Aloe Light Studio, how it started
Though art has always been a part of the fabric of my being, my love for photography started with a few vintage film cameras about 15 years ago.
Since then I’ve moved to NYC to study photography and make work in the chaotic city that I love/hate so dearly. I’ve worked with incredible photographers and also worked with the photographs of legends, mounting their shows and holding my breath in their presence.
Becoming a mother brought a lot of that to a screeching halt, especially the making work part. It was tough to connect to that realm again, where I used to find inspiration in roaming the streets of the city and getting lost. I had to shift my focus.
The inspiration for Aloe Light Studio came from the ever-supportive community of “Bushridge” (a word describing the neighborhoods of Bushwick, Brooklyn and Ridgewood, Queens), where I was residing when I became a mother. This wonderful community of supportive parents have been integral to my survival in the early days of motherhood, and I wanted to give back. My ultimate goal was to make professional photography more accessible to local families, so these hectic times with our fast growing children can be forever held still.
That still holds true, even here in Chicagoland.
I would love to photograph the special occasions, like birthdays, holidays, and anniversaries, but also the everyday that we often deem unworthy of photographing. Those early morning snuggles in bed, the mundane task of changing diapers, parents hauling strollers up and down subway stairs when the elevators are out of service yet again, a particularly splashy bath time, a very slow walk to the park, a ride on the playground swing your child frequents.
All these little moments make up our lives, our love, our joy, and I want to hold those fleeting moments still for you.
Lily, a bio
Before her move to Chicagoland, Lily managed a fine art photography studio in Chelsea, NY, where she assisted in the dark room, retouched thousands of photographs, and created photography books. She was also the designer and archivist at Pace/MacGill Gallery, the fine art photography arm of Pace Gallery that represents Robert Frank, Irving Penn, Richard Misrach, Henry Wessel, and Emmet Gowin, among others. She also makes photographs for long term, on-going personal projects which you can view on her website, designs logos, websites, and other print collateral for small businesses, and dabbles in ceramics, screen printing, painting, and all kinds of crafts.
Lily is fascinated by personalities and the evolving collective conscious as a whole, and enjoys witnessing the idiosyncratic moments of ever day life. She loves road trips, journeys without any particular destination, sun-drenched afternoons among greenery, making things with her hands, thrifting vintage furniture, and handmade tree houses, especially the one that was in her loft studio in Brooklyn. She mostly loves sharing hugs and laughs with her husband Tom and children Aster and Kavi.