Digging deep into my bucket list of projects, 2018 is the year of Environmental Portraits; where I try to capture the subject in their usual environment illuminating their character and who they are through their surroundings. @simabustami_artwork is an old friend of mine and agreed to be my first trial into this genre. We couldn’t pick one so we decided to post our favorite three. The clutter of all her paintings and grittiness of the lighting and mood, plus she not showing her face (which in this case I felt was too cliché for her taste), all come together to showcase and reflect her personality and style. More about her: “Working with various mediums, she effectively communicates the chaotic nature of the self and the world around it. Her faces and figures become instantly recognizable as they implicitly communicate the ambiguous yet shared experiences of contemporary life, its the emotive quality to her work that forces the viewers to dig deep within and confront their own inner realities and fragility.”

Continuing my Environmental Portraits project, my 2nd subject is Natasha Mufleh, @eatrightrun, the idea was to capture her commitment and love for the sport of CrossFit. It started off by photographing her in action, but moulded eventually to capturing her expression at the end of the rep, a quiet but fixated look at her fondness and connection with the sport. In her words when asked why she does cross-fit: “I’ve always recognized I’m strong, fast, and so obsessed with sports. I’ve grown up an athlete, sports defined me.
The moment I learned about Crossfit, I was in love. The high. The endorphins. Pushing past that breaking point. Over. And over. And over again. When I’m mid Metcon, there’s not a thing that’s on my mind other than my performance. My heart is involved, my body is involved, and my mind is involved. Complete disconnection of anything external that might cause me stress. To see my body do things I would only see the pros do on TV. To get stronger. To lift heavier. Crossfit is a sport. And it’s a sport I have chosen to follow as an adult. To say I love it is an understatement. I don’t care to be the best at it, or the fastest. I just care to be healthy enough and strong enough to continue for as long as I can.”