slow down fast fashion.

last year we hosted the first charitable thrift store with my sister and couple of friends that joined in to help and make it possible. all the wonderful people that came and supported the event were so excited about it that they kept asking us to do it again. so a year later we found ourselves in the swing of things - piles of clothes from our closets and other people, crafting supplies, baking, and somehow we made it happen. 

thirty years.

back in summer I finally took pictures of the two people who rarely ever let me get them infront of my camera. it was their 30th anniversary, and we were at our family's cabin. there's not a place that could be connected to their lives and marriage more. so with all those reasons, I finally convinced them to let me capture the relationship that has shaped my life more than anything. it was a very special moment for me and so sweet. it was all I want my photoshoots to be. we went for a walk in the woods and meadows, we talked and we laughed, and in between those moments I snapped pictures. these photographs are some of the most valuable ones I ever captured. <3

Banjo & Martina

I finally got to edit these back from fall when I made my sister and her boyfriend come outside with me and join me in my photo ideas and test my camera. the best part about this is that there's no pressure to do the best job possible, to have a certain outcome, there is just freedom to create and try things that might not work out, and ask the people I'm taking pictures of to do things that might sound weird to anyone else. like, run in the middle of the road, tell me if there's a car coming, lay down on the ground. and sometimes that's how some of my favorite photographs are made. <3 in those moments of freedom and spontaneity.

twentieth year of life. { 2015 }

new year's has never made much of a difference for me. probably because my birthday is just a week later and that's where the looking back at the memories and looking for what's ahead comes.

twenty. I have a lot of memories. the twentieth year of my life was full of new and unexpected things. full of wonders. traveling. growth. art. love. trust. spontaneity. fear. gratitude... those were the things coming to my mind first as I looked back. the year where I started to learn the most important lessons of self-acceptance and self-care. and the year where I looked at who I want to be and what I want to do and set out goals to pursue. the year where I made scary choices of letting go and putting trust into the unknown future. the year where I stopped holding onto things, grabbing onto them to have them under control, but started learning to let God be in control instead. and the year where I learnt that I know little about Love.  the one thing I thought I knew. but I don't really know the true meaning of the word. Love. all that it contains. the simplicity and complexity of love. slowly I started learning.

there were so many little memories and moments worth remembering but here are some of the big things that got captured, and that were some of the biggest parts of the twentieth. or at least the ones I just throught of.

it was the year that I was not in high school for any part of it anymore. but in college. growing in my creative process. spending months working on continuous projects and presenting my soul in an artwork and exhibiting it in galleries. it wasn't always easy, but I've grown and did more than I thought possible for me, and that's what's important.

I hosted a charity thrift store with my awesome sister and lots of amazing friends who helped. it has been my dream for a while to do that and spread the word about sweatshops that our clothes comes from and I was so excited to see that idea come to life with some amazing people joining in. and it was way better than any of my expectations.

I came back to my second home in California almost two years after I said my goodbyes. and I spent precious time reconnecting with my second family, dear friends, and finally went on other than skype dates with my best friend, Joshua, and fell in love. fell in love all over again with this place and its people.

Maty & Janinka

 {autumn 2015}

I'm so glad I finally took time to edit these pictures I took of my sister and her husband when the trees were still covered with leaves and the hills brightened up the valley with all their colors as the sun set down. I'm so thankful for these two and their relationship, thankful for family, for our forever growing family.