BIÂN / Carla Primero

Not many people know that I taught yoga for a little over two years before the pandemic changed life up a bit. I’ve always had a deep connection to yoga and mindfulness practices, so I was very excited when Carla reached out to capture some images for her own brand. Carla has since moved to Austin and taken a lot of her teachings online, but when she was living in Chicago, she was teaching for BIÂN, a high-end wellness club in River North. 

Shooting in BIÂN’s space was an absolute dream come true. The design aesthetic was clean and minimal, and embodied a sense of peace mixed with pleasure. I feel like you can tell just by the photos how good this place smelled! Very rarely does a yoga studio smell like a spa…so I was in heaven.

Carla really wanted to capture a sense of creative freedom in her images, so I had her move around a lot. I’ve found when photographing fitness and lifestyle sessions, it’s best to have my subject get loosey goosey. I will literally say “flail your limbs”, and as weird as it sounds, it always turns out so much better than if they were standing there with a hand on their hip. Especially for Carla, since she’s a yoga instructor, I wanted the movement to really translate into the photos. I wanted you to be able to feel her energy.

It was always so wonderful having Monika from Monika Dixon PR and stylist, Kelsey Oenick, there to help collaborate and make the shoot as successful as possible. It sounds silly, but styling can truly make or break a photo. It’s such an important visual element to creating the look and feel you want to accomplish. With the extra eyes and creative input, we were able to seamlessly produce images that felt authentic to Carla’s brand and really elevate her overall online presence. I would gladly photograph yoga instructors everyday just for the pure peace and fulfillment I get from capturing their energy.