I Became My Own Client | Brand Photography

Most of the time, as a photographer, I hate taking photos of myself. 😅 The timer, the angles, the pressure, it’s a whole thing. But this season, I made a promise to myself:
”if I trust my work, then I have to show it”.
And if I truly trust my work, I can confidently ask others to invest in it.

So, I decided to do exactly what I do for my clients.

1. I Started with Intention

I had a goal and a purpose. I wanted to create with intention, just like I tell my clients to do.
I am my brand. Denisse Monge Photography is me,
and that means I have to showcase my face, my energy, my story.

2. I Chose My Colors

My favorite tones are mauve (well, pink) and black.
I love pink. It makes me feel in my feminine power (RAWR) soft, beautiful, and tender, yet strong. And the New Yorker in me? She’ll wear black any season, (spring.summer. fall. winter.)
Always black.

So I chose an outfit that felt like me professional, elevated, and aligned with
the NEW ERA
I’m stepping into: trusting my ability to create.

I’ve been creating for others for 20 year photos, stories, moments and now this season,
it’s about getting
paid, booked, and busy.

3. My Experience Shapes My Vision

The last ten years I spent teaching yoga gave me something priceless: the ability to see people. To understand bodies, confidence, and energy.
Everything happens for a reason and I truly believe that.

When I photograph someone, I build them up. I know how vulnerable it feels to be in front of the camera, and I also know how powerful it can be. Photography is an investment, not just in images but in confidence. My goal is always to capture what’s real
the authentic power within you.

4. Moodboarding the Moment

No two photos are ever the same. Inspiration is everywhere, but authenticity? That’s something deeper.

What is authenticity, really?
It’s being you even when you’re nervous, unsure, or thinking, “Do I look good right now?” True authenticity comes from that inner knowing that no one else can do what you do.

And I know no one can do what I do. My style comes from effort, intention, and presence. You can copy and paste all day, but effort and presence are what create true style.

 
 
“Visibility attracts opportunity.
And my superpower? Seeing and capturing what others might miss.”
— me but inspired by pinterest

this is my favorite cause thats me a baddie!

“ A shooter’s gonna shoot. 🎯”
— NEW YORKERS

me and my film camera that I had since I was 20, loyalty runs in my blood!

5. My Coca-Cola Moment

My headshots were also inspired by one of my favorite brands Coca-Cola. If you know me, you know how much I love it. The red, the nostalgia, the feeling of a cold Coke on a hot day, it’s timeless.

For me, Coca-Cola represents nostalgia, the feeling that we’re never going to get this exact moment back. That’s what I try to capture in my work: presence.

Visibility attracts opportunity.
And my superpower? Seeing and capturing what others might miss.

6. Doing the Work

There’s a saying that “those who teach can’t do.” I’ve always hated that.
To teach something well, you have to live it.

And right now, I’m living it.

That’s on that.

With gratitude,
Denisse Monge

P.S. Let me know which headshots are your favorite, I’d love to hear what you see in them. 💫

NYC, It’s Been a Minute.

NYC, It’s Been a Minute

It all started extremely randomly — I had no idea my boyfriend had asked one of my besties if I could visit her. To give you some context, I lived in Brooklyn for five years. When COVID happened, all the words I had ever uttered about leaving this place suddenly came true, and I had to move back home to my mom’s.

I think every ex-New Yorker will always either love New York or hate it. During my days here,
I would always ask God to give me signs — through signage, ads, or random words I would come across.

It’s funny that after a two-year hiatus — my last time visiting was Thanksgiving 2022 — I’d be going back during spring. Spring, the manifestation of winter ending, of blooming, of using the rain to nourish the flowers, the green, the freshness of things ready to grow and come alive.

love this image it looks like two images in one !

In the heart of the city, I came across a public garden and saw koi fish — a beautiful, unexpected moment.
Spiritually, koi fish symbolize perseverance, transformation, and strength in the face of adversity. They’re also seen as symbols of good luck, prosperity, and the ability to flow gracefully through life’s challenges.

“Often, the buildings can feel overwhelming since they’re everywhere — it’s crazy how massive they are. It’s all about perspective: seeing how small I am and how big they are, yet somehow we coexist in this world, both trying to take up space.”
— me

Fresh eyes and time give you the ability to slow down and notice what you missed the last time. Solitude was what I needed to reconnect to why I moved to New York in the first place. I moved to discover a part of myself. I moved there, I survived there, I thrived there, I failed there. I found friends who became like family. I built a community of students. Hell, I even found my man there.

I owe so much to New York — for finding me, for taking me in, for beating me up just enough to make me stronger, hungrier, and more passionate than ever.

Now let’s talk food — OMG, I have missed Asian food. Thank you, God, for Chinatown. Thank you to the immigrants for making the best food in America.

MY FRIENDS IN CHINATOWN!!! thank u for realness of womentime!!!

nothing better then people watching!

NO ACTUALLY INSOMNIA COOKIES post a joint !! heaven on earth !

Thank you, God, friends, and New York for keeping me safe all those years. I believe in the higher powers that are New York City!

For this trip, I shot on film — using Kodak Gold and Kodak Portra 400

Apollo Plants x Denisse Monge

Thank you Lily Mustelier for including me and seeing me. I am so grateful for you!

Apollo Plants

NY Yoga + Life HEALING ISSUE x Denisse Monge

Love and Healing by Denisse Monge.
This whole being a human is a risk. We are all so fragile and yet so strong. I love that saying that there are two certainties in life death and taxes. I would respectfully like to add one more - the third certainty in life is that we will get hurt.
Getting hurt is part of the human experience. When our soul chose our heart it took the biggest risk on this earth and that is coming here. The risk of loving ourselves through all of the hurt. Traumas, joy, grief, depression, and excitement. If you are reading this- I can almost guarantee you that you have been hurt and I can guarantee you that you can also heal. Whether the pain is physical or emotional - you are so strong yet so fragile. Loving and healing are two of the biggest risk we can take daily.
Bring your hands to your heart and whisper to your heart - I love you, I'll take care of you and I'll protect you. Loving ourselves is often not taught to us. Mostly because love doesn’t have a definition and love is not a noun or just a word. Love is ACTION. “love is a mix of various ingredients- care, affection, recognition, respect, commitment and trust, honesty and communication.” - bell hooks
All these ingredients that form love are action -base. To love ourselves through our human experiences is healing.
Take your journal or phone out and write. For today, I will care for myself. For today I will show myself affection. For today, I will give myself the recognition I deserve. For today, I will be respectful towards myself. For today, I will commit to myself. For today, I will trust myself. For today, I will honest with myself. For today, I will communicate with myself. Slowly and daily, we learn how to love ourselves, and through this kindness and love, we heal. Heal our pain, our worries, our sadness, and our experiences.
Healing requires love and a love that no other can give you, your love. Healing requires courage and no one can give you, your courage. Healing requires your heart and no one can give you, your heart.
This beautiful life is yours. Love yourself and heal the wounds that life brings. Remember this- you are so strong and yet so fragile and then again so is life.

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ni santa ni puta solo mujer 🐚

I spent most of this summer writing. I never considered myself a writer but I realized to be a writer you just have to write. Maybe it was my mind trying to make the complexity of words and their meaning and their power: simple. Just write. 

Write about everything - your life, your parents, your family, your lovers. I realize I write a lot about heartbreak and I am going to blame it on my Pisces moon. My perpetual state of being heartbroken and in love all at the same time but you add into the fact that my Taurus is in venus and it seems I can't move on…….until I do and then I am over it. 

I woke up this morning with deep appreciation, gratitude, and respect for my teacher this summer, Alisha. I think about the space she created for me to write. To write is to feel and to express that feeling by giving words the life they deserve whether or not someone thinks it's good or not. it exists and therefore it can no longer not exist. 

I had met Alisha before she became my teacher, and I remember thinking wow she is gorgeous but in the way that someone's internal light is so external it shocks you. Maybe it was that day that created safety for me to be her student. We took pictures of the space we both work at and became acquaintances. 

Fast forward - I signed up for a writing class that had been on my list of things to do but I never did it because I didn't have space. No job - no responsibility- led to this moment where writing has become my form of creation.

I woke up this morning and I asked my body - when I am getting my period - today! 

I also heard in my sleep- your Saturn return is complete and that’s why you are going back- check your Astro chart with the timelines and I did and everything adds up - I am about three months away from yet another transformation. 

My intuition has been strong and my spirit has been in a state of fluctuation of trusting myself and not trusting myself. 

I love that saying when parents tell their kids you didn't come with a manual. MY GOD how I wish I could get my hands on my manual and maybe I do have it but I don't want to read it. I believe I am the creator of my life and god helps me if I meet them halfway. My god is energy, my god is stillness, and my god is within me and I am in many forms my god - I pray a lot to myself and the energy around me. 

but it doesn't mean that i don't question. Part of me right now has not been listening - it’s funny because I am teaching people to listen yet I am having a battle within myself. This is the perpetual state of a teacher - the battle of learning and unlearning.  

At 31, my illusion dream was to be married to a wonderful man and have kids and somehow I would be complete. Part of that desire comes from being Latina, I was taught- that that was the goal. You get a job, you work on yourself and you get picked!!! You get picked- to make someone else's dreams come true and somehow yours take a back burner or somehow you figure out how to do it all at once. The funny thing is that I do see women -do it all! Exhausted but they do it all. 

Right now at 31, I am moving back home. 

I don't know if you can feel it but my ego just fell to the floor and it took my heart with it. 

The truth is that I have like one million desires right now and that's why Taurus ass feels all over the place. I try to categorize my desires down to a to-do list - do this to feel like this but it's not true. 

I have three desires right now: I aspire to make two movies that came to be in the form of meditation two years ago but I haven't figured out YET.

 I desire with every fiber in me to live alone in my place - with plants, my books, and a big ass bed, candles- it smells fresh like that Ralph Lauren perfume that makes me crazy and space for me to make my portraits. this time and space is for my single ass to be alone yet extremely happy - I went from living with my moms, to living with a boyfriend from hell, to living in new york city with 10 roommates in two years and then down to my favorite roommate I ever will live with, 

now is the TIME universe - guide me PLEASE. 

my last desire at least for now is to be a mom. I see myself being a mom. I feel it but I question it because when will I be ready, when will everything conspire for this to happen. 

I see it sometimes when I am very good at my practice. I see it and to be honest I have been okay with my practices this last month, I have been avoiding it. Mostly because I am avoiding myself but don't worry I also haven't been sleeping because of course when I don't make time for me to listen to be to follow me, spirit wakes my ass up at three in the morning to talk! I am tired, the truth is that as much as you want to rebel against yourself you can’t - you enter this life with this body, this heart, and this spirit. This is the contract! You don't get to be someone else and you don't get to live someone else's life. 

For today, I want to be a writer, a lover, a friend, and most of all I just want to be the artist for my future children to see my life in all spectrums, life is not one way, and it's not good nor bad. It's just LIFE - the good and bad and you navigating between the spectrums making the best of it! 

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I have been working on myself intending to “fix myself.” so that I can be appealing to the “love of my life.” I set my New Year’s Intention like a hopeless romantic okay this year might be the “one” the one in which I meet the one. After last year's heartbreak. I made a promise to myself this year will be the year that I will not be heartbroken. I came to realize that I have spent the last 15 years in relationships, devastating situationships, and somewhere in between those two spectrums. I had lost the purpose of why I wanted to fall in love and be in love. Falling in love is all I ever dreamed of until I had that realization- maybe it's not meant for me. I cried hard the night I found this out. I went to all my ex-boyfriends/ex-flings IGs. I realized they all had found love and it wasn't with me but I also had the empathy that who I am destined to become is not who neither one of us would have ended up with. I was evolving and I will spend most of my life evolving, shedding, growing and learning, and becoming. The kind of love that I dream of is one of magic ride-or-die love. I want to look at my lover/partner/friend/husband as the muse that I had discovered. I want to discover this lover like the most beautiful sight I have ever seen in my eyes. I always dream that this partner will be different from me, they will be smart in all the ways that I am not, that they will challenge me but also be sensitive to me. Like down to drink tequila in Mexico but also down to vipassana silent meditation in the Himalayas. I dream that my lover will be my muse. Since in so many ways photography is the love of my life, I want to be able to photograph my person intimately. The kind of portraits that tell you the artist is in love with the person. I will look at their face, their eyes and recognize them from lifetimes. I will see their soul. I haven't found such a face yet! I have looked into a lot of eyes, I never got the feeling okay, him. I have often got the other feeling, not HIM. I am lying there one time, I had the feeling. I said to my partner then. In two years you will be ready for me, so go find yourself, you deserve it but maybe I just needed more time to fall in love with myself.