Rosa Digital Arts

Rosa Digital Arts would like to introduce Hannah as its cover model for the 2010 ad campaign.

Hannah is a High School Junior. She is absolutely beautiful. The natural waves in her hair, the green color of her almond shaped eyes, the dreamy aura of her face, her unpretentious, yet confident soul were enough reasons for Hannah to become our cover model. However, it was her unique self that captured our attention.

About a year ago, I was having a conversation with Lynn, Hannah's mother, about our children and clearly recalled seeing a passionate, yet familiar look in Lynn's face as she described her daughter' personality. Beyond the expected love a mother shares for a daughter, I saw a genuine description of a fascinating teenager's spirit whom I had yet to meet.

Being a teenager is difficult. Among numerous amounts of challenges a kid has to maneuver through those years, remaining truthful to who you are has to be the toughest yet. Lynn's description of Hannah's spirit left me with no doubt in my mind Hannah was truthful to herself. When I record an image I am trying to capture the soul, because it is the soul that activates the splendor of our tangible selves. It is that simple. I want a model to let her true colors shine. And let that be what dictates the success of a photo shoot.

About a month ago Lynn, Hannah, and the staff of Rosa Digital Arts sat down to discuss our vision of the images we wanted to capture. We indulged in exciting ideas and suggested places we thought would work for Hannah and Rosa Digital Arts. The meeting was productive, and needless to say, Hannah contributed with fantastic ideas. Then, I decided that Hannah had to be the Artistic Director of our photo sessions. That was the easiest decision we made that evening. Lynn and Tracy Tud, the vice-president of Rosa Digital Arts, became the executive producers of the project; and I, Juan Carlos, got to do what I love the most, take pictures.

I had been anxiously waiting for the first day of photo shoot to start. That day came and it was awesome. We chose what could possibly be the coolest place on earth to take our first series of photos: The Locust Tap, a place full of character and inundated with graffiti on its walls. Time has ceased to exist in that place, but coolness still lives on its floor, benches, walls and tables. If I were going to school, needed a place to hang out or simply study, and wanted to meet cool people, The Locust Tap would be the place to go. Before we started taking pictures I asked Hannah one thing: be yourself; and she did not disappoint. Hannah is a pleasure to work with and understand well what works well for her images to look fabulous. I am extremely happy with our first roll of images and cannot wait until we do our second photo shoot.