Daniela Salerno Ruiz

Become immersed in this picturesque editorial where fashion is intertwined with mixed media, featuring quaint and colourful stamps to life sized printed Colombian scenery. Photographed by Daniela Salerno Ruiz (@danielasalernoruiz) and featured in Schön! Magazine, La Tierrita is a self written and received homesick postcard, that simultaneously expresses the deep yearning for, and celebration of the land of Colombia, its culture, and the incomparable beauty found amidst mundane everyday life within the tropical South American region, experienced and treasured by the team behind these photos.

Ruiz's photographs both feed into and break the illusion of the models' true location, and their perceived experience of home from home for the viewer. In some cases, Ruiz's composition of the set and inclusion of the model's lower halves reveal the vibrant city scapes behind them featuring "An old lady sitting outside her store to mind everyone's business in San Javier in Medellín, unconventional taxi stops where you can purchase hats, the iconic suspension bridge of Guatapé lake, squares where you can buy either ''mango biche con sal y limón'' or cell phone calls by the minute..." to simply be impressive life sized printed backgrounds rather than a true photograph shot in a spanish speaking destination worlds away. In others, she does well to seamlessly blur the lines between fiction and reality through her use of depth of field, which melds the printed backgrounds into soft and realistic scenes, as well as through the incorporation of artificial lighting that mirrors warm Colombian sunbeams which could fool anyone without context. The lighting casts bold shadows and sun kissed highlights onto friends portrayed roaming through a bustling shopping precinct, and other scenes veer off to softer and flatter lighting, evocative of the encroaching yet colourful buildings which line the streets of Colombia, protecting those in between from the sun's rays as they are blanketed in the cooling shade.

Even as this editorial is birthed from a collective feeling of absence and longing, it is spurred by the positive and deep rooted bond between the country of Colombia and its people. Collectively serving to uplift the tone of the shoot, and alongside sits the disordered yet inviting colour palette which is a melting pot formed from the vibrant backdrops and the summery styled outfits inspired by Colombia's warm climate. Noticeably, an intriguing contrast of high fashion silhouettes juxtaposed by ready-to-wear outfits are displayed, again forging a balance between the authenticity of day to day life in Colombia and 'just for fun'.

Ruiz encompasses the natural charms and quirks of Colombia and the Colombian people from its multicoloured buildings to its thriving greenery and cultural diversity, and we come to not only understand, but to empathise with the team and their longing for home.

Photography - Daniela Salerno Ruiz, @danielasalernoruiz

Art Direction and Set Design - Chico Criollo, @papitaa_criolla

Styling - Camilo Blanco, @_blanco_c

Hair & Makeup - Sharon Soe, @sharon.soe

Carlota @carlotadotte at Uniko Models (@unikomodels)

Daniel @daanielosorio

Javielis @javielisy at Sight Management (@sightmanagement)

Kunle @kunsb_ at Isla Management (@isla_management)

Yarlín @anayarlinmateo at Uno Models (@unomodels)