Curves and confidence w/ Liana Magliocco!

That’s right, Steemians! It’s my birthday, officially. I’m at my parents’ right now. The night is coming to a late close and tomorrow morning, me, @vermillionfox and @guthrie will be embarking on the 17 hour drive home. The gift of travel for my birthday, I guess. As you should all know by now, I’m not a fan of traveling, especially driving. This trip was a means to an end […which that end was finishing shoots I was already paid for and getting my son to see his grandma], and it was the cheapest possible way […at the trade of a lot more hours in transit]. It just so happened that our last day here is falling on the anniversary of my birth, so very long ago.

I do have some new photography tonight. I’ve been whittling away at this overwhelming workload. Tonight I finished a client and friend’s photos from last year. I know. That sounds so bad. I hate owing edits to people for this long, but it’s still an enormous struggle to get caught up from the time I had to dedicate to finishing Dark Pinup before the book release party at Viva Las Vegas this past Spring. My friend Liliana has been incredibly patient […like many of my clients], and I finally a window to finish up the last three edits owed.

Liana is a serious force of nature. Body positivity has become a movement and she has been at the forefront of it for years now. She doesn’t not accept or support the premise that you need to be a size 4 to model. She embraces her curves, tattoos and attitude, and has done extremely well for herself backing those very principles. She’s gained a supportive following on Instagram and other social networks and continues to push the boundaries within the modeling community. I love Liana’s confidence and example in sharing her beauty that challenges conventional fashion standards and I love being the one to help capture her.

More than that, though, I just love her company. She is SO fun, and when we shoot together, it’s a few hours of laughing and picking on each other. I have become notorious for asking models to pose in painful, uncomfortable or precarious situations to get the shot and no one gives me more shit for it than Liana. She scrapes her way past twigs and thorns mumbling under her breath, “…..I hate you, Lars!”. The moment that photos are made, her face lights up with a beautiful smile when she sees the first image on the back of the camera. That moment is always followed with a hesitant acknowledgement, then saying “You were right”.

Thanks for reading this quick post before bed. I have quite a trip ahead of me tomorrow so I need to get to sleep. Fingers crossed, I “should” be hitting 5,000 followers tomorrow, on my birthday! Take a moment and share something you like. For more photography, art, illustration and the stories behind the work, follow me here @kommienezuspadt!