Private Studio Sittings · Atlanta · September 26–27, 2026
WELCOME TO
THE RESIDENCE.
For two days, I’m taking over a blank Atlanta studio and making portraits of whoever walks through the door. We will turn a blank white into something specific to you: the clothes, the posture, the way your mother reaches for your hand, the space helmet your four-year-old refuses to take off. Nothing needs to behave perfectly. It does need to feel intentional.
01 · The visual world
INTIMATE. FASHION-AWARE. A LITTLE 1970s.
Think private studio sitting with the nerve of a fashion editorial—and enough room for real life to interrupt the polish.
Strong posture. Excellent clothes. Rich color. Quiet glances. A child lying on the floor five minutes after arriving. We will make the composed photograph, then the loose one, then the one none of us could have planned.
View the Creative Brief →Make a shape
Body language does as much work as wardrobe. We will sit, stand, lean, stretch, fold, pile up and take up space.
Use the emptiness
The white studio is not something to fill. Negative space makes a small gesture, an incredible sleeve or a tiny human feel enormous.
Let it get real
The beautiful interruption is part of the point: the laugh, the refusal, the hand reaching in, the second after the pose breaks.
02 · Wardrobe
STYLE IS PART OF THE PICTURE.
DRESS WITH INTENTION.
There is no single correct way to dress for this. There is only the difference between a fully formed idea and five people wearing the same shade of oatmeal because someone on the internet said neutrals photograph well.
The statement
Met Gala, but personal.
Sculptural. Theatrical. Strange. Volume, tailoring, sheer layers, severe lines, enormous sleeves, an opera glove, an absurd shoe. If it makes you feel slightly overdressed for planet Earth, we are listening.
The monochrome
One color. All the way.
Oxblood. Tomato red. Chartreuse. Sky blue. Black. Cream. Tone-on-tone creates shape against a white studio—especially when fabrics and proportions refuse to be identical.
The undone
The Gap, with better art direction.
Baggy jeans and a white tank. Cargos and a fitted tee. Skivvies, socks and an undone oversized button-down. Casual is not careless. Proportion, fabric and fit still do the work.
Coordinate the idea—not the outfit. Let one person bring structure, another softness, another color, another skin. Everyone should belong in the same photograph without looking like they came in a family-pack.
Objects have to earn their place
Bring the heirloom veil. The space helmet. The oriental fan. The very weird vintage luggage.
If an object carries a memory, belongs to the person being photographed or introduces genuinely strange visual context, bring it. If it means nothing and adds nothing, leave it home. No themed sets. No decorative filler. No props for props’ sake.
Keep the wardrobe edit tight: arrive in one completely realized look. Bring one fast layer, shoe or accessory change if it materially changes the shape. Forty-five minutes is enough time to make something excellent; it is not enough time to become three different people.
03 · Direction
YOU DO NOT NEED TO KNOW HOW TO POSE.
That is my job. Yours is to arrive willing to be directed—and willing to let the direction fall apart when something better happens.
We will begin with a little more structure: where to stand, what to do with your hands, how to make the clothes work, where to look. Then we loosen it. Walk. Shift. Reach. Gather in. Separate. Fix a sleeve. Sit on the floor. Look at each other. Ignore me for thirty seconds.
These are not poses to practice in a mirror. They are starting points for photographs that still belong to you.
04 · Find your people
01Family + newborn
Small, close and unhurried.
- Baby alone in negative space, then held against a parent’s body.
- Everyone seated or lying together so the photograph feels intimate instead of formal.
- Hands, feet, feeding, soothing, a head tucked beneath a chin.
- Each parent alone with the baby, siblings moving in and out.
02Family + toddlers
We use the chaos. We do not negotiate with it.
- Parents on the floor become the anchor while kids climb, curl up or escape.
- Walking, chasing, lifting, swinging and hand-holding make motion do the work.
- One child gets the whole frame; then siblings share it without being forced to perform affection.
- A refusal, a strange face or a five-minute floor protest may become the best photograph.
03Family + growing kids
Old enough for direction. Young enough to surprise us.
- A strong composed family frame, then versions that break the symmetry.
- Individual editorial portraits so every child gets to be a person—not just part of the group.
- Siblings standing, sitting and moving in shapes that show their actual dynamic.
- Parents together for a minute because they are still part of this story too.
04Family + teenagers
No forced enthusiasm required.
- Lean, sit, stand, hands in pockets, direct gaze—the awkwardness can look cool.
- Each teenager gets a concise fashion portrait of their own.
- Siblings can be deadpan, affectionate, amused or deeply unimpressed.
- We make the photograph your mother wants and the one they will secretly want later.
05Generations
The full history, then the smaller stories inside it.
- Grandparents seated as the visual anchor, with the family built around them.
- Large group, individual households, grandparents with grandchildren, mature children with parents.
- Hands, profiles and the ways people naturally reach for one another.
- A few quiet portraits with no one smiling on command.
06Couples
Close without becoming one amorphous person.
- Stillness first: direct gaze, strong posture, hands placed intentionally.
- Separate, cross paths, come back together, dance badly, fix a collar.
- One person looks; one person moves. Then switch.
- Individual portraits within the couple’s session make the whole story stronger.
07Best friends + sisters
Equal parts fashion campaign and evidence.
- Symmetry when it suits you; deliberate contrast when it does not.
- Share a chair, sit on the floor, lean in, pull apart, exchange clothes or accessories.
- Direct-to-camera portraits followed by the laugh that ruins the pose.
- Individual frames that make the pairing feel chosen, not obligatory.
08Solo portraits
You are enough of a reason.
- Full-length shape, close portrait, profile, hands and clothing details.
- Chair, floor, wall and open space used as different stages.
- Stillness, movement, direct gaze, looking away, one quiet frame and one weird one.
- The goal is range without turning you into a character you do not recognize.
05 · Before you arrive
READY, NOT OVER-REHEARSED.
Arrive
Come dressed and camera-ready in your primary look. Please arrive ten minutes early so parking, shoes and last-minute toddler negotiations do not eat into your sitting.
Bring
Your people. Your fully considered wardrobe. One fast styling switch. Water and a clean, non-chaotic snack for children. Any personal object we have already decided belongs.
Leave home
Random props, matching-outfit panic and, unfortunately, pets. I love them. The studio does not allow them. Please make their apologies on my behalf.
The studio
Listen To Your Art Studios
691 W Whitehall Street SW
Atlanta, Georgia 30310
Final parking, entry and day-of contact instructions will arrive by email three days before your sitting.
We settle in and read the room.
We make the composed portraits while everyone is fresh.
We loosen the structure and follow movement, relationships and personality.
We close with the details, individual frames and the one last thing we did not know we needed.
Private Studio Sittings · Atlanta
THE PEOPLE ARE
THE WHOLE POINT.
You do not have to arrive with the photograph already figured out. That is my job. Bring yourself, your people and a willingness to be seen. I will take it from there.