I'd hang out with my young self, sure! We'd go shopping in the back of Tito's aunts van (don't even ask) and pick out the latest trends for our next shoot. And then we would go get some 110 film and lock the bedroom door so the bratty siblings wouldn't come busting in. We'd sing along to HOLD ON by ENVOUGE and crack up when we couldn't hold that high note at the end of that crazy accapella intro. :-P I would say just a few words of advice to her though. That's all she would listen to because, much to her reluctance, she marched to her own beat. Only years later, would I know that it would all make sense in the end. So I would only say a few encouraging words, something like "Keep following your gut" , "You are stronger than you know", "Don't ever wear your hair like that again", "Veeeery cute outfit" and "You fkn got this"...Back in those days, writing and fashion were my main focus, earning some accolades through High School, but somehow, someway, photography played a huge role in documenting my life and almost all of my important milestones. Here, for example, I was actually three months pregnant. Young, determined, and in love, I was gearing up for a life of motherhood, apartment hunting and finding a way, any which way to capture it all. I had to hide the ring because it was a big secret back then, but my photographer was so caring and trustworthy that I booked several shoots with him, even of my little girl after she was born. The other image of me, I am proud to say, I shot myself. So many years later, doing exactly what I have always loved to do; capturing memories!
I recently came across this very cool post by Ard Gelinck, and some insane photoshop skills, of celebrities Then and Now, and I couldn't get enough! This compelling project inspired me to time travel with these celebs, flashing back to the good ol' days. Forget about the side by side with the free insta-app, this blew me away so much, I decided to give it a whirl, searching high and low for that shoe box filled with prints and torn up old albums. I smile wide every time I dust them off and wish I would do it more often. I'll never ever let go of those double prints I got for .99 cents. Here is my low-rent version, my own little legacy (psssst, I won't even tell you how long it took me to do this), inspired by this amazing project.
How fkn cool is this?!!!
Me, ca 1990 & 2019