I’ve been interested in creating fashion and beauty photographs inspired by mythological, historical and psychological themes.

Here is the first photo in a series I created in collaboration with make up artist Olena Al and model Asha Porteous inspired by Kintsugi. Kintsugi is a Japanese pottery practice where you repair broken artifacts with gold to ‘glue’ the broken parts. The idea is that the object becomes more beautiful exactly because it was broken and put together.

Model Asha Porteous photographed by Pedro Bonatto with make up by Olena Al.

I thought this idea was so beautiful and I it would be a great metaphor to our psychological lives and the traumas we endure, and how going through these ordeals makes us stronger, better — and more beautiful. Olena named it ’The Art of Precious Scars’, and I thought it was a perfect name.

Let me know what you think. And if you are interested in the lighting setup, you can check out this BTS image: