When I first got the idea to put out a model call on Girls Love Travel so I could do some location scouting on my April NYC trip, I thought it would just be an easy way to build my portfolio. But, as soon as I began those photoshoots, I realized this was an opportunity for so much more. Here was a way to think outside of the box using new (to my work) techniques to capture these ladies’ personalities, developing new ideas for my commercial work as well as playing around with creativity. And, past all of the technical stuff, here was a way to connect with likeminded women who weren’t satisfied living within the constraints of what they were “supposed to do.”

Milena’s photoshoot was when all of this began to click. You know, we’re “not supposed to just travel for a living,” “not supposed to meet up with strangers we’ve only talked to on the internet,” “not supposed to be out by ourselves in NYC at night.” Oh well. And, as someone who typically tries not to be just any other tourist, I thought I wasn’t supposed to photograph at night in Times Square, quite possibly the most kitschy photoshoot location in the city. But, like with most preconceived notions, I was happily wrong.

Photographing someone you’ve never met before and know nothing about save their name is rather daunting, especially for someone like me whose focus is on capturing her subjects’ genuine personalities. And that’s why I love these GLT sessions: they’re the perfect exercise in getting to know someone quickly and intuiting who they are in order to capture this present piece of their story. The important part is to continually listen, to let someone give their own nuanced narrative without trying to build it for them based on who I might think they are.

Milena was immediately very bubbly - not shy in front of the camera and with no reservations of me shooting mere inches from her face. She exuded a pleasant happiness fed by our constant laughter while swapping traveling stories. Additionally, as I first saw in the in-between moments, she also had a serious side, a desire to explore the vastness of the world. And at 24, like me (at the time), she seemed to recognize the numerous possibilities open to her. Which is why I spent a good bit of time photographing with the prism (and often using it to overlay the colorful lights on her portraits) - to capture her likeness while still alluding to the stories yet untold, the path(s) not yet even visible.

Though I’d been practically dying of food poisoning 12 hours before, I’m so glad I was able to get out that night to meet another fellow traveler and to experience her vibrant sense of adventure, which I’ve been following ever since at Globetrottin Girl. Among the thousands of other travelers in Times Square that night, many unthinkingly the backdrops to our photos, we shared the goal that so many solo female travelers that I’ve encountered strive for: self discovery. I have a feeling that there’s more to come from these projects.