[MAGAZINE] BRILLIANT GARCIA
Brilliant Garcia: The LA Based Photographer Known for Making Women Look Like Goddesses
We live in an era which allows you to showcase your amazing talents on the Internet, share it with the world and leave others to be blown away. One individual is doing exactly that, meet the German born, Texas-raised Brilliant Garcia. Residing in Los Angeles, the visual artist recently launched her website www.thebrilliantstory.com. Aged only 20 years old, she invites us into her world, full of creativity and observation in beautiful forms. The photography and fashion section of her website showcases a selection of images, exhibiting gorgeous goddesses in beautiful sceneries. Using real women as opposed to simply agency models, she’s also responsible for the creative direction and styling of her images.
Garcia isn’t limited to still images, a little over a year ago she directed the music video for ‘Now Dream’ by T.D.E. affiliated, Grammy Nominated duo, THC. Adding an entire dimension to the song, she takes our mind to a place of escapism with hypnotic visuals reminiscent of a kaleidoscope dream. By the end of the music video she leaves us questioning reality.
As Garcia continues to create on many levels, we’re left highly anticipating what she has in store us in the future. We managed to talk to the girl who is Brilliant by nature and Brilliant by name.
You recently launched your website. What’s your story?
My story began the day my mind woke up. I was kind of gliding through life with no worries. Having a solid family, home cooked meals everyday, about to graduate high school and really start my life. Three months before my graduation I lost my mother to a car accident. In that same moment I had to figure out how I was about to survive in this real world without her. Of course my mind was blank, full of questions but I gained some awareness about myself I’ve never had. I started being open to a lot more things. The fear of death was no longer there. I probably had over 1000 thoughts a day. I wanted to know more about everything. I felt like the worst thing that could ever happen to me, happened. So I was ready for change. I dipped to Los Angeles as soon as I got the chance. Been here for about three years learning and creating, trying to show everyone in my life now who my mom was. She lives on through me.
Where is home?
Texas will always be home. Although I was born in Germany and moved every couple of years of my life, the south raised me.
How did you get started working in this field?
I got my first digital camera when I was 16. I’ve been interested in learning ever since but I’ve never taken it too serious. It’s always been a hobby. I never thought of myself as a photographer. Moving to LA, things got real for me when I got into creative direction. I teamed up with Producedbythc after being inspired by their sound, we executed the ideas and dropped our first visual on April 20th, 2013. It got a great response and I was inspired to keep going. I’m now working on a Polaroid and film book which is the reason for all my shoots on the website. Those are the digital images of what direction you can expect in the book.
You direct, style and shoot all your work, where do you get your inspiration from?
When I walk somewhere I’m looking in every direction to see if anything catches my eye. I snap pictures of everything that does. Buildings with amazing architecture, and sunsets often spark some inspiration. On a more relatable note, the main source of my inspiration comes from music. It really triggers my imagination. I get tons of ideas just from listening to good music.
Why do you direct, style and shoot all your work by yourself?
The process of it is actually a bit different. I can’t take all the credit. Yes I come up with the concept. Buy all the props out of my pocket. Choose model. Location. Book MUA. I’m not a stylist so I don’t have all those plugs yet to pull the things I actually want but I always know the look I’m going for. So I try to coordinate with the model what she already has and what I’m able to pull. That’s why most of my models are covered in things like fruit or fur or fabric because I’m able to creative direct without needing wardrobe. Doing everything makes it easier to express myself and it feels good to not have a middleman.
This is an extract from the Summer Issue of Viper Magazine. Read more from the magazine here.
Words by Claudia Arach
