Creative Hangs: Michelle Rodriguez & Yarisel Estrada
Hey Peeps,
I have a new creative hangs collaboration to share with y'all! I teamed up with fashion stylist, Michelle Rodriguez and fashion model, Yarisel Estrada. I met them back at my gallery show, Azul. We connected through the gram and met up to discuss the collaboration. It gave me the opportunity learn more about them as individuals and to hear their stories.
This work for me is very important. Not only was I getting to make new connections and expanding my community, I was also working with two very inspiring women of color that are pursuing their passions.
Visibility is key and I want to keep working with people of color. We all know it's much needed here in Austin. Working side by side with these two creatives was enriching and motivating.
Michelle has been working in the fashion industry from very early on. She started in high school and continued throughout college at Texas State University. By creating fashion shows, making her own designs, working in retail, and acquiring a higher education, she was able to gain the necessary experience to launch her own personal styling service.
Michelle now works with clients. She guides them to achieve a better look and comfort in their appearance. Michelle plans to keep collaborating with local artist to gain more experience to better serve her clients. She’s passionate about helping people feel good about themselves.
Yarisel and I both share something in common. We are both from the same place in Mexico – Tampico, Tamaulipas. She currently lives and attends college in Austin, pursuing a degree in Psychology. She has a theatrical acting background with more than eight-years of experience. Currently, she works at the Mexican American Cultural Center for one of the nine Spanish theater companies existing in the US, Proyecto Teatro.
Yarisel started modeling a few months back to help Michelle build her fashion portfolio and is killing it! With a huge presence on Instagram, Yarisel is not only modeling but is now an influencer partnering with brands.
The inspiration behind the work came from combining my minimal interest in space with unique looks that were bold and sleek. We shot at the Sea Holm Power Plant because that place has so many sweet backgrounds.
We set out to shoot in the morning but the light was pretty strong which gave the images a more graphic look. I don’t like shooting broad daylight. I had to adjust and use the light along with the environment to create unique compositions that incorporated Yarisel into the space. The final images were color corrected and had minor manipulation in Photoshop.
I hope y’all enjoy the work and take the time to check out Michelle and Yarisel. Both of them are really great people. Please reach out if you want to connect with them to collaborate or are in need of their services for business purposes.
Big thanks to everyone who made it this far into the post! I promise I try to keep these as sweet and short as possible.
Special thank you to Michelle and Yarisel for sharing their passions with me and making this collaboration possible. Yarisel was in all the frames but the photo directly above is of Michelle.
-Javi
