Gift wrapping with Carlo / PATIOS

This past weekend, I was working on a super cool project with my friends Carlo, Emmanuell and Nelia. The idea was to create Christmas-inspired still life shots for Carlo and Nelia's new book called "PATIOS".

PATIOS is Nelia's second book, in co-edition with Carlo. The book explores all the hidden and forgotten backyards in the beautiful Colonial City of Santo Domingo. The photographers (Amadeo Anselin, Nemanja Brankovic, Ricardo Briones and Carlo Reyes) captured such amazing places that I could have never imagined they existed.

For me, this book is on top of my Christmas list. It's such a great source of inspiration. And honestly, after looking at it, I just want to go and explore all these breathtaking places in my beautiful city.

Oh, and one of the most beautiful things about this? The sales of the book go to the fundation "Abriendo Camino", which works on benefit of the children and teenagers living in Villa Agricola. So yeah guys, it's all for a good cause!

On the Street... Maria

Casa Alfarera

One day, I was walking in the Colonial City, like I usually do. I was walking down the Padre Billini Street (one of my favorites). And then suddenly, I came across this beautiful shop, Casa Alfarera.

Casa Alfarera is an experimental ceramics workshop created by Ysabela Molini. 

I've never met someone like Ysabela before. She's so passionate about what she does, and that's a quality I really admire. She puts a lot of dedication into creating all these beautiful ceramics, it's just amazing. The way she speaks about the materials she uses and the creative process is just impressive.

The colors, the textures, the beauty, the simplicity... It all comes together in this gorgeous place. Also, her team is full of hard-working people who are as passionate as her about creating beautiful yet functional pieces for daily life.

I'll make sure to write another post about that :)

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CASA ALFARERA

Calle Padre Billini #254, Colonial City

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P.S.: Make sure to check Ysabela's instagram account, you'll love it.
P.S.S: This weekend, she'll have a special sale. Make sure to visit!

Weekend x Classic Specs II

Part two of my collaboration with Classic Specs!

This time, featuring the Waverly sunglasses in Moss. They're incredibly stunning, I think my favorite frames from Classic Specs, so far. They're made to fit almost any face, which makes them even more perfect. Isn't that great? I mean; to be honest, what else can you ask for?

Okay, anyway... Since I'm actually a little bit camera-shy, I asked my cousin Laura to be my model for this shoot (pardon the iPhone photos). Here she is:

Actually, the sunglasses looked kinda perfect on her, don't you think? We had a lot of fun shooting these photos yesterday. I hope you like them as much as we did :)

Camille & Stephanie

Here are some photos from a shoot I had a few weeks ago with Camille and Stephanie. These girls were so easy and fun to work with, I didn't even have to direct them that much, their coolness and beauty are simply natural.

We had a really great time shooting this story for one of my friend's (Maria) project for her class. She had to create a magazine, and this was part of the editorial content. I'm so glad with the results, hope you like them!

-Special thanks to Raquel and Maria, you rock-

Weekend x Classic Specs

Guys... You know my weakness for a good piece of eyewear, right? Well, something amazing happened this past weekend.

I was so honored when Classic Specs -a new eyewear company based in Brooklyn- wanted to do a collaboration with me. I was guest posting at their Instagram feed for the whole weekend.

They sent these super cool Amherst Sunglasses to shoot still life series and lifestyle photos with them. I also took them around town, to showcase my favorite places in the city. I had a lot of fun! Head over their Instagram to see how the photos turned out!

Taste

Ok, first thing: I'm so excited I'm back to food photography! It's not like you will see a lot of that on my blog (ok, maybe on my Instagram). But I have to tell you, it's amazing to work with such talented people. I just love it!

Ok, now: Last weekend, I went to a super cool gastronomic event called Taste, As you may know, I have a ridiculous love for food, so, now you imagine how much I loved the event. Well ok, let me tell you how much I liked it.

On Saturday, we had a cooking show with the French/Spanish chef Mikel Alonso, who has a restaurant in Mexico called Biko. He showed us a lot of interesting: from culinary techniques to really interesting theories. Here's one of the plates he cooked, which was amazing.

On Sunday, we had a cooking show with three talented chefs from our country (which I admire, and I'm very lucky to work with) Jacqueline Henriquez, Leandro Díaz and Ana Lebron. Each one of them cooked different recipes in such a great and easy way. Here's what Leandro created:

Ok, you probably saw a picture of that on Insta too. But I just wanted to show you the one I took my camera, you can really appreciate all the details, and it looked (and tasted) wonderful!

After that, Ana got on the stage and cooked a delicious dessert called arroz con leche, which is very popular in my country. She kind of reinvented it, using different ingredients and cooking it in a very modern way. Here's how it turned out, and Jacqueline's creation on the right, which was wonderful as well:

Well, that's all folks! I had such a great time there. But now, this post is already too long, and it also made me a bit hungry. Ok yeah, I'll try not to make a mess in the kitchen now. Bye! xx

The watch

Happy Saturday folks!

Here's a still life shot with my new Daniel Wellington watch. Such a classic piece! isn't it? I'm loving it so far. Mine is a men's Classic Sheffield on Silver. The minimal design of this watch is simply perfect (ahhh, you know me). The face is so thin, which makes it super easy to wear and that's something I just love!

Oh, by the way; The folks at Daniel Wellington were nice enough to create a discount code for you guys! You can use 'victorstonem' to get 15% off of all their products! (valid until October 15)

Friday Stills pt. 5

Hello!

Here's another still life 'story' for Friday. I wanted to do something inspired by Fall for this; but as you can see, it turned out to look more like Winter, don't you think?

Monday morning

My love/hate relationship with Monday mornings started two months ago. Sometimes I loved the idea of waking up early, you know, a fresh start. And sometimes, it was just impossible for me to get out of bed and I just wanted to stay inside all week day long.

From last weekend

Hello!

Last weekend I went to the Colonial City with some friends. Well, I think you probably know how much I love that place, right? My friend Paulette was waiting for me in a restaurant, Dario and Yoandy were also there. We had a few drinks and then we walked a little bit. Ok, a lot, actually.

Friday Stills pt. 4

Hello!

Ahh, I'm so glad this week is finally over. I don't want to be negative or anything, but this week was just crazy awful. Really. It's because all the exams and assignments I had to do... I wonder, who said advertising was an easy career, huh?

Summer playlist

Hey there!

Remember my friend June? Well, we created a Summer playlist together! To be honest it was so much fun. I looooove sharing music with friends that have a very similar taste to mine. To me, this is one of the best ways to collaborate with them! Don't you think?

Maru

Friday Stills pt.3

Hello!

Third part of this series! Apparently, flowers are one of my favorite subjects to photograph these days. Especially roses, either dead or alive, I'm loving them. What a cliche, no? For me, roses are one of the most poetic flowers (they're all poetic but you know...) that exist on Earth. They come in almost every color and that's something that just kills me. In a good way, of course.

Ahh, perfect, isn't it? Okay I'll calm down now. But one last thing, the photo was inspired by a lovely spread that Irving Penn (the master, that's how I call him) shot for Vogue, back when Diana Vreeland (another master) was Editor-in-chief in the 60s and early 70s. Also, there's this book, I'm dying to get it! What do you think?

Sunnies

I know, I know... I talked about Persols last week, but these are probably the most perfect sunglasses I've ever seen.

I'm not sure if some of you have watched 'North by Northwest' with Cary Grant, but it's one of the most stylish films on Earth. I swear.

Well anyway, I was very distracted with the sunglasses that Cary Grant wore on the movie. They're just amazing! Don't you think? Since the day I watched it, I've been looking for a similar pair to wear this Summer. I found these, but I'm still not sure.

What do you think?

Kris Van Assche SS14

Yes! One of my favorite campaigns for this Spring/Summer.

Alessio Bolzoni captured the perfect photographs for this season's campaign of Kris Van Assche. The images are strong and they communicate Kris' essence in a perfect way. 

I love the fact that there's some kind of sporty thing about this campaign, Genius isn't it? I don't know why but it reminds me a bit of tennis. Lol, ok.

What do you think about it? 

PERSOL 714

Such a classic! And so well designed, no wonder why they've been on my wishlist for a few months now. The Folding 714 Persol is one of the best sunglasses alive. Well, at least for me they're super cool.

Daniela

Another shoot with Daniela.

Stills with L'œil

Oh, I'm so happy! As I told you here, swedish store L'œil sent me two beautiful bracelets a few weeks ago to take pictures of them and post them on Instagram.

Spring cool

You know what... I'm still on vacations! Crazy right?! Not for me lol, I'm feeling a little bit too lazy these days.

Well, anyway... Every season, I always make some plans. Something like an update of what's going on and some things I'd like to do. Like the lazy update, remember? Well, since I'm on vacations I decided to make a list for this Spring.

And not only about things I'd like to do or try, but also some commandments to stay cool this season (even when I'm not lol) Ok, here it is:

Happy Monday!

Hello! 

So I just got back from my Grandma's house. I spent the Easter weekend there. We had a great time, as always.

Now, that I'm back, I have a lot of stuff to do... you know, things I was supposed to do last week (it's always like that, I procrastinate too much). But thank God it's the usual stuff; edit some photos, work on some illustrations and posts, etc. 

Arghh, ok I'm off. I need to get all these things done by tomorrow!

How's your Monday?

News!

Well, hello. Something's looking different, no? Hahah, I know. Things are changing a little bit (a lot, to be honest) The truth is, I've been wanting to change my blog for a while now and I finally did. It's a whole new identity.

Okay, let me tell you what's new:

Man on the Move by Hermès

I'm loving this video!

Luxury brand Hermès released this video a few days ago. As you probably know, every year, the brand chooses a specific theme that inspires its artistic direction. For example, last year was all about sports. This year is about celebrating Metamorphosis, which I think they did pretty well in the video.

Featuring dancer Jérémie Bélingard, directed by Romain Laurent and shot in the streets of Paris. This video is fun, playful and super cool. Let me know what you think!

The Chandler II

• 2
• HYPE on LOOKBOOK

So, here's a picture of me wearing my new Warby Parker glasses as I told you! :)

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T-shirt & trousers: Zara

The Chandler

Ok, I think you can officially call me a bookworm now. Just kidding... I probably never wrote about this on the blog but, remember my old glasses? Well, they broke more than a year ago, sadly. Aha, I know. I spent all that time blind without wearing glasses because I couldn't find the right ones (Yeah, you know I'm that complicated).

But then, I remembered Warby Parker! If you didn't know, they're an American eyewear brand, their design is truly beautiful and the quality is just great. I picked the Chandler, my all time favorite. There's even an illustration with them, crazy!

Current inspiration

Happy Monday! I hope you're all having a great start of the week and I also hope you had a nice weekend! I know it's been a while since the last time I did this, but I wanted to share my current inspiration with you. I created another moodboard with a few images that are calling my attention, here it is.

As you can see, it's all about the details in these photos that make them so beautiful. I'm feeling very drawn into natural light, shadows and soft moments. I've changed the color palette just a little bit this time. I'd say it's my Spring moodboard, even if it doesn't look like Spring that much. What do you think? Do you like it? You can see more of what's inspiring me here.

Youth in revolt

Guys, I think I'm missing something. And that's life. Sounds weird, I know. But let me explain

Last week, I was celebrating (kind of, I was a bit sick) my birthday with some friends at home.

Style story n2 / Yamil

Here's Yamil. He's Daniela's brother.

I also wanted to shoot a style story with him for a long time. And a few weeks ago, I had the pleasure to do it. Yamil is interested in fashion, art and hip hop culture, he's got a very interesting collection of images on his Tumblr (warning, NSFW). And, he's working on his own clothing brand. Great, no? We'll talk about that in another post.

Well, here are some of the pictures I shot. Hope you like them!

Some essentials

Ahh, it's getting hotter and hotter every day guys (Spring's hereeeee). Winter is officially gone in my country and that sucks. Don't get me wrong, I love Spring. But living in an island is not easy. It obviously has its perks, I'll write a post about that later.

Anyway, before we get deeply into all the Spring stuff, I wanted to show you some of my essentials for this season's transition. I've been carrying/using these items almost everyday, well, some of them... Ok here's the list:

On the Street... Marlene

Friday Stills pt.2

Yup, I'm still trying out a bit with still life/nature. This was taken last week, and as you can see, I'm a little bit obsessed with that black board. I thought it looked nice on the last photos I took, so I'm probably going to use it a lot now. The flowers are obviously synthetic but I like the way the look here. Anyway, I'll keep doing this kind of photos and I'll post them every Friday. Please let me know what you think! :)

My rules of style / pt.2

Yes, finally, an illustration!

Haha, ok enough. Remember last time when I talked about my rules of style? Well, here's the second chapter or something like that.

As I said, my style is always evolving, that allows me to find inspiration anywhere and add some new rules to this series of posts, which will keep things a bit more interesting all the time. Here I go...

• Get rid of tight/baggy clothes: Things are supposed to fit just right. Something too small will obviously make you look like your mom buys your clothes from the kids department. And something too big will also make you look like an idiot. We don't want that.
• Look for a key piece each season: This is just essential. It's something I've been doing for like a year now. You need something essential for each season. For example, an unconstructed blazer, t-shirt or chinos for Spring/Summer; and maybe a nice coat, blazer or sweater for Fall/Winter.
• Take care of your footwear: To be honest, I totally suck at this one. But, argh that's okay, I'll do it nice some day... The point is you should treat them right. Shoe trees are really helpful, they help to maintain their shape and make them look good.
• Less is more: Always. Remember choose quality over quantity. Don't put a lot of effort to have a nice outfit.

And there you have part 2. Remember to have in mind all these 'rules'. I'll post more as soon as possible!

Style story n1 / Daniela Arbaje

This is my friend Daniela. She's going to study film and she's got a great love for good movies and images. Yup, another super cool and stylish friend for the list. I always wanted to take pictures of her, and it finally happened last weekend. 

I love the fact that her style is a mix between grunge, minimal and daring at the same time. It's just amazing, no? Well, I'll leave you with some pictures, enjoy!

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P.S.: Special thanks to Sarah Gomez for helping us with this shoot.

Friday Stills

Hello!

So, this was a little story I decided to shoot earlier today. You know, I'm feeling very inspired by interiors and still life. Even my Instagram feed is full of shots like that. It's some kind of obsession. But to be honest, sometimes it's a little bit difficult to find the right props for the photos. 

This time, I grabbed my dad's old watch and some vintage art and photography books I stole from grandma. Anyway, this is just an experiment. I like to change the game and try different things sometimes, haha. I hope you like how the pictures came out! :)

The Herschel backpack

Here's the backpack that I use everyday for university. It's by Herschel Supply Co. and I love it. It's spacious enough to carry everything (my laptop, sketchbooks and books).

I've always been very picky when it comes to choosing backpacks,  I always try to look for something simple and minimalist, but beautiful and functional at the same time. Well, I think I found the right one!

What do you think? Do you like backpacks?

On the Street...

Somewhere else IV

So yeah, I know (maybe?) you've all wondered why I stopped blogging for a while... And, I don't know why I didn't write this post before but here it goes...