To bring the vision to life, the three of us called in our community for a full-day branding shoot. Rather than hiring models, we invited people we loved to co-create the images with us. Together we built and captured five distinct concepts that held the world we were designing: a capturing of the co-founders and their distinct personalities, a hands-on crafting and upcycling event, a serene creative retreat, a vibrant sense of community and belonging, and a farm-to-table meal honoring sustainability and shared nourishment. It was a significant undertaking, a fully produced, multi-concept shoot, and the day itself became an act of community-building, people gathering, sharing a meal, and pouring their energy and hands into making something beautiful together.

The community loved what we were creating, and the shoot captured us right at the edge of kickoff. Ultimately, creative differences in how each of us envisioned the deeper purpose of the work led us in separate directions, and Vivid did not come into its fullest form. What I carried forward from it became The Dreaming Table, the same devotion to equity, creativity, community, and gathering beyond current systems, now built fully through my own hands and my own lens.

These images hold a real moment of vision, labor, and community, and the through-line from that day to the work I hold now is unmistakable.

Photography by Chelsey Ray, Rays of Light Photography.