Photographer and Author
Sep 28
by Brandy Isadora in Art, Fashion 2 comments tags: #amwriting, #antiques, #antiquestores, #author, #authorslife, #documentaryphotographer, #documentaryphotography, #fashion, #fashiondolls, #history, #mannequinhead, #mannequins, #photographybook, #photojournalism, #vintage, #vintagefashion, #vintagestores

Why I Wrote A Book About Mannequins

  I had never planned to work on a project involving mannequins. Even though I found them interesting, I just never thought to write a book about them. This changed during a trip I took with a friend of mine back in 2015. The two of us were walking along State Street in Santa Barbara, California when an antique store caught our attention. Their store front was so colorful and filled with interesting things that we were immediately drawn in, as though strings were pulling us into the store. Once inside, I started to notice several mannequin heads perched on shelves and stuffed between other antique and vintage items. Each one was different. I was so enchanted by these busts that I started to take pictures of them with my phone. I didn’t touch or move them. I only wanted to show their beauty and uniqueness.   From that point on I began photographing mannequins whenever I saw them in an antique store. I also started reading about their history, and I learned a lot of things that surprised me about these fashion dolls. Mannequins have been used for thousands of years. In 1923, Howard Carter discovered a mannequin that […]
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Aug 24
by Brandy Isadora in Self-Publishing 0 comments tags: #Amazon, #amwriting, #author, #authorslife, #brandyisadora, #documentaryphotographer, #fashion, #fashionhistory, #mannequinbook, #mannequins, #phoenixphotographer, #photographybook, #photojournalism, #POD, #self-published, #selfpublished, #selfpublishedauthors, #tattoobook, #writing

The Second Book: Lessons Gained and Lessons Learned

When I was in graduate school, a mentor told me that each book was like starting over. Each project has its own differences and challenges. I didn’t completely understand this until I started working on my second book, which explores the history of mannequins. Of course there were certain things that were easier about making this book because I had learned those lessons while working on Tattle Tales. However, when it came time to publish the second book, I realized that I had to do things differently. This meant another learning curve and a bit of frustration.   Being a writer, and especially a self-published author, means that you’re constantly learning. Besides developing your skills as a writer, you have to stay on top of all the new ways of marketing, publishing, and distributing. In the age of technology, the rules are always evolving and changing. Additionally, what works for one book may not work for the other book. I’ve listed some of the lessons I have learned from my second book.   The message of this post is to urge self-published authors to be flexible and open minded. I had a much different idea of my path when I […]
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Aug 10
by Brandy Isadora in street photography 0 comments tags: #amwriting, #author, #COVID-19, #documentaryphotographer, #fashion, #fashiondolls, #fashionhistory, #mannequinbook, #mannequins, #photographybook, #photojournalism, #restaurants, #shutdown, #socialdistancing, #TheGuardian

Mannequins Play a New Role

  Since the lockdown in March, many things in our world has changed. Besides the fact that much of the country is in shutdown, we are also getting used to new rules and trends, such as masks, plastic partitions, virtual interactions, and refraining from any social interactions that involve touching (like hand shakes and hugs). It’s a whole new world, and humans once again prove that during challenging times the creative mind can produce some entertaining solutions.   Later this year I will be releasing my second book, Mannequins: Stories of the First Supermodel. In my book, I explore the history of mannequins and how they have played an important role in our society. These fashion figures reflect the social norms of the time, showing what is popular and desirable to own. When stores began closing their doors due to the pandemic shutdown, I wondered what would become of mannequins. So much of their existence is dependent on people shopping in brick and mortar stores. A friend sent me an article from The Guardian, which reported that restaurants were using mannequins and blow up dolls to occupy some of the tables to creatively implement social distancing. While some people might […]
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Oct 14
by Brandy Isadora in Tattoos, Uncategorized 0 comments tags: #author, #authorslife, #bodyart, #bodyart; #inked; #tattedup; #tattoochicks; #amazingink, #booktattoo, #Mixbook, #Nikon, #photographybook, #photographytips, #photojournalism, #portraits, #samplebook, #selfpublished, #tattletales, #tattoobook, street photography

Tattle Tales: Making the Book

Considering the fact that Tattle Tales: Tattoo Stories and Portraits was first photography book, I definitely went through a learning curve. Looking back on the process, there are things that I wouldn’t do and other things that I would do again. Creating a sample book was one of the best decisions I made. I feel with most things in life it’s a good idea to really know and understand what you want, but remain flexible and open to other people’s opinions. For my sample book, I used Mixbook because it’s fairly easy to use and they frequently have sales, which makes it more affordable. There are many websites that allow people to create photo books. I just happened to hear about Mixbook, and I felt pretty happy with their quality and customer service.   My book was pretty easy to organize because each spread was about one or two people. However, I wanted to make sure that my layout wasn’t too text heavy or stylistically repetitive. Initially, I wasn’t worried about the page order. If you try to make all the decisions at once, you’ll feel overwhelmed. I created the page spreads first. Afterwards, I took a few days away […]
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