khadij​at.

Unique Lawrence, local firecracker extraordinare and self-confident feminist intelligencia, danced and cartwheeled her way through this shoot, creating some of the most dynamic action shots (coupled with such delicate accoutremements, no less) I’ve ever had the pleasure of capturing. With the right amount of youth-spurred nonchalance and street-infused femininity, Unique was a real-life Tumblr queen tumbling to and fro, catching the sunlight, and leaving yours truly with a severe case of it-girl envy.

The swift, demanding, and almost violent onset of severe windchill and turning foliage left many a onlooker more than a bit wishful for at least another 500 days of summer, and left me wondering what to do with a bunch of vibrant images shot at the peak of solar oppression in obscure pockets in and around Pittsburgh. Indeed, this look, in its simplicity and comfort, perfectly channels the carefree persistence of summer, six weeks and 65 degrees into the Fall semester. Ten hours and one PhotoShop YouTube tutorial later, I present this last attempt at immortalizing the summer of 2015 in light, free-form frolicking attire while bringing out he sartorial big guns of the transitional dress-up game.

Here’s to ruining the neighbors’ leaf piles and guzzling horchata on the porch.