Editorial Personal Branding Photography in North Jersey & NYC
Editorial Personal Branding Photography in North Jersey & NYC
For Women Building Powerful, Visible Brands
If you’re a woman building something real — a business, a body of work, a reputation — your imagery should feel like it belongs in a magazine, not a stock photo library.
I offer editorial personal branding photography in North Jersey and New York City for women who want more than “headshots.” Women who want visual presence. Authority. Art.
If you’re searching for a North Jersey personal branding photographer who understands luxury, restraint, and timeless aesthetic — you’re in the right place.
What Is Editorial Personal Branding Photography?
Editorial branding photography blends the polish of a fashion campaign with the clarity of strategic business imagery.
Think:
Clean studio lighting
Intentional wardrobe styling
Confident, directional posing
Magazine-worthy composition
Elevated simplicity
This isn’t lifestyle fluff.
This is brand architecture through image.
As a New Jersey editorial photographer, my approach is rooted in fashion composition and classic portraiture — the kind that feels equally at home in NYC creative spaces or a luxury Summit office.
Who These Sessions Are For
My editorial personal branding sessions are designed for:
Founders & creative directors
Female entrepreneurs in North Jersey & NYC
Luxury service providers
Consultants & speakers
Designers, stylists, medical aesthetics professionals
Women building high-end brands
Many of my clients come from:
Bergen County
Morris County
Essex County
Summit, Short Hills, Montclair
Manhattan & Brooklyn
If you’re building a brand that values refinement, taste, and intention — you are my ideal client.
Why North Jersey & NYC Women Are Choosing Editorial Branding Sessions
The visual landscape has shifted.
Empowerment language is everywhere.
Oversharing is everywhere.
But refinement? Rarity.
Women building serious brands in New Jersey and New York are moving toward imagery that feels:
Controlled but powerful
Polished but not performative
Feminine without being cliché
Strong without shouting
Your photos should communicate that you belong in rooms where decisions are made.
What Makes My North Jersey Branding Studio Different
My studio is based in North Jersey, serving clients throughout New York City and northern NJ.
Everything is designed around intention:
Guided creative direction (you are never left guessing what to do)
Wardrobe refinement suggestions
Clean, editorial lighting
A restrained, classic color palette
High-end retouching that still looks like you
My background in fine art portraiture shapes every frame. We are not creating content. We are creating visual positioning.
What an Editorial Personal Branding Session Includes
Each session is designed as a strategic experience, not a quick shoot.
Your branding session may include:
Studio editorial portraits
Minimalist seated and standing compositions
Detail imagery (hands, textures, product interaction)
Magazine-style verticals for website & press
Campaign-style horizontals for homepage banners
Social media cutdowns
Headshots that don’t look like headshots
If you’re searching for a luxury personal branding photographer in NJ or NYC, this is the difference.
Studio-Based Editorial Photography in New Jersey
All sessions are photographed in-studio, allowing for:
Controlled light
Clean backgrounds
Architectural simplicity
Timeless consistency
Unlike outdoor branding photography that can feel seasonal or trendy, editorial studio works beautifully.
For entrepreneurs in North Jersey and New York who want longevity in their visual identity, this matters.
The Women I Photograph
The women who step in front of my camera are not trying to “find confidence.”
They already have it.
They are:
Thoughtful
Strategic
Creative
Building something meaningful
They want their imagery to reflect their caliber.
And if you’re reading this while searching for a New Jersey personal branding photographer or NYC editorial branding session, chances are you care about how you’re perceived — not just how you look.
That distinction changes everything.
Serving North Jersey & New York Creative Entrepreneurs
My studio is located in North Jersey, easily accessible from:
West Milford
Summit
Short Hills
Montclair
Ridgewood
Morristown
Manhattan
Brooklyn
If you are a New York-based founder looking for a controlled, private studio experience outside the city — many of my NYC clients prefer this environment.
Your Brand Deserves Intentional Imagery
In competitive markets like New York City and North Jersey, visual presence isn’t optional.
It’s strategic positioning.
When your website, press features, speaker bio, and social media all reflect cohesive editorial imagery, you create:
Instant authority
Brand trust
Elevated perception
Higher-value inquiries
That’s the difference between being visible… and being positioned.
Book Your North Jersey Editorial Branding Session
If you’re ready for imagery that feels refined, intelligent, and unmistakably you:
Inquire about an editorial personal branding session in North Jersey.
This is not about becoming someone else.
It’s about visually claiming who you already are.
Personal Branding for the Women Who Lead
It occurred to me the other day that women lately seem to have moved away from the “empowerment” era.
I think it’s because we are in our EMPOWER-ED era.
My inquiries have exploded with women entrepreneurs/founders/creatives looking for personal branding photos.
Not “content”. Not headshots.
The empowered women have stepped up, taken their ideas, their passions, and their projects and turned them into something special that they chose to share with the world. Now they are searching for imagery that represents not just some brand, but their whole heart and soul poured out.
That’s personal branding.
And it also occurred to me that these are the very women we’ve been hyping and cheering on – and we MUST keep doing it! Keep buying from each other’s businesses, keep listening to your friend’s ideas, keep hyping each other up. Make space for fun and flow and what follows is nothing short of magic.
Empowered women empower women – and now we’re in our empowered era. The era we create freely and authentically and share it with the world.
Cancer Survivor Photography: A Journey of Strength and Resilience
Cancer Survivor Photography: A Journey of Strength and Resilience
Samantha came to me for the first time in 2023. She booked her appointment just like any other client has, but the reality of what her appointment was to become wasn’t what she expected.
A month or two after booking, she called me to share an update on how things might be changing dramatically for her in the future.
“I’ve been diagnosed with breast cancer…”
My heart sank.
We discussed her options: Keep the session as is, though it would be right in the middle of her treatment, move the session up to a more recent date to capture her before she started treatment, or hold off on her session until after recovery.
After some consideration, Samantha boldly told me she wanted to keep her original date, putting her right at the start of her first treatments. Whatever lie ahead of her, she wanted to capture it exactly as it was.
She arrived with her PICC line in, sore and uncomfortable. We celebrated life that day – movement, power, beauty, strength. We found beauty in a less than ideal situation and I will always be grateful to Samantha for allowing me to capture her in such a vulnerable time in her life.
Now, more than a year has passed and her treatments have concluded. She is cancer free!
This time, I approached her with a proposal to capture her a second time. Now that some time had passed, I felt it would be important for us to capture the highs and lows of her journey. It was certainly a transformative experience, for better or worse, and one we felt was worth documenting.
This time was different. In ways I expected and in ways that I didn’t. She shared her emotional struggles with me, things I can only imagine. What life post treatment is like, the long term medications and their side effects. Things no one gets to see on a surface level. When everyone is celebrating your recovery but you find it hard to regain a vitality for life after such a physical and emotional beat-down.
I imagine there’s many breast cancer survivors (or anyone who survives such an intense health battle) that might feel the same but feel too afraid to share. You’re supposed to be the happiest you’ve ever been! You’re supposed to feel reinvigorated with a renewed appreciation for life! And yet, you find yourself feeling aimless, lost and maybe even a little broken.
While you surely feel all of those great things on the other side of such turmoil, you also feel afraid to share and maybe even face the reality of the aftermath – emotionally and physically.
“When Christie initially offered the photoshoot to me, I was hesitant to accept. Not because she wasn’t a talented photographer because she absolutely is, and not because my first photoshoot with her wasn’t great because it was one of the most moving experiences I had in my lifetime. The truth is that I was struggling being back in “normalcy” after the end of cancer treatment and was disappointed that I didn’t stay as the enlightened self that I thought I had become. All the insecurities and voids that I had rid myself of from a highly curated life during treatment, came rushing back when I was reintegrated into the world. It didn’t feel like there was anything worth celebrating.”
As we chatted through hair and makeup, I was humbled and listened to her stories and struggles. How much her body had changed, even in ways you can’t see on the outside. How her life has changed, but somehow stayed the same. Her expectations and goals for her future. My goal, as it always is, was to reintroduce her to a part of herself she may have lost sight of along the way.
“Saying “yes” to Christie’s offer had turned my perspective around, like magic. Christie’s eye for strength, vulnerability, beauty through her lens once again moved me. Her work is the most beautiful reminder that my body is resilient, that my mind is a work in progress, that like Darwin once said “there is grandeur in this view” if you choose to see it. I cannot be more thankful for Christie helping me see the grandeur, both when I was diagnosed as well as when I completed my treatment. Christie, your witness is my gift.”
I will always be grateful to the women who put their trust in me. I say it over and over and I mean it every single time. I couldn’t do what I do without the trust of the women that I capture. Our life narratives, our stories we have built inside our heads are fragile, like a house of cards. They have been built over a lifetime of criticism, both self criticism and that of others. We try to form new narratives, gain new perspectives, but often find ourselves returning to comfortable thoughts no matter how damaging they may be.
A strong wind blows and we tumble to the ground, left to pick of the fragments of stories we haven’t yet held up to scrutiny. Can it be true? Can these thoughts we have about ourselves be challenged? Can we break them down and rebuild with new perspectives and a renewed sense of self?
It might just be photography, but it has never just been about that for me. My love of people drives me to capture more than just imagery, it’s a story to be told and you’re the main character. For a long time you’ve let someone else write it for you, but I am here to show you a version of yourself you might have missed along the way.
Instagram... But Better!
I am increasingly fatigued by the social media standards — Doing what I do, it is hard to share my work, like REALLY share my work, without fear of getting banned from the platform (a threat I have received more than once from the IG powers that be). It’s a free platform, so for that we have to play by their rules — but why not just make your own space? So, here I’ll be updating this gallery just as I would my own grid (or in correspondence of my grid!)
I am increasingly fatigued by the social media standards — Doing what I do, it is hard to share my work, like REALLY share my work, without fear of getting banned from the platform (a threat I have received more than once from the IG powers that be). It’s a free platform, so for that we have to play by their rules — but why not just make your own space? So, here I’ll be updating this gallery just as I would my own grid (or in correspondence of my grid!)
3 Tips on how to select your favorite images to go inside your album!
I know that selecting images can be a huge pain point for my clients, so I’ve decided to write some of my thoughts down to hopefully make it slightly easier. These tips will hopefully make selecting your images a little easier if you’ve purchased an album with your session. If you’re selecting them for wall art or even a folio box, the process is still similar (see #1) but you’d probably have a different final criteria.
3 Tips on how to select your favorite images to go inside your album!
I know that selecting images can be a huge pain point for my clients, so I’ve decided to write some of my thoughts down to hopefully make it slightly easier. These tips will hopefully make selecting your images a little easier if you’ve purchased an album with your session. If you’re selecting them for wall art or even a folio box, the process is still similar (see #1) but you’d probably have a different final criteria.
3 Tips on selecting your images for your keepsake album
First and foremost, abandon all the noise. Get rid of the criticism and try to see the images objectively. Now look at them and tell me how they make you FEEL when you see them. There’s going to be pictures that show up that move you, that remind you of a part of yourself you love or maybe have never seen portrayed on camera before. Maybe it makes you feel happy or maybe it makes you feel a deep sense of love for the woman you see before you. Let your emotions guide your decisions because there’s a good chance those pictures will make you feel that way every single time you see them.
If you are getting an album with your session, then we start getting down to some technical ways to narrow it down. Imagine them like spreads of a magazine that you open up and lay flat on the table. If you couple two of the same look together you can put one on each side, so a good way to go about your selections is to choose them in pairs/even numbers for each look. The exception is when you have a STELLAR laying down pose or impactful horizontal image that you could envision as a full spread (one image taking up two pages horizontally). Then you can pick your two from the look to go on their own pages, and a third from the same look as a spread on its own page (or 4-5 images of the same look, etc.)
If you want to get a little more technical with those paired images, you can aim for uniquely different poses in each one or if it’s a similar/same pose select a close up crop and a far away crop to pair with it, or a detail shot with a full image. You can also select one where you’re looking at the camera and another where you’re looking away to go alongside it.
Ultimately, the selection process is a personal decision and at the end of the day, if it checks the first box and none of the other boxes, it’s a keeper. The point of photography is so much more than just technically curated imagery, it’s about forever encapsulating a version of yourself that you’ll only ever be in this very moment. Choose the ones that make you FEEL something, the rest is secondary.
Happy selecting!
The best makeup remover you'll ever use (that you probably have never tried)!
I’m going to let you in on one of my best kept secrets as a makeup artist…
For almost the entire time that I was an NYC makeup artist, there was one product you would NEVER catch me without! No matter the client, location or job - it came with me everywhere. It had multiple uses from adding healthy moisture to a model’s skin to adding hydration and shine to dry hair. But one thing that most people didn’t know about it… Is that it made an absolutely amazing (and all natural) makeup remover. Can you guess what it is???
I’m going to let you in on one of my best kept secrets as a makeup artist…
For almost the entire time that I was an NYC makeup artist, there was one product you would NEVER catch me without!
No matter the client, location or job - it came with me everywhere.
It had multiple uses from adding healthy moisture to a model’s skin to adding hydration and shine to dry hair.
But one thing that most people didn’t know about it…
Is that it made an absolutely amazing (and all natural) makeup remover.
Can you guess what it is???
COCONUT OIL!!!
(You can buy some at any grocery store, like this one: Nutiva Organic Coconut Oil)
That’s right, your humble little jar of coconut oil. I religiously keep coconut oil in both the kitchen and bathrooms (yes I keep it in multiple bathrooms). The gentle oil breaks down even the harshest and hardiest of makeup (I’m talking to you waterproof mascara and liquid eyeliner).
Since it breaks down the makeup so efficiently and gently, you can avoid rubbing and pulling on the skin like you often have to with less effective makeup removers and makeup remover wipes.
Bonus, it hydrates as it works. Once you’ve removed the makeup, gently wipe it away with a warm washcloth. Cleanse your face as usual with a gentle cleanser to wash away the oil and makeup residue (my favorite is this one: Fresh Soy Hydrating Facial Cleanser)
Have you ever tried it? Let me know!
5 Things you can bring to an intimate portrait session (that you might not have thought of)!
Would you ever think to wear a football jersey for an intimate portrait session? Well here’s 5 things you can bring to your session that you may not have thought of!
5 Things you can bring to an intimate portrait session (that you might not have thought of)
Would you ever think to wear a football jersey for an intimate portrait session? Well here’s 5 things you can bring to your session that you may not have thought of!
Sports jerseys - if you’re a sports fan, it can be a lot of fun to incorporate that into a portrait session!
Unique interests - if you’re a dancer, musician, athlete, or have other unique or significant hobbies, bringing uniforms or props can add meaning and “personality” to your photos.
Textured scarves/fabrics - some of my favorite photos involve textures! I love the juxtaposition of different textures against smooth skin.
Oversized faux fur coats - The texture! The elegance! It can be impactful to have a statement piece like this.
Flowy skirt - A bit of extra fabric gives us an opportunity to interact - twirl, swish, play!
Of course, you want to make sure you bring all the basics (you can see my basics suggestions here) as well as some of these fun and unique pieces that really help express your personality.
What would you bring?
10 Things You (Probably) Already Have In Your Closet For A Photoshoot With Me
I love to keep my sessions classic and simple. So simple, in fact, that you could literally raid your closet and have enough for a totally great intimate portrait session!
Picture this:
You find out you’re doing an intimate portrait photoshoot with me TODAY! Hooray, you’re so excited!
But “WAIT!” you say.
“What do l wear?!” Since you only JUST found out you’re doing a session, you haven’t gone shopping. You nervously head to your closet...
While this scenario is a bit unlikely, it is fun to explore the idea that you might be more “prepared” for a session than you think!
I love to keep my sessions classic and simple. So simple, in fact, that you could literally raid your closet and have enough for a totally great intimate portrait session!
Here’s a list of things you (probably) have in your closet right NOW that you could bring to a session.
Oversized sweater
Hoodie
Jean jacket
Leather jacket
Black thong
White button down
Jeans
Black body suit
Blazer
And well, if nothing else… bring your birthday suit ;).
Can you think of anything else? What would YOU bring??? Let me know!
Pondering the question "Who is your demographic"...
The women that step into my studio are so unbelievably amazing. All different ages, walks of life, stages of life. People ask me about the demographic of women that typically come in for sessions and I haven’t been able to truly pin point it. Except maybe it boils down to this one thing… They all have a PASSION for life. They are all in a place of celebration. Celebrating who they are, what they’ve overcome, what they’ve healed from.
Photo by Christie Caiola
The women that step into my studio are so unbelievably amazing. All different ages, walks of life, stages of life. People ask me about the demographic of women that typically come in for sessions and I haven’t been able to truly pin point it.
Except maybe it boils down to this one thing…
They all have a PASSION for life. They are all in a place of celebration. Celebrating who they are, what they’ve overcome, what they’ve healed from.
Some women come in for milestone birthday photoshoots as a way to celebrate entering a new decade.
Some women come in after significant body transformations.
Some women come in finally rejecting the insecurities and standards that have been thrust upon them their whole life. Something clicks inside of them at some point, and those consultation calls usually sound something like “I am x years old and I realized how much time I’ve wasted hating my body. I’m proud of who I am and I’m ready to celebrate that!”
Some women come in pre or post (or both) breast cancer diagnosis/treatment — a celebration of strength, perseverance and life.
And many women have come back more than once! Your growth never stops, so why should the celebrations?!
Anyway, if nothing else, that is the thread that ties them all together. Celebration. Passion. Life.
And my job is to show up and celebrate WITH them.
I bring my camera ready to capture exactly who they are, where they are. I know the longevity of imagery, the way it lives forever long after we’re gone. I feel the importance of capturing these women and I don’t take this job lightly. It is truly an honor to get the opportunity to celebrate these women and I will never stop being grateful.
Self Portraits...
I got to spend time by myself in this new studio space, creating, playing, flowing… it ignites me. It reminds me of what I do and why I do it… sometimes that gets lost when my days are filled with the administration aspects of my job, or editing, etc.
I will indefinitely be sharing more from my most recent self portrait session, but for now.. since I teased it on instagram I might as well share one of my absolute faves.
These sessions always shock the shit out of me.
I go in to it just like everyone else, I’m picking apart my body, my skin, my whatever. I’m not feeling comfortable and was pretty sure 85% of these photos were trash (even AS I was taking them).
It’s hard even technically for me to do these, to be honest. The energy it takes to set it up, mess with the camera settings (it really is a struggle to connect it to my phone, the connection never stays more than a few minutes so it’s sort of constant). Then to model it, check it, do it all over again.
So even the emotional aspect compounding on top of it, sometimes I walk away wondering if I just wasted hours of my time that could have been spent doing something else.
However, there’s something else that happens that starts to overshadow some of those technical and emotional difficulties. I find a flow, I find creativity, peace in my own space. I got to spend time by myself in this new studio space, creating, playing, flowing… it ignites me. It reminds me of what I do and why I do it… sometimes that gets lost when my days are filled with the administration aspects of my job, or editing, etc.
It also connects me to my client’s experience. To try poses, to think of how I can better direct you, guide you, encourage you through this process. To find ways to move authentically and capture real moments. It makes me feel vulnerable, just as you do when you’re with me, and builds my compassion.
But yesterday I took one of my favorite self portraits to date I think.
What do you think?
Photo by Me of Me! (Christie Caiola)
"But what do I do with my hands?!" - Everyone
The number one thing every single person says to me is “I don't know how to pose!” or “What do I do with my hands?!” — While a great photographer will certainly guide you through posing and capturing engaging photos of you, knowing how to pose can make a significant difference in the final result.
The Ultimate Guide to Posing for Portrait Photos: Tips for Looking Your Best
The number one thing every single person says to me is “I don't know how to pose!” or “What do I do with my hands?!” — While a great photographer will certainly guide you through posing and capturing engaging photos of you, knowing how to pose can make a significant difference in the final result.
To help you look your best and feel confident during your next portrait session, I've compiled the ultimate guide to posing— FREE just for you!
Fill out the form below to receive your free posing guide!
Let me know if it helps!
P.S. It may take a couple minutes to send after you fill out the form! Keep your eyes peeled!
The official studio opening post!
I OPENED A NEW STUDIO!!! One that I could have only dreamed of before now. It is a STORE FRONT!!! Who even am I?! There are no words to express how excited I am, and how absolutely aligned the timing is for me right now. Let me tell you all about it 😭🙏🏻!!!!
🗣️ I OPENED A NEW STUDIO !!! 🗣️
One that I could have only dreamed of before now. It is a STORE FRONT!!! Who even am I?! There are no words to express how excited I am, and how absolutely aligned the timing is for me right now. Let me tell you all about it 😭🙏🏻!!!!
✨ It is located in Jefferson, NJ just a few minutes away from my old studio.
✨ It has its own bathroom!!! No more sharing with the other spaces on the floor!!!
✨ There is a room where hair/makeup will be shared with the dressing room!
✨ It is a completely new build, customized for ME!! I was able to pick everything from the floors to the walls! It’s exactly like I dreamed it would be!!!!
✨ It is a storefront on the first floor— NO STAIRS! AND get this— the front windows are already frosted and completely opaque so I don’t even have to worry about what you can see from the outside (this was a sign for me!)
✨ I will have a little coffee/tea bar when you walk in just like the last one and a little seating area with my favorite pink chairs 😭🙏🏻.
✨ I will have a FUN neon sign (thanks to my beautiful and incredible assistant who gifted it to me). Any guesses on what it will say???
✨ The natural light is UNREAL. Something that I really didn’t have in my last space and LONGED for.
The rest will unfold as time goes on!!! I can’t wait to keep you updated as it comes along!!
Inside my studio has always been and will continue to be a sanctuary where women can unearth their strength and radiance. So, here’s to the journey ahead, filled with endless possibilities and the promise of transformation. 🙏🏻✨
BOOKING JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER!!!
Check out some of the images I’ve been able to make in this INCREDIBLE new space!
Photo by Christie Caiola
Photo by Christie Caiola
Photo by Christie Caiola
Photo by Christie Caiola
Wanna see what it looked like before?!
Nothing compares to natural light… 😍
Bright and beautiful, a literal dream come true. I started my photography career using only natural light (as we all do), but when I shifted to a larger studio in 2020, the natural light just wasn’t the same. I relied heavier on my strobes and created incredible magic within that space. But I always missed natural light. You can replicate it with strobes, or at least try, but it’s never the same.
Photo by Christie Caiola
Bright and beautiful, a literal dream come true.
I started my photography career using only natural light (as we all do), but when I shifted to a larger studio in 2020, the natural light just wasn’t the same. I relied heavier on my strobes and created incredible magic within that space.
But I always missed natural light. You can replicate it with strobes, or at least try, but it’s never the same.
I’m so grateful to my client for letting me play around in my new space. She absolutely crushed it in a million ways and her trust in me allowed us create some unbelievable art!
When she booked months ago I told her I didn’t have a space and would let her know where we were shooting as soon as I booked a spot.
I booked one place before ever seeing it, but once I shot there for another client I knew immediately it was the wrong place. So I cancelled (and even lost my deposit). I don’t play around with this kinda thing 😂.
Fortunately my friend @i_am_rocksteady is so generous and let me use his space for another session, so I was able to keep that as a backup.
Once I signed my lease I kept her posted, up until the very last minute I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to get in there in time. The floor had been painted that Monday, cured by Tuesday and by Wednesday we were in and shooting!
Grateful for her flexibility and willingness to pivot last minute. Also grateful for friends who freely share what they have so others can thrive.
I think it was worth the roller coaster ✨
Photo by Christie Caiola
A beautiful and timeless keepsake foliobox has arrived!
I just added a beautiful keepsake foliobox to my product offering!!
The reason I am SOOOO excited about this product is because I have been trying to find the perfect way for my clients to keep and enjoy their images and I think I’ve found it. It feels like it suits my style of photography SO well, embracing the editorial nature of it by giving it a crisp, clean border and a fine art feel. The border draws your eye to the subject (you) and gives it a beautiful, yet simple, finishing touch.
The cherry on top is the beautiful keepsake box they come in. It is covered in a classically designed black diamond pattern with a very light sheen. Inside, your prints rest in an interior finished in a plush black velvet. These sessions are an absolute luxurious celebration of you, why shouldn’t the final product reflect that?
When I shoot, I feel like each image captures a part of you that tells a story. Frozen in time forever, your essence is celebrated.
As you move and flow, you reveal more and more for me to capture.
These matted prints allow you to preserve those individual images as their own story, while also keeping them in a beautiful collection.
The collection tells your story as a whole, and what a beautiful story it is.
Digital can only give us so much, but prints provide more than just a visual and fleeting experience.
When you combine the intangible feelings we evoke through imagery with physical touch, something extraordinary happens. It activates your senses and adds life to a lifeless object.
Do you print your photos or let them live (and die) on your phone???
Thought Investigation
We navigate this world with extreme levels of emotion and intuition.
The human mind is extraordinary.
However, left to its own devices, its primary concern is survival. Happiness is secondary, if even a priority at all.
Which is unfortunate for us, because our goal is no longer to just survive but to also thrive. Surviving doesn’t equal happiness, so we must press deeper.
It is very possible that the things you believe about your world and everything in it are incorrect or skewed, at the very least imbalanced. It is affected by your culture, your upbringing, and everything around you. It is very curious to me that so many of us never stop to investigate our thoughts.
It seems absurd, our thoughts are our thoughts. They can’t be wrong, can they?
Have you ever judged someone or something right away, and then learned more about it and realized your assessment couldn’t have been more wrong?
How many times do we do this?
How wrong can we be about ourselves?
So many women make sweeping declarations to me, they’re awkward, unphotogenic, their nose is too something, their thighs are something else.
Have you ever investigated those thoughts? If you think your nose is wrong, that means you have a belief that noses *should* look like something else. But if you look around, is that true? Is there a way that noses *should* look, or is there a million different noses among you?
How about bodies? Your body is all wrong, isn’t it? How do you know? You must believe bodies should look like something. Bodies shouldn’t have cellulite, right? Is that true? In your experience, do bodies have cellulite? Of course they do. And they also don’t. Both are true.
Does hating your body change your cellulite?
Does living in misery make your body whatever fantastical idea of a body you have conjured up?
It surely doesn’t. Reality is reality. Reality is here and now. To hate what is here and now is lunacy. It exists. Your feelings towards it won’t change it one way or another. The only thing that changes is how you feel about what is happening.
And I’ll leave you with this.
What is more effective, war or peace?
Then why are you waging war on yourself expecting change, when you really long for peace?
I didn’t expect this when I decided to become a photographer
Photo by Christie Caiola
It has been occurring to me lately
that I had no idea the impact my career path would have when I first started this adventure
The impact it has had on all the women that have stepped into my studio has been so profound and quite frankly humbling.
But that’s not exactly what I’m talking about.
The reason I can stand up here and speak so highly of this experience, singing a song of confidence and what it’s like to have your own damaging internal voice challenged…
Is because I have the same damaging internal voice. I spent a lot of my childhood picked on for my appearance, like many of you. I grew up through the ideal body type looking nothing like mine. At just 18, I started my career in an industry where models were told not to eat at lunch and the more emaciated they were, the more excited a photographer was to work with them. My view of myself is so skewed, it still has me choosing pants 3 sizes larger than I am when I’m shopping because I have no earthly clue what I actually look like in real life.
So, the impact that has shocked me the most is the one it has had on ME. My own internal voice. I’ve stepped in front of this camera for my own self portraits and left changed every single time. The lasting effect it has had on me to see myself like this has built a self assuredness in me. I am able to see myself differently and silence that voice that tears me down every single chance it gets. Without the voices of all the people who have ever tried to tell me what to think of myself and without the brands that have ever tried to sell me a lie.
This is why I scream it from the rooftops. It’s why I am so confident in the impact from these sessions. I have watched woman after woman come in and live an experience I’ve had the opportunity to live myself.
Imagine a world of women empowered. A world of women who have challenged their mind and dared to see themselves differently.
It’s a world I want to live in, and it’s humbling that I get to help build it.
Jamie
Jamie
A mother of four, two of them twins.
A fierce woman pursuing a career that courageously helps women.
A woman so open, so honest, she carries self assuredness with her as she enters the room.
A woman not without insecurities, but a woman that has learned how to challenge the nasty voice in her head and take control.
A woman that still needed to be reminded that she is powerful beyond measure, despite the roadblocks life has thrown at her.
A woman that needed to be reminded that she is a force to be reckoned with, capable of overcoming the most challenging moments in her life.
A woman that needed to know there was still a spark inside her. A spark that never left, she just couldn’t see it.
THIS woman. Beautiful. Impactful. Powerful. Brilliant.
“The twins took a lot out of me. I haven’t felt like myself in a long time. Not even the outside version of myself. I’ve accepted the changes their pregnancy made to me and have embraced, but I’ve been missing that spark. I saw it today, it’s still there. I just had to find it.”
Photo by Christie Caiola
Welcome To My World....
Hello, hello. I’m Christie, the hand behind the trigger and the voice behind the brand.
Welcome to my world and ultimately the entire contents of my brain. What I share here is authentically me, I don’t have much of a choice to be honest, I only have one speed.
I am an artist, but that’s only part of it. I’m obsessed with the depths of the human experience– the journey a person goes on in their lifetime, partly a physical journey and partly a journey of the mind. Unraveling insecurities, concepts of the world around them, perceptions of experiences and the process within.
This art, photography, is the vessel. It’s the way I am able to open my mind and reveal what’s inside. It’s a gift I never take for granted. This gift, the ability to literally show you what I see, is something I believe only a photographer has. Perhaps a skilled artist can as well, but when I pick up that camera I am literally and physically able to capture what my mind sees when I see you. I use lighting to capture an emotion that isn’t a tangible element. Every single detail is for that purpose, to use the tangible to capture the intangible.
There’s so much more to you than your insecurities. There’s so much more to you than the things that have bogged you down, suffocating you and lying to you. The darkness of our minds knows no bounds, it will fester and take hold until you feel like you have lost control. If this gift can have even a fraction of an impact on such things, I will continue until I can no longer hold my camera.
I hope you are relentless in your pursuit of healing. Whatever you are healing from; trauma, self doubt, insecurities, anxiety, depression… I hope you seek victory. I hope I get to meet you on that journey and share in your stories along the way.
And.
I hope I get to capture such a bold and courageous woman.
My return to society post covid! + A little intro for the new comers
I’M BACKKKKKK!!!!
Woof, guys. It has been a bit. I took a little camping vacation with my family and it truly was amazing. It was such an incredible opportunity to disconnect and refresh, I came home SO excited to get back to work.
BUT THEN… exactly ONE DAY after we got back home, I came down with Covid, that son of a bitch.
Queue up throwing me off entirely (on top of a few very miserable days in bed), my whole family testing positive (both symptomatic and asymptomatic) and ruining some really great plans we had. Needless to say it has been a rough week + both physically and mentally.
If you know me (and if you don’t, I’m about to do a little intro) you know that I am in a constant state of self awareness. I am challenging my thoughts, I want to be the best version of myself that I can be and playing victim and making excuses for myself just isn’t the way.
So I’m back, grateful for time with family even the time we spent sick and quarantined. We played board games and had epic movie nights together and worked extremely hard to find some light in an otherwise dark time.
As for me, I have noticed an influx of new followers around here and I’m so grateful you’ve decided to come on this journey with me and all the women I work with and empower.
I was an agency represented makeup artist in NYC, working with brands, magazines and celebrities that I merely dreamed of when I first stepped foot into that world. But then something happened, I absorbed all of this knowledge, the lighting, the posing, the retouching… I knew I could play a bigger role. And to be honest, I knew it wasn’t in that industry.
I wanted to bring that editorial atmosphere to everyday women, the ones that admire the models and celebrities in magazines that seem so far out of reach. Only it’s really not that far out of reach afterall. With beautiful hair and makeup, great lighting and high quality editing, you can get that experience for yourself.
Apart from the technicalities, the experience isn’t only (or even mostly) about the superficial. What I do is really special (if I do say so myself). There’s no other job in the world that allows a person to take EXACTLY what they see before them and physically SHOW it to another person. From my eyes to yours, I want to show you what I see in you. Spoiler alert, it’s very different from the harsh eyes you are looking at yourself with.
Please, give me an opportunity to show you how special, radiant and beautiful you are.
I see you, because I am you...
I’ve pinched and pulled all the parts of me
Frowned at the mirror
Hid under clothing
Made impossible promises to myself that I would achieve a version of my body that I deemed perfect
Longed for moments of worthiness
Acceptance
Wondered what it felt like to look in the mirror with approval
I’ve sat jealous of women around me
Wondering if they felt the same about themselves too
I am my clients.
I am you.
I am her.
I am all the women that are sick of being told who they are, who they should be, and what box they belong in.
I am on a never ending journey to accept myself for all that I am. The good, the bad, the ugly, the brilliant and the beautiful.
I am your ambassador. I am there to represent your deepest insecurities and your greatest fears. I stand on your behalf as someone that has felt the depth of the insecurities that rule us. I hold your hand as we cross bridges we’ve never crossed before. Overcoming fears and insecurities to place yourself in front of a camera. I am alongside you as the emotions of an experience so huge come crashing down around you. The excitement, the nerves, the fears.
And it is my greatest joy to be your partner in such an important journey.
Ishimoto Blog:
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