the move movement

Since I was small, I’ve loved looking at the photos in our family albums, trying to remember every moment captured. After I was gifted my first book by photojournalist Sebastião Salgado, at age 15, I knew I wanted to do what he was doing.

As I sought more inspiration from photojournalism, I realized news outlets mainly shared negative representations of other cultures. Keen to create images that highlighted the richness and beauty of our multicultural world, I spent the past 15 years exploring other niches in photography.

Now, I am proud to collaborate with clients such as National Geographic, Porter Airlines and the United Way as a visual storyteller. A few years ago, I set out to align all of my interests – authentic and collaborative storytelling, advocacy, and movement. And so the move movement was born!

My happiest and most character-building moments relate to being physically active. From climbing trees, to playing team sports, to training in the Afro-Brazilian martial art Capoeira, to doing open-water swims, my life has been made better through movement.

And I love integrating movement into my photography work - you will often see me climbing, squatting or putting myself in tiny spaces just to get the shot!

When I was growing up, there weren't many opportunities for girls in sports, nor many role models I could relate to. Yet despite feeling like the odd one out at times, and despite the injuries and losses, I never wanted to stop moving.

Except when I was sidelined and even purposely injured on the soccer field because I was a girl.

Let me rephrase that: I never wanted to stop moving, but sometimes other people, driven by prejudices, did not want me to participate and went as far as injuring me to prove their point. That left deep wounds.

Unfortunately, barriers to movement continue today for many people around the world. Whether they relate to ability, age, culture, gender, race, socio-economic status, other forms of discrimination, these barriers have been created by people. I believe they can equally be overcome by people.

As an individual, I can inspire those who connect with my story. But that’s not going to be everybody. And that’s where our movement heroes come in: what moves us varies from person to person, so we need many different role models, moving in different ways, to strike a chord with people from all walks of life.

I seek out stories for the move movement that shine a light on the human values of perseverance, determination, courage, dedication, overcoming adversity and ultimately, empowerment. I talk with movement heroes of every background, whose challenges and accomplishments are unique.

These days, every photo we see is filtered, retouched, and now, with AI, sometimes even completely fabricated. To combat stereotypical images of “perfection,” I wanted to share images and stories that open individuals' minds to the possibility that they too can move – however they want.

I seek to be collaborative in all aspects of storytelling, starting with who is on my team, to ensuring that the movement heroes have a say in their own story.

In order to bring these stories to light, I partner with aligned brands and organizations, united by our shared vision of helping our audience find what moves them.

My hope is that every individual can see themselves in our stories and feel inspired to move.