June 23, 2020
Palma Wright is not afraid to invoke a sense of uncomfortably in her viewers, like her photo series with Princess Golum and Chinqpink, two Asian-American models based in LA. Chinqpink, was having a nude magenta moment. Enveloped head-to-toe in nothing but electric pink paint, the model interacts with a very green-looking Princess Gollum. The two women contrast each other not only in color, but also in their portrayal of sexuality.
“Although [Chinqpink] poses provocatively, she’s doing this for her—not you. She is art. She owns her body and her sexuality. And she is not afraid to show it off and own it,” photographer Palma Wright said in an interview about the series.
Palma Wright, 22, born in Colombia and based in LA and New York, is a stylist first and photographer second. With only 55.8 thousand followers, Wright is no where near a full-fledge celebrity photographer. The industry is cut throat, yet she still has been able to make a name for herself with a lot of the underground “cool” kids, like fellow Instagram models and individuals in the music scene.
Wright appeals to the courageous and powerful part of womanhood, allowing her subjects to be exposed for art. Some of her images are meant to reframe the ideas of beauty and try harder to push the concept of identity and reshape the “high end” fashion world.
Her artwork comes at a particular time in the art world where people are beginning to cast their net farther into the pool of creatives and pick out some interesting qualities that were once shunned from the couture “Vogue-esque” world.
In turn, society may have given way for this acceptance that we see emerging from the runways, art galleries and the studios of fashion houses.
For Palma, styling came first then she picked up the camera. She has expressed this feeling numerous times, that she felt unsatisfied with the artistic direction on set when allowing others to photograph her work. Now she is in control of the entire artistic direction.
Palma pulls inspiration from how she is feeling in each moment as well as pushing societal boundaries, in all the colors, shapes, and sizes of models.
As such a young photographer, Wright has wrangled herself quite a line-up of celebrities she has styled and shot. She has worked with Slick Woods, a model who has shot for Fenty and Nike, as well as the rap-group Flatbush Zombies, for their album artwork and Instagram photos.
We live in a day and age where majority of photographers work ends up on their Instagram feed; the modern day portfolio for artists. If you go to Palma Wright’s Instagram, @HATEBOY2, you will see bright colors, messy hair, and her live-streaming DJ sets in the underground LA music scene. Her whole existence is art and it reflects in the creative ways she takes photos. She inspires me to live my life in color, after so many years of believing life is black and white.
Wright has worked closely with C-heads, an Austria/Berlin based magazine founded in 2006 by two sisters, Christine and Sigrun. C-heads is all about photography, fashion, music, travel, sex, art, youth-culture and thought-provoking texts from all over the word.
Her photography highlights the use of shadow, color, contrast, and a variety of lens distances, like up close and horizontal shots. While right now, her muses seem to be women, she is expanding into shooting male models, couples and landscapes as well.
Her work also includes taking self-portraits, like the one of her in the water and the one of her painted blue among some pink low desert shrubs. She invokes a feeling of dreaminess and unapologetic sexuality – which she explores in the forms of polyamory and same-sex couples.
Her styling of models can range from psychedelic 70s, to 80s pop, to 90s punk, to 2000s e-girl and thrasher early 2010s style. This shows how varying style can be in 2020; where people pull from past generations to create something new.
Overall, to me, Palma Wright signifies the modern photographer in the age of social media. She utilizes Instagram’s platform to share her art with the world and connect with like-minded creatives.
Energy Vampires
March 16, 2020
There are some people that will take, take, take from you and that will be your only purpose in their life. And the minute you turn around and ask them to give, they have nothing to offer.
Be weary of people who always need a handout — whether it’s borrowing clothes, asking for rides or money, asking you to be there emotionally and physically when they’re in times of need.
Be aware of how many times they are there for you when you call upon them or do you intuitively know to never call on them.
Speak honestly to yourself about who you allow to be in your life. Are they a negative or a positive?
Energy vampires are real. If you wouldn’t let someone suck the blood from you, why would you let them suck energy, time and resources from you?
Be mindful of people out there who will always ask you to share something with them. Do they have anything worthy of sharing with you? If not, the relationship is one sided. Reevaluate what the purpose of this relationship is.
God will put people in your way to teach you lessons and until you learn the lesson you will be repeating the same experiences.
Put your foot down. If you are unable to do so in many of your relationships, maybe it is best if you cut them off completely and start anew.
Don’t share your worth unless someone has the same values as you, which is hard to tell nowadays when everyone lives in such a one dimensional me-me-me world.
Be vigilant with who you let trespass in your circle.
Katherine Hoey 