Friday Inspiration: Colorful Portraits Full of Promise

There’s a fine line between colorful images and oversaturation, and we’re seeing more and more people flirting with that line. Tons of photographers with an impressive Instagram follower count up the saturation on their colorful images and we have to admit they often catch our eye when we’re scrolling. Composition and interesting subject matter often grab our attention, but there’s something to be said for an image that still feels fun instead of the tired, cliché, rushed images we often come across. 

To start 2020 off with a bang we’re featuring six colorful portraits that stopped our scroll this week. From a daily self-portrait series documenting one photographer’s transition to inventive portrait angles and everything in-between, you might want to keep an eye on these talented photographers. (We certainly are.) 

Myles Loftin

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MADGE, 2019

A post shared by Myles Loftin Photography (@mylesloftin) on Jan 8, 2020 at 9:37am PST

Robin Hammond

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Photo by @Hammond_Robin | Avery is an exceptional kid. Not just because she’s transgender, but because her family loves her for who she is. It’s sad that this makes her stand out, but thousands of children are homeless because their families don’t accept their gender identity or sexuality. While producing @WhereLoveIsIllegal I met many of these young people. The challenges they’ve faced exposes society’s bigotry. The strength many have forged reveals their resilience. Despite all the conversation about trans rights, most of us are unfamiliar with this world. Stories like Avery’s allow us in. They also allow trans folks out. When a marginalized group is represented on a cover like this as proud and hopeful, it validates who they are—which matters to people whose existence is often denied. Many reading this post still won’t get how Avery could be a girl. But not fully understanding someone’s difference doesn’t make it wrong. For Avery, it’s right, and her difference makes her whole. In the last decade, Nat Geo photographers took 21,613,329 images in the quest to document the world and everything in it. This image was chosen as one of the 15 images that resonated most with us.

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Jan 8, 2020 at 3:36pm PST

Camila Falquez

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Diosabelys Hija de Oya – Orisha God of Winds, Lighting, Violent Storms, Death and Rebirth. ⚡️

A post shared by Camila Falquez (@camilafalquez) on Jan 6, 2020 at 10:21am PST

Laurence Philomene

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Last puberty images of 2019!! I started this project in January so this marks a year of it so far – daily self portraits and documentation studying the beauty in the mundane, the slowness of transition, and my relationship to taking care of myself in various form. A lot of scrolling on my phone too. December was quite a whirlwind: I worked non-stop for the first half to save up for upcoming travels, then got sick with the flu, got my partner and my best friends sick as well, and had to take both our household’s cats for emergency vet visits. We’re all on the mend now and excited to see what this year brings! 1. Self portrait on my phone in bed, December 2019 2. Morning after our cookie decorating party, December 2019 3. Shaving my chin for the first time, December 2019 4. Eating and drinking all the vitamin c, December 2019 5. Self portrait in my studio, December 2019 6. Self portrait in my bathroom, December 2019 7. Drinking emergen-c by the humidifier, December 2019 8. Watching a movie in bed, December 2019 9. Flu remedies in my room, December 2019 10. Taking a bath, December 2019 More of this project as it unfolds this year

A post shared by Laurence Philomene (@laurencephilomene) on Jan 5, 2020 at 5:46pm PST

Arielle Bobb-Willis

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A post shared by Arielle Bobb-Willis (@ariellebobbwillis) on Jan 6, 2020 at 2:25am PST

Adrienne Raquel

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REZA. @shanereza

A post shared by ADRIENNE RAQUEL (@adrienneraquel) on Jan 8, 2020 at 1:11pm PST

Be sure to follow us on Instagram for stunning images from our members, advice from the pros and more. 

This week on Instagram we’re celebrating Lisa Godfrey’s inventive portraits with dogs and their owners.

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Lisa Godfrey (@godfreysdogpack) is an animal lover and professional freelance photographer who’s shot photos for #pet care companies, animal welfare groups and more! According to her bio, there are ALWAYS #dog treats in her pocket, and she has infinite patience with #animals. . “This photo is part of a personal project of animals and their owners. I teamed up with two stylists I use on commercial projects. The idea was to create a series of images around a limited color pallet (think #WesAnderson) emphasizing the visual similarities of animals and their owners. This was the first one in that series, Samra and her dog Mario! It’s been a fun collaboration.” – Lisa Godfrey

A post shared by PhotoShelter (@photoshelter) on Jan 9, 2020 at 2:46pm PST