Happy Member Monday!

This week we interviewed the insanely gorgeous model

Christy Soeder

Tell me about yourself?

“I was pretty much born and raised in Raleigh/Cary, North Carolina. I lived in Basel, Switzerland for four years when I was younger, but moved back going into middle school. I graduated from Syracuse University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre 2 years ago, and moved to NYC directly after. My ultimate goal is to be bicoastal, and I work towards it every day. I was born in hot, mid July, on the cusp of Cancer and Leo, although I’m a true Cancer with Leo tendencies for any of you that like horoscopes. I’m really just a girl trying to figure out life, and trying to spread good, honest vibes and create things that help myself, other people, and the world. <3”

— Christy Soeder

What made you start modeling?

“I started modeling to get to know myself as an actor and photographer to be honest, and the joy and need to create just kind of took over and became this passion of mine that linked all of my long term interests of being an artist, self-branding, fashion, imagery, telling stories, and also meeting people and learning more about humanity.”

— Christy Soeder

How did you find out about TGS?

“I collaborated with Alex, our fierce and fearless founder, about a year ago in Los Angeles through mutual artist friends during one of my first bicoastal visits, when she was just launching TGS. I left that night from the shoot feeling so blessed and so inspired by her, her vision and dreams, and the other TGS artists, that I couldn’t wait to jump on board.”

— Christy Soeder

Why’d you join?

“After meeting Alex and other TGS members that day, her drive and passion to lead and create something bigger than herself for others really spoke to me and inspired me to do the same for myself and others. I realized that these were the kind of people I wanted to surround myself with and to build with personally and artistically.”

— Christy Soeder

Where do you get your inspiration from?

“This is my favorite question haha. I get my inspiration from all over. I’m an image/inspo JUNKY. Seriously, my room walls, computer desktop, and phone are full of images I’ve pulled out of magazines, screen shotted from instagram or pinterest, or paused moments during my favorite movies. I find myself really inspired by decades, retro & vintage images, Editorial Fashion, Human expression (how emotions can manifest in a body physically, almost resembling dance), and Nature/Color Patterns. I always look for inspiration that tells specific and interesting stories about a period of time, aspect of humanity, or specific place. I like making magic with images by working with concepts that alter the immediate reality a little bit, telling timeless stories that are unique to me and the people I’m working with.”

— Christy Soeder

Favorite 'aesthetic', theme, or look when shooting?

“I love love love the 70’s. It’s my FAVORITE period to play with because it’s such a free and colorful time of self awareness and release. I also pull a lot of inspiration from the 40’s-60’s era of Old Hollywood. The classic and natural beauty exuding from the women of that time always blows me away —- basically I just like playing dress up.”

— Christy Soeder

Do you have other creative friends you like to meet up with / brainstorm with?

“One of the reasons I love and cherish this network and NYC community as well, is because I consider everyone I work with a friend. Some of the people I’ve met this past year in LA and in NYC have become some of my closet, dearest friends who inspire me everyday. We text each other for advice, artistic inspiration, and just for moral support. That being said, there are a few people that I really jive with creatively and we schedule little inspiration sessions every few weeks or so to sit down and grab coffee or lunch and brainstorm ideas for how we can be better and create more truthfully.”

— Christy Soeder

Most interesting story revolving around modeling?

“So many fun, bizarre stories from modeling. But I think the craziest was the first time I met and shot with, now, a good TGS photographer friend, Heather from @dreamcatchersphoto. We unknowingly scheduled our shoot on Cinco De Mayo, so battled so much traffic getting to Malibu to shoot sunset in a gown on the beach, but our sun went away, and we had 45 minutes to create, and then there were camera problems, and light problems that neither of us could control. We ended up getting some awesome, moody images, some of which were lost, but ended up just talking about our lives on the long ride back to where I was staying and bonded over deep conversation. She’s one of my favorites to work with, and we laugh now about the struggle that was our first shoot (: It taught me that a shoot, or artistic endeavors can be successful in ways you never thought could be possible if you remain optimistic, open, and a good person.”

— Christy Soeder