I never took into account the exhaustion Margeaux must have endured as I forced her to sprint up and down a hill in Golden Goose boots two sizes too big for her.
It was 85 degrees as she draped herself in hefty Isabel Marant jackets, layered below a cashmere scarf, looking through her foggy sunglasses... At least she wouldn't get sunburnt.
Margeaux spun in circles until she fell on the ground and lost her balance. That's the shot I wanted. I wanted the organic, lost in the moment, gold-dust woman.
I wanted the shoot to feel dramatic, yes, but not in a high-maintenance, editorial way, even. I wanted the shoot to embody the first time opening a freshly developed roll of film shot at Woodstock 3 weeks before. An essence of nostalgia and inspiration in one.
I watched as the cream cashmere Faliero Sarti scarf Margeaux pulled from a bag blew in the wind, synchronized with her burnt auburn hair. She threw on an Isabel Marant asymmetrical Tee and a purposefully distressed Re/done Levi's micro skirt. She decorated herself with a pair of probably fake Chanel glasses - sourced from the center console of my car - and a chunky gold Isabel Marant belt.
I took my digital camera - which I had savagely hunted down on eBay 2 years prior - and began to shoot.
Let's touch back on that moment of inspiration I felt watching the wind possess Margeaux's hair and scarf moments before. Hair inspires me. In a way, hair to me is how one may determine the freedom of another's spirit. When I think of a music festival, the thought of Woodstock heavily trumps the thought of Coachella - a reflection of my own daydreaming, considering I've never attended either festival. I can recall images that I've either made up in my head or have seen before of women dancing at Woodstock. The way their long hair drives their movement illuminating - in such an awefully way - their ethereal, careless, and magnetic energy.
I decided the best way for us to translate this shoot was by using the wind. Creating as much movement and perspective as possible. I wanted to feel like I was dancing with her, and every woman who danced before her.
In full transparency, this shoot began with a resentful and uninspiring energy. My Model and Co-worker at the time, Margeaux Souza and I were abruptly assigned the task of shooting a "festival season" inspired shoot - as if this weren't our job and we hadn't actually been told about this the week before.
We were required to style only using our sale items, which, for a luxury designer boutique in a Colorado town, usually consists of the coolest and most expensive items of the season.
However, we had neither a plan nor a vision. We filled four of our deepest shopping bags to the brim with the entire sale rack. We hauled the bags over our shoulders for probably 4 miles (3 blocks) to my black 2012 Jeep.
I decided I knew the perfect spot... the alley behind my ex-boyfriend's house. Ah, yes, the notoriously sunny and dry prom photo spot from sophomore year of high school, perfect.
We arrived at our location and decided it would be best if we played some background music from the car while we shot.
As I turned up the volume of Led Zepplins D'yer Mak'er, Margeaux began digging through our clothing selection. This is when the inspiration began to roll in.
I
Another element I was able to embody in some way regarding "festival" was the moments of stillness, exhaustion, reflection, and a sense of beautiful loneliness endured.
As my eyes follow the layout of each of these images. I sense more than dancing and movement. I sense a blur.
One of the most fascinating things about taking images is the feelings they can provoke that were completely unintentional. An accidental story is almost always created.
As Margeaux dances through the desert festival, a wave of heat drowns her body. She looks up to see that no one else is dancing. No one she was with before remains in her sight line.
Fear is not her emotion, its something much more beautiful than that.
She looks around in a hot sweaty haze and laughs to herself. she feels freedom in a way she never has before.
She keeps dancing.
She fades in and out of these moments throughout the rest of the night. Moments of full presence, curiosity, and fulfillment.
She dances until she sleeps and the next day awakes with a violent hangover, somehow lying besides her friends again. But closer with herself than she's ever been.
In this look, Margeaux is wearing an Isabel Marant Denim Jacket and decorated belt, a Velvet maxi skirt, and Golden Goose boots. Along with my favorite part... her personal jewelry from home that shell forever gatekeep, and her Elisa Johnson shades.
In this look, Margeaux is wearing that cashmere Faliero Sarti scarf mentioned above, the Isabel Marant asymmetrical T-shirt and belt, a Re/done Levi's micro skirt, my "Chanel" sunglasses, and a pair of vintage fisherman boots.
Here, Margeaux threw on another Isabel Marant jacket.
These images were taken in Fort Collins, Colorado, in April of 2025 as a festival campaign shoot for Tula Boutique. Modeled and styled by Margeaux Souza. Photographed, imagined, edited, and written by me