as I can. This truly is my passion and I could never imagine doing anything else. These are some of my favorite photos ever.
MAGDALENA BAY, LOLLAPALOOZA CHICAGO 2025
RENEE RAPP
PHOEBE BRIDGERS
CHRISTIAN’S FAVORITE
CONCERT PHOTOGRAPHERS
BELLA PETERSON
I love Bella’s photos. I think Bella has such a creative and unique eye. There are times that they will post photos and I'll think, ‘Wow, I never thought to see it that way.’ It’s really cool. I think Bella is so talented, albeit incredibly underrated. I believe they should be so much further. Not even being biased, I objectively think Bella is one of the best photographers around right now.
DEANIE CHEN
Deanie is an incredible photographer. Deanie captures such raw emotion, and I love that her photos always feel unique when she posts. Deanie is a generational talent. I don't think there are many people like her. I don't think there will be many others like her. She is one of a kind and I love the way that she sees the world. It's incredible and she absolutely deserves where she is and deserves all the recognition.
KAY DARGEN
I love kaydargs, a great friend of mine. She sees the world in this dreamscape-like way and the colors that she comes up with are always very pleasing to my eye. I love how she sees things so differently than others. It's not like your typical dreamy photos. Like she does it on her own accord. I think that she has kind of spearheaded her own genre of dreamy photography, which is really cool. And I think it translates well to concerts, which is really cool. I think she's a jack of all trades. She can do it all.
BRYAN KIRKS
Great guy. Sweetheart. I love the way that he captures Bad Omens. His photos are very moody in a tasteful way. He walks a fine line on these moody photos where they almost feel like they would be kind of like a horror movie still. I don't know if that's a great way to describe it. But like, they're dark, they're moody, they're crispy. I love the way he does reds and greens.
LINDSAY RUTH
This girl’s not a concert photographer but I fucking love her work. She does such magical, surreal photos. Everything is unique. Every photo set is unique. She has done behind the scenes on how she does these shoots. And I'm constantly blown away. I think, how the hell did you come up with that? How did you think to do that? Sometimes I want to do some surreal concepts, and that is someone who absolutely inspires me.
MARIS JONES
She has a book that I bought. I love this book. She is a designer and a photographer. She does the craziest work. So, she does everything herself, okay. She will like, set up her room, for a video or a photoshoot. And she'll do it all by herself. She is a one man army. She is a powerhouse of talent, I absolutely love her work, love everything she puts out.
SAM NEILL
He’s done some photos for BMTH that are just incredible. Sam Neill just crushes, man. His photos are this mix of bright contrast, editorial. The photos leap at you. Like they leap off of your screen and it's really cool.
CHRISTIAN’S CONCERT GEAR
Canon R5. I started with a Canon 30D, it was like 8 megapixels. Over the pandemic I got an R5, and I love her. Powerhouse of a camera. I use a 15–35mm 2.8 RF lens, a 85mm 1.2, and a 24–70mm.
And with Nikon, it’s the Z5 II, with the 70–200mm 2.8, a 14–24mm 2.8, and a 24–70mm.
A Hoya four point creative star filter. Aputure LED light. I have ND filters. And just my earplugs. The Peter McKinnon 35L backpack. Those are my essential gear.
LETTERBOXD TOP 4
Inception, La La Land, The Breakfast Club, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World .
13 HOUR LOVE LETTER
BY JULIANNE HAN
A few months ago, I visited Taiwan for the first time in nine years. Even with my grandparents’ memories giving way to Alzheimer’s, my ā gōng looked at me and told my mom to take me and my sisters to a restaurant we used to love as kids. Everyone was surprised; most days, he doesn't say anything at all. When I saw my ā mā, she gazed at me and wiggled her feet toward me. Her caretaker laughed. “She’s happy to see you,” she told me. It was the first time she'd opened her eyes in weeks.
My grandparents stay in the same apartment my mom and her siblings grew up in. The sweet smell of incense and faint dust that wafts through the door is always in some gray space between familiar and foreign to me, but for my mom it has always been home. It's the Hello Kitty magnets in the kitchen, the portrait of her grandmother by the front door, the same rice cooker on the yellowed counter. It's the zhōu and yóu tiáo, and the scent of fried dough locking lips with that of motorbike grease and vendors selling bagged soymilk. I posted some photos of the apartment once. On the phone with my mom the next day, she asked me to take them down. “They’re private,” she told me softly. “It’s my home.”
I had been practicing photography for a few years, sometimes posting photos of friends and family, other times, of strangers. I’ve captured the smiles of two beloved friends for their engagement, photographed a seamstress in Korea who told me of her days selling in the market, taken photos of my sisters making absurd faces in what we could find in our parents’ closets. Up until recently, I had always thought of photography as a method of reaching others. But the photos I took of my mom’s apartment in Taiwan, I’ve decided, are for my mother alone. To document her care of my grandparents, with their decaying memory. To keep sacred the place she grew up, forever preserved as what it was. Someday far in the future, I wonder if those photos of a home a 13 hour flight away will stir memories into my mother's eyes too.
This new set of Taiwan photos, titled “13 Hour Love Letter” instead tells my own story. They depict my exploration of Taiwan nine years later, returning to a home that was never home to me, to a family who, no matter how many miles away, was always a part of me. It’s funny to see what captures my eye. A display of crisp fruit that a younger me loved devouring in the summer, spitting watermelon seeds at my sisters while running through the maze of the night market. A mother and daughter purchasing food at a stall, holding hands like my mom and I used to. A couple of elderly men drinking coffee and gossiping, something I envy on behalf of my ā gōng now. When I look through these photos, I realize again that the subjects and setting hold more weight to me than the still frame. I can breathe the same air, taste the food, be with the people and family I am oceans away from. This photoset, for the first time, is just for me. And yet photography is something I love to share because chances are, those feelings resonate with someone out there too. To discover a new place. To visit home. To love from afar. This is my 13 hour love letter to my reader, hoping Taiwan reached you too.
BELLA PETERSON
BY ANG CRUZ PHOTOGRAPHY BY ANSON TONG
From photographing sold-out stadiums to magazine covers, BELLA PETERSON is in simplest terms, a trailblazer. Finding success in an industry filled with people who don’t look like them, Bella’s portfolio is not only a testament to their work but a visceral, attention-grabbing collection of someone who loves not only their art but also the artists they are spotlighting.
Based in Chicago, Bella’s career in photography started early. Their mother was a freelance photographer, teaching Bella basic camera skills and taking them to photoshoots. It wasn’t until they were gifted a hand-me-down film camera from their aunt that Bella really started to get into what would become their niche—concert photography.
“I’d been going to tons and tons of concerts as a teenager in high school, and really fell head over heels in love with it.” Bella said, recounting the memory, “I had this desire to document what I was seeing.”
Bella’s combined passion for music and photography eventually led them to pursue this art form beyond just being a fan. Eventually, they began to get hired for gigs such as taking shots for My Chemical Romance’s hometown show and working as the photographer for Jack’s Mannequin's (their favorite band) Midwestern run.
“I feel like a lot of what I've been doing the last few years has been trying to honor teenage me. I shoot a lot of alternative emo stuff that I really loved when I was in middle and high school, and I am finding new love and appreciation for that as an adult too.”
Bella’s skill comes from their methodology. While some shows it’s easier to note which shots they have to get, Bella describes their work process as their brain “going on overdrive” in the heat of the moment. They become fully locked in until after the show.
“There will be a lot of times that I will leave the photo pit after those three songs and just be like, what happened in there? I don't remember any of it. I pivot into a completely different space in my brain.”
This process didn’t come on its own. For Bella, their early career included numerous internal battles against their inner critic, who often drew comparisons with other artists. “I feel like self-comparison really killed a lot of my progress as a photographer and my development as an artist,” they reflected. “I wish I could go back and tell myself to stop that.”
Another huge part of their journey is their sobriety. Bella, now three years sober, has been open about their struggles with
sobriety in their career and the difficulty many sober photographers and artists face in an industry that is so alcohol-centric.
“I feel I tend to gravitate toward artists who are also sober or express past issues with substance abuse,” Bella explained, citing artists such as My Chemical Romance and Julien Baker. These artists, among others, have inspired Bella during this journey, along with the community they’ve built. “I relapsed many times before, and it stuck this time because I have friends who care about me and don’t want to see me fall on my ass again. I cannot express enough that even if it’s one person you can confide in, you need people around you.”
For what’s next for Bella, the future is bright and open. While they have many concerts on the roster, after years of concert photography and a moment of burnout, Bella’s interests have shifted. More recently, they started to experiment with more handheld forms of art, such as chemical painting and cyano work.
“I wanted to take it out of my phone. I was sick of looking at screens all the time and wanted to slow down.” They explained. This moment of intentionality and unwind led them to their latest project, cross-stitching their favorite photos. Already a fan of embroidery, Bella noticed the pixel effect they’d applied in their photos looked similar to a needlework canvas.
“I hope to have at least one finished by the end of the year. I’m a perfectionist at fault, but I hope at some point I’ll have something to show.”
CAGE THE ELEPHANT FLOOD MAGAZINE 2025
MODEL ACTRIZ HOOLIGAN MAGAZINE 2024
SPENCER PEPPET OF THE OPHELIAS 2025
“I PIVOT INTO A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SPACE IN MY BRAIN.”
JACK'S MANNEQUIN 2025
THE
BY SELINA PAN
SELINA PAN
LANGUAGE FORM
A study on form, architecture, and spatial design at the Marin County Civic Center, in collaboration with fellow photographer, Zac Regner. The images celebrate fashion and the feminine presence amidst the geometry, scale, and lines of the architecture. Together, they form a dialogue between body, structure, and space.
CATALOGING
BY MISHA YU
When I was a child, I was diagnosed with OCD that made me want to dissect and categorize everything – my possessions, my food, my surroundings. I used to take photos purely for utilitarian reasons: to document every part of my life and quiet that gnawing urge in the back of my mind to catalog, catalog, catalog. Everything I touched, owned, or consumed ended up in my camera roll.
As I got older and found other ways to manage the OCD, the camera shifted from being a tool of control to a way of seeing. It became about documenting life in a different sense. I especially love capturing the slice of life: the fleeting moments, quiet scenes, the simplicity of just existing.
I grew up in Florida and my love for tropical nature seeps into my photos. I love the sun, the sweat, the heat, the humidity, the lush, overgrown green everywhere. The urge to document my everyday life is still there, but it’s no longer all-consuming. (Though I’d be lying if I said I don’t occasionally spiral into: if my camera didn’t see it, did it actually happen? Just kidding! Sort of.)
It’s the ordinary moments that hook me in now – moments that I would’ve overlooked sans camera. Through the lens, they shift into something more cinematic, magical – a still from a film I didn’t know I was in. Nothing seems mundane when you catch it in the right frame. Or when the light hits it just right!
LIFE
L A URENALEX
BY NATALIE HOWARD
PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION
BY DYLAN TABIRARA
DIGITECH & PHOTOGRAPHY
ASSISTANT — JEREMY AQUINO
LIGHTING — JOSHUA E.J. PEREZ
PRODUCTION ASSISTANT — MEI KOBAYASHI
KIM
LAUREN ALEX KIM is a Los Angeles creative whose work has flown between photography, design, and most recently, direction. She’s spent the last decade shaping a bold visual style that’s caught the eye of brands from Nike to Moncler. With her recent move into motion, Kim is pushing her storytelling beyond stills—and sharing with us the same intimacy and energy that defines her photography into a new dimension.
YOU’VE WORKED ACROSS PHOTOGRAPHY, DESIGN, AND NOW DIRECTION. WHAT DOES BEING A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST MEAN TO YOU, AND HOW DO THESE PRACTICES FEED INTO EACH OTHER?
Since I was little, I have had a really restless, creative relationship. I started drawing and painting, and I feel like my parents identified early that I wanted to go into visual arts, but they also encouraged restlessness for me and also really inspired confidence. In that process for me now as an adult, it’s really cool because as I move into a direction, it feels like an amalgamation of like all of the things that I’m really interested in. Being multidisciplinary to me means like really kind of mentally being in tune with what is interesting to me and what I’m curious about and then giving myself the space and the permission to explore it in the medium that feels good to me, but that’s a muscle that I keep exercising because granted not everything obviously turns out well or like I imagine. I think that’s a piece of it and I do think at this point like every piece of my creative process kind of informs the other one which is a lifelong practice and something I’ll keep understanding.
AFTER A DECADE OF REFINING YOUR PHOTOGRAPHIC STYLE, HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR VISUAL LANGUAGE TODAY?
I’m really interested in the relationship between movement, color, and texture. That’s something that throughout my career and also my personal relationship to photo, I feel like that is my Northstar. I feel I’d like changes but I feel like compositionally, I always enjoy playing with certain pieces of an image being in motion. While other things are static and really framing something up in a way that is super engaging to your eye, but it also allows you to find something new every time you look at the photo. I treat my photos like stills from movies. I like the direction of things feeling more cinematic, but within a photographic context versus things being emotion, but that’s why directing and adding motion into my practice has been fun because I’m bringing to life the dinettes that I'm thinking about as a still image so I think it’s cinematic. There’s a lot of texture and movement. I also grew up around a lot of dancers and some of my best friends are choreographers and movement directors at this point so I feel my personal work has just been me following them around. That whole world is fascinating to me and has opened my eyes for sure to just the range of motion, range of body and it continues to be the thing that I like to incorporate.
YOU’VE SHOT FOR ICONIC GLOBAL BRANDS LIKE NIKE, ADIDAS, AND MONCLER. HOW DO YOU BALANCE CLIENT VISION WITH MAINTAINING YOUR PERSONAL ARTISTIC IDENTITY?
That’s a great question and one that I think of all the time. I think also
you inevitably turn what you enjoy doing into work. Especially with commercial work. It’s a big negotiation of art versus commerce and that whole environment, but I think I am in pretty constant communication with the client so I’m always communicating with them but as I’ve continued on in my career and grown more confident as a creative person I think it’s this balance of knowing when to push back into suggest something and also take the shot because I’m right there and then making sure that I’m incorporating the elements of the commerce side of it into the image. My hope is that as I continue on and in this field, that people will continue to hire me more specifically for my style and for the vision that I’m wanting to execute. The balance is really just communication but also knowing when to grab an image because you know it’s gonna be good and what you want, even if it’s a little bit different from the original and just going for it. I guess what I’m saying is asking for forgiveness later and I’m just doing it.
STORYTELLING SEEMS CENTRAL TO YOUR CRAFT. WHEN YOU SET OUT TO CAPTURE AN IMAGE OR DIRECT A PIECE, WHAT STORY ARE YOU HOPING TO TELL?
It depends on its project. When it comes to photos specifically, I’m always looking to create an environment or a world that visually draws you in first, but also allows you to find something new or different every time you look at it. That's my hope at least. Especially in an age where art is changing so much and technology is now really involved I think the practice of really creating a world that feels fantastical and whimsical but really doing it in real life and making it by hand is really important to me at this point right now because we’re saying things change and so I think that the same goes in motion. Story wise my emotional work has been primarily with musicians. Most of the time it's really a conversation between the artist and me interpreting the song. I never want things to feel super on the nose though. I wanted to feel a little bit more surreal or a little bit more ambiguous and so that’s something that definitely plays out in my work as well because approach is always how big can we go and if we need to scale it back we can scale it back, but I want it to feel kinda larger than life in some ways.
THE LOS ANGELES CREATIVE SCENE IS SO DISTINCT. HOW HAS LIVING HERE SHAPED YOUR EYE AND YOUR WORK?
I think there’s a casual vibe in California, specifically Southern California. Spiritually, I feel it’s really contributed to how I feel as a person. I grew up with my parents who are very community based people. I grew up with a pretty strong community when I was younger and just naturally like it informed a lot of how I am now like as a person. I would say two things– it’s the energy of Southern California, like that “go with the flow” mentality of not sweating the small stuff but then also access to nature and access to both cityscape and the natural world I think has really influenced my style. Growing up in Orange County and then coming to school in LA, I think I tried to incorporate both worlds into my work. I love LA. I think it’s one of the most special places and I always say, even when I go to New York or any other Metropolitan place, I love that in Southern California I can really see the sky. I really like the expanse of it available to me and I think that also I don’t know how to say it in an eloquent way but yeah, it’s very centering for me, basically.
WHAT’S BEEN ONE OF YOUR MOST TRANSFORMATIVE OR SURPRISING EXPERIENCES ON SET SO FAR?
Honestly, the most surprising thing to me is how generous and kind a lot of the people that I’m on set with are. At this stage of my career, I really feel so lucky to be working with good friends at this point. I’m touched and surprised by how much people wanna make something happen and are down to just get in the mud with me and I can’t believe that I get to do that with friends, and also people who have met who have become friends through being on site. I think the communal aspect of these jobs is really special to me. I think it’s also surprising to me how much you can do with little. Of course it’s always the dream to have this unlimited budget or so many resources to make something happen and that is continuing to be the goal but I think you can do so much with so little. It never fails to shock me what we can make with nothing. I don’t wanna keep working with nothing. (laughs) But those are two things that continue to surprise me.
WHAT EXCITES YOU MOST ABOUT STEPPING INTO A DIRECTORIAL ROLE—WHAT DOES MOTION GIVE YOU THAT STILL PHOTOGRAPHY CAN’T?
It allows for a static image that I imagine in my mind until it comes to life. That's really how I see a lot of these shots where I’m in the process of developing something like for motion. I feel like it starts with me making very basic thumbnails that are stick figures and very difficult for anyone else but me to follow. I’m not pretty but I think that it helps me get organized so that when I imagine it in motion or moving, like the pieces of it that I’ll have to play together to move. It makes it easier, but for me it really goes hand-in-hand, the relationship between stills and motion. They really need each other at this point to work for me.
YOUR WORK SPANS BOTH HIGH-PROFILE COMMERCIAL CLIENTS AND YOUR OWN ARTISTIC PROJECTS. DO YOU APPROACH THEM DIFFERENTLY, OR IS THERE A COMMON THREAD THAT TIES IT ALL TOGETHER?
A common thread throughout both my personal work and my commercial work is what I’ve been saying in the sense of play. I will be on like a very stressful shoot commercially and I have to find a way to make this fun or at least fun for nothing else like for the team that I’m bringing on. That's more that’s not necessarily specific to the work. It’s more environment, but that does actually bleed into the work though because I feel what is the true line is my desire to just create something that I’m gonna continue to be excited about and it’s not that every project that I do is punchy and exciting but that there’s elements of my creative sensibility coming through both. I feel so
much more freedom in my personal work— from a time standpoint, a lot of the time on commercial shoots I’m really battling the clock. I’m battling time. I am moving around a lot of different moving parts but when it comes to my personal work, I generally have the luxury of time and I feel I can be a little bit more intentional with what I’m thinking about and I can prepare a little differently. Time is probably where things diverge the most but as far as energy and vision, I try to keep the through line of my sense of play and fun happening in both commercial and personal settings.
OUTSIDE OF PHOTOGRAPHY, YOU PAINT, DO CERAMICS, HIKE, AND COOK. HOW DO THOSE PRACTICES AND RITUALS SEEP INTO YOUR CREATIVE PROCESS BEHIND THE LENS?
I think my ADHD restlessness is always looking for a way to be stimulated. Part of it is that photos and videos, especially digitally, can be very screen heavy. Adding things back into my personal practice that are purely tactile and purely things I’m doing with my hands or with my feet or not in front of a screen is extremely helpful too when giving me space and time and energy to come back to. I started hand printing my film work. Adding that kind of analog practice back in has been really helpful to organize my brain when it comes to hiking and cooking and being outside and being with my friends. At different points in my life, I have definitely burnt out really hard creatively and I also felt a lot of blockage as far as what I’m thinking about or if I’m even thinking about anything. Something I try to remind myself is that it’s hard when you’re in the sauce of being in this city in particular. Freelance and what I want to make is also a response to my life and what I’m living. If I am not living my life, which is obviously a huge privilege; it’s a huge privilege to be able to be freelancing. So to live my life fluidly the way that I do, I try to remind myself in moments where I’m getting really anxious or burnt out that I am not gonna have anything worthwhile to say if I’m not living a life that feels like I’m really pushing towards things that I just genuinely enjoy doing. I am giving myself space to prioritize and that has been very helpful.
LOOKING AHEAD, WHERE DO YOU WANT YOUR PRACTICE TO EVOLVE—ANY PROJECTS, COLLABORATIONS, OR NEW MEDIUMS YOU’RE EAGER TO EXPLORE?
Totally. I’m definitely really excited to continue into motion as I can as I get a little bit more confident in my relationship to directing. I’m really curious about where that could go and what that could look like. I think at the end of the day, my ultimate goal for myself is to have my own studio that I’m working out of and through and I kinda hub for a while. I want to be able to mesh all of my interests a little bit more into something that feels like informing each other and I want to find a way to incorporate them more into my livelihood. I think having my own studio for sure is a big goal. I’ve also more recently discovered that I really enjoyed teaching. Looking way down the line when I’m a bit older, I would love to teach potentially at a collegiate level. I recently spoke at this seminar that UCLA puts on for high school kids who are applying for college and it’s a film intensive. I went a couple weeks ago to talk about work and I just love hearing from people who are a generation behind me about what they are thinking about and what is exciting to them. I really want to incorporate some type of way to give back or encourage the people who are gonna come after. I’d like to work in academia at some point later and teach photo or even creative direction.
REFLECTING: THE PHOTOS THAT MADE US
IN COLLABORATION WITH ALEX LAM
KEVIN DELGADO
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
GEAR LINEUP: Mamiya 6, Leica 6 &10
SPECIALITIES: Digital & film photography, portraiture and travel
INITIAL SPARKS: For as long as I can remember I’ve always felt a connection with photography but after I shot my first roll of film, that connection became completely something else. The way the light just looks on film completely changed the way I see the world, even today I look at my subject and try to imagine it in a specific light.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: This moment was when the Los Angeles ICE Protests had just started; being in the crowd was a memorable experience. As a minority, this moment—seeing the whole city come together as one and stand up for the injustices going on—was extremely inspiring.
LOVE LANGUAGE: This photo of my fiancé when we went flower picking stopped me in my tracks, the way the light was with the colors of the flowers took my breath away.
HALL OF FAME: This photo I think is the perfect example of the right place, right time. A compost bin for sunflowers that were in great shape, thrown away for some reason unknown. Almost makes you think of life itself.
INITIAL SPARKS
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
HALL OF FAME
JADEN LA ROSA
LOCATION: Tulsa, Oklahoma
GEAR LINEUP: Canon 5D Mark IV, analog methods-lens filters
SPECIALITIES: Digital photography, editorial, portraiture, fashion, music
INITIAL SPARKS: An assignment for my high school photography class called “magazine cover.” Through this assignment, I felt something ignite within me. This was the first time I actually conceptually and creatively captured something rather than photographing what I already see.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: I photographed the first Oklahoma Fashion Alliance runway looks. I met so many cool local designers, models, makeup artists, and fellow photographers through this shoot. OFA has joined Tulsans in the name of fashion and art!
ASPIRATIONS: I love Dana Trippe, she's such an inspiration to me as a photographer because of how she manipulates her images and uses world-building to create imagined scenes. Her creativity is unmatched. (@trippydana on Instagram)
HALL OF FAME: “Rig Women” a gaudy and fierce representation of the midwest woman through my eyes. Growing up in Oklahoma has shown me the societal standards of women in the US, and as a testament to ditching the expectation I created this set.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE ASPIRATIONS
INITIAL SPARKS
LAUREN NIEVES
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA
GEAR LINEUP: Mamiya 645, Mamiya RB67, Canon EOS 1V, Canon R5 with 24-70mm SEPCIALITIES: Digital & film photography, editorial, portraiture, music, commercial
INITIAL SPARKS: I have taken an abundance of photos throughout my life. It is hard to pinpoint the exact moment I saw that potential. I remember this photoshoot vividly, it was the first time I felt professional, and felt as though I could turn my passion into a career. I shoot portraits in the same way I did when I was 19, but now I am confident within myself and my abilities.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: This photo is a beautiful representation of community. A good friend of mine, Emily, has curated an inclusive community here in Los Angeles. Their goal was to create a safe space for anyone that wanted to collaborate and create as a group. Emily has put together countless photoshoots with different themes, people, and locations. I was honored to shoot this group of incredible individuals.
LOVE LANGUAGE: I had the pleasure of photographing the love between two people in Baltimore. I spent the afternoon running around the Peabody Library, a memory I will cherish. Kennedy and Dan trusted me to capture their sweet engagement. Being a part of this monumental day was special to me. I was just a fly on the wall observing two people in love.
HALL OF FAME: This is a photo I took of my friend Morgan, someone that I am inspired by. This is one of my favorite photos ever. The color, lighting, and overall aura of this image are authentically me.
INITIAL SPARKS
HALL OF FAME
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
LOVE LANGUAGE
ALEXXUS BROWNING
LOCATION: Tulsa, OK
GEAR LINEUP: Sony, 50mm portrait lens
SPECIALITIES: Digital photography, editorial, fashion
INITIAL SPARKS: These photos will always be some of my favorites! Circa 2018/2019. I started to play around with mixed media and photoshopping some of my drawings/writing in with my photography. I love looking back and reflecting on my old works, they remind me of a time I was creating just to create and express myself. It inspires me to get back into that place of authentic creativity.
If it weren't for me experimenting or just having fun in my creative process, I wouldn't have the knowledge and comfortability in what I know now. These images definitely sparked the confidence I have now in my particular style of photography.
IT TAKES A VILLAGE: All of these photos are derived from travels I had been on and include hand written quotes that I like and that speak to me creatively. Traveling and writing is something I absolutely love, so I incorporated the two. I mostly just make art for myself, but I know many other people can relate to the deep parts of you as an artist (especially if they are one themselves). So these works were a popular hit when I shared them! For that reason, these photos give me a great sense of community because I was able to connect with the people who appreciated me being vulnerable. I believe they act as a reminder to stay true to one's self as an artist and more importantly, a human being on this earth.
ASPIRATIONS:
"-2" by Paolo Raeli
Paolo was one of the first photographers that I instantly became obsessed with on Tumblr. I still am! Not only do I love the colors and the style of photography, but it really makes me feel something. Every. Time. I truly admire how he captures three of my favorite things in his photography which is color, cinematic style, and nostalgia.
Scene clip from “Acid Rain” by Lorn’s music video
When I first saw this music video I was taking a film class and it just blew my mind. The color, the set, the story line, the choreography. I think what I've learned about myself is I love being overwhelmed with different levels and styles of creativity all at once. When I see amazing works like this, it gives me comfort that “no idea is too big” and I too can create amazing works like this that incorporate all the things I love.
HALL OF FAME: My favorite creative self portraits.
INITIAL SPARKS
IT TAKES A VILLAGE
HALL OF FAME
AIRIS ENCARNACION
LOCATION: Los Angeles, CA / Oakland, CA
GEAR LINEUP: Sony A7iii, and my classic Polaroid!
SPECIALITIES: Digital & film photography, editorial, portraiture, entertainment, music
INITIAL SPARKS: This is one of my earlier shoots from 2023; I was in quite a rut with photography, and I wanted to experiment with something more editorial. I discovered something very special through this shoot– my personal style and the world I wanted to build with my photos.
LOVE LANGUAGE: Harry was one of my first friends in university, and we kind of met indirectly through his brother–who encouraged me to apply– a couple years prior to me getting admitted to UCLA. We spent so much time together and I would consider him almost family to me. This is a photo of his desk, which is a part of a larger project of mine. However, immortalizing that space felt very dear to me, almost as if I was encapsulating a moment of our friendship.
ASPIRATIONS: This is a photo from Wolfgang Tillmans' still life series. He is, dare I say, one of the best photographers in this generation. physically walking through his exhibit, "To look without fear" at SFMOMA in 2023 changed the way I looked at my own photography. He does a wonderful job at positioning the moments of life we consider mundane as a beautiful and splendid world, which is what I hope to do with my photography, as well.
HALL OF FAME: I rarely and I mean rarely ever photograph still lifes and inanimate things, but the ability to do it feels like jumping over a hurdle. In the act, you impose a personality and magic of sorts into such objects. This moment was that for me.
INITIAL SPARKS
LOVE LANGUAGE
ASPIRATIONS
PHOTOGRAPHY & CREATIVE DIRECTION BY JURI KIM
PRODUCTION & DIGITAL IMAGING — MITCHELL JUNG
LIGHTING — SAMANTHA BUSSE
HAIR & MAKEUP — MARIANA YOSENI
FASHION DESIGNER – TIANA MAI
MODEL – SARAH ROH
MORPHOSIS
Making my way through Al Pacino’s filmography
The Hunger Games prequels
KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack, the new Turnstile album, and j-hope’s
“Killin’ It Girl”
Write in my journal, scrapbook my favorite days, collect pretty lamps
Uma Snow she/her
Animation MFA Student
Dallas, Texas
@ataraxyvenom
umasnow.com
Dumplings at Wu Wei Din Grape juice!
Sleep in, open the blinds to brighten up my place, eat something yummy while reading a book
Try a new cafe, head into the city with my film camera, go to a museum or bookstore, buy a cute trinket
Hang out with friends, have a nice meal and something sweet, take a nighttime walk, light some candles, watch a movie wrapped in blankets
BEHIND THE COVER
PHOTOGRAPHY
It didn't happen overnight. It didn't happen fast.
