THIS WEEK WE INTERVIEWED ONE OF OUR NEWEST MEMBERS/ PHOTOGRAPHERS,

Josy soriano

CONTINUE READING TO LEARN A LITTLE ABOUT JOSY!

Tell us about yourself?
I am a musical theatre performer and I've been living in NYC for the past 3 years. However, the first year I moved to the city, I actually lost a good part of my range due to the difference in air quality in New York in comparison to where I moved from (Apex, North Carolina). So when that happened, I started exploring other passions I had while my voice was adapting to the city and many of my friends suggested I try modeling. From there, I started dipping my toes in the modeling world and found this whole other passion of mine that loved creating concepts and telling a story through the lens of a camera by modeling.

What inspired you to pursue your current creative path?
What inspired me to be a performer was actually a theatre summer camp I did when I was about 6yrs old. It was a little musical put together that was Dr. Suess inspired and I knew that's exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up. It just felt right.
As for modeling, I was actually inspired by a current TGS member and the Creative Director for TGS, Christy Soeder. Her and I went to middle school together and we were both into musical theatre, but went our separate ways come high school when our districts put us in different schools. So we didn't reconnect until I got to NY. I was trying to figure out what to do with my voice gone and while scrolling on Instagram, one of my suggested friends was Christy so I followed her and saw that Christy got into modeling. So I thought I'd give it a go and here we are now! It was crazy running into her again after so many years!
As for writing, I've always loved English. I loved reading and writing almost my entire life, but I particularly found a passion in poetry when I started college. Michael Faudet and Lang Leav's books just spoke to me and I could never get over how beautiful their use of words were in describing a feeling that was so relatable in only a few stanzas. Love, hurt, pain, lust, happiness, everything. They're words moved me so much, it inspired me to continue writing and dabble in poetry. I would always keep a little notebook with me in my bag if I ever became inspired by a moment or something that would happen to me. It was soon that I became confident enough in my writing to submit it to TGS to be published in a couple of their issues for ARCHIVE magazine and I was honestly shocked that they chose some of my poems to go in their issues! The poems I submitted had a lot of vulnerable feelings that I was nervous to put out into the world, but to be honest, it was liberating in a way. I feel if those feelings weren't honest, they would not have resonated with anyone and wouldn't have been chosen. But it truly was amazing to see my work in a published magazine.

How did you find out about TGS?
Christy Soeder reached out to me after being in the city and I followed TGS on Instagram while also attending one of their meet-ups in Brooklyn, NYC! That was also how I came to meet the CEO of TGS, the lovely Alex Morehouse, and so many other creatives who had similar passions to myself! It was truly an amazing first experience with TGS.

Why did you decide to join TGS?
At my first TGS model/photographer meet-up, I had a conversation with Alex about her vision for TGS and it truly moved me. To be honest, when I first started modeling, I never thought I could be a real model due to the fact that I was only 5'4" and my body type wasn't runway or plus-sized. But when she spoke about how that shouldn't matter and what SHOULD matter is your work and how you present yourself in front of the lens with confidence and love for what you're doing, that's when I knew TGS was right for me. Her vision and her drive was so clear when I spoke to her and I supported and wanted to be a part of everything she was saying about what she wanted to create with TGS and give everyone an opportunity who truly loved doing what they love in this business, regardless of their height and weight.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?
I draw a lot of my inspiration from books and poetry. Sometimes I will be inspired by artwork or a movement happening in our world today, or a film that has a mood or message that I love.

Fave aesthetic, look or theme when shooting?
My favorite shoots are bizarre makeup concepts or ones that I can be crazy and free with my body. Body paint is a personal favorite of mine or fun hair and props that I can get really creative and have fun with. I also like the occasional moody or boudoir shoot because I feel like those give me a chance to be vulnerable and expressive in front of the lens that others rarely see.

Do you have creative friends you like to meetup and brainstorm with?
Paul Logrono, Rhyan Mahelona, and Richie DiMaggio are all so lovely to work with and I always feel like we all know exactly what we want to get out of a shoot with any concept that we come up with

Most interesting story revolving around your creative medium?
Haha oh dear... well, one funny thing that happened to me in the middle of shooting a video magazine for my friend, I was wearing a one piece swimsuit with go-go boots in a rather empty train station in Brooklyn, and as I was walking away from the camera, a train on the other side of the platform was stalling and a bunch of young kids were watching as I was walking on the platform. They were all maybe the age of middle schoolers? And while walking in front of the camera, they all started throwing money at me? Hahaha I've definitely NEVER had that happen to me before, not to mention they weren't throwing bills, but coins so that hurt and we both ran out of there until the train left! That was crazy!

Random stuff about you?
I want to publish a poetry book someday and maybe pair some of the poems with the moods I've portrayed in shoots... It's an idea, but I'm still working on it :)