Seattle, WA—Hazel Lee was a dream to photograph. Aside from being a blast to hang out with, she’s unabashed in front of the camera, and willing to rock it out with darker moods and lower lights. Generally, I try to keep my sessions upbeat and light, so it’s really nice to get a change of pace. As a southern girl (and a writer), Hazel Lee was down with going for some dark-and-gritty. I tried to bring a little of her inner Dorothy Allison out in the session. 
I’ve known Hazel Lee for a few months, by way of our mutual friends in NYC. It’s kind of hilarious to me that we live about an hour and a half apart, and yet we met in NYC last April during the Fatgirl Flea Market. Sometimes you have to travel across the country to realize that there’s some awesome folks in your own backyard.
I love how Hazel Lee uses her hands and arms in front of a camera. It’s so hard for people (myself included!) to figure out what to do with their hands in photographs, especially when standing. Now, anyone who has known me for awhile knows that I have a tendency to really focus on hands in my photography (I blame it on never getting hands to look like anything but tree stumps in my figure drawing classes in art school), so it was delightful to get to work with someone who is very intentional and expressive with her hands. (Plus, who doesn’t love a girl who matches her lipstick to her nail polish with such perfection?)
Hazel, you’re awesome to photograph and great to hang out with. Let’s have a Buffy marathon sometime soon, k? 
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