2nd Studio
I downgrade to a basement with no windows but I begin to price my services for the first time.
A New Lane
The format became a few minutes per person, single-file style where I connected with many people over many hours in public spaces. This opened a new lane to a larger audience. The first pop-up was free and sold-out.
The Unicorn
Format: in the back of a retail marketplace for a week with a standalone installation and ticketed sessions in private. I took confetti portraits for three hours a day. Even though the pop-up was successful on paper, photographing 450 people in one week and editing it afterward took a massive toll.
Open Studios
I began to think about the future. Why did I start The Confetti Project? Enter Open Studios: bi-monthly mini-confetti sessions where participants came to my studio for portraits. It became the most consistent revenue stream that kept this work alive. I debuted it during December with four sold-out dates.
Dubai
I imagine the headline would be: girl who loves to throw confetti on people gets to fly across the world to throw more confetti on more people because of never giving up and Instagram. It was a transformative week, working with a retail brand called Sauce and the Department of Tourism for an event at The Dubai Mall.
Finished My Book
During the winter, I wrote a 368 page book called "Cancer&Confetti" that was my outlet for processing my grief. I pitched it to an agent who liked it but needed me to have a "bigger following" to match the ambition I had for it. I told her I'd reach back out to her once I hit 100K followers. 😂
Bethesda Row
The pop-up entailed connecting and photographing 400+ people in 4 days. This was during a time I was saying no to 95% of collaborations, vowing not to participate in the limiting narrative that my work was only "fun, cute instagrammable photos." On TCP's 5th birthday, this was a glimpse into the experiential space.
50 Open Studios
Milestone: after two years of producing bi-monthly events in my NYC photography studio, I hit 50 Open Studios. This meant photographing thousands of people, playing with dozens of background + confetti color palettes and collaborating with 100+ volunteers. It was a bittersweet feeling, realizing I had done so much without being able to ask for help. I needed a break.
The Pandemic
This meant: canceling Open Studios, postponing future events, halting hiring a team and letting go of a studio space. The screeching halt of my work came to catalyze an identity crisis for me that, in hindsight, needed to happen.
2-Year Sabbatical
I endured a deep, 3-month depression that dissolved when I forgave myself. When I'm hurting, I have a tendency to want to disappear so this spurred a year of reading about the parts of myself that I feel the most ashamed about. I held space for myself for the first time, ever.