I love so much about these photos of Elizabeth that it almost feels like I’m “ruining the moment” to talk about them. Let’s face it, words will never be able to have that raw resonance that a photograph can. Her natural beauty is the focus of the image, as should be the case with any street-style photograph. Beyond that, there’s an undercurrent of visual coolness permeating the image, although it wasn’t until I was processing them in Lightroom that I realized that this the corner of Milwaukee & Honore made famous by John Cusack in High Fidelity. The subdued color palette in both Elizabeth’s outfit and the background creates an amazing sense of tension, which is unusual when two things are alike in an image.

In fact, I think my favorite element of Elizabeth’s full-body photo is how her outfit precisely matches the colors in the background behind her. The blues in her denim vest are reflected in the Victorian window overhangs, and her ruffled blouse is an earthy shade of pink that practically blends into the brick wall behind her. The asphalt gray jeans need no explanation, nor do the similarities between glasses and windowpanes. Even if I had tried to plan this out, I don’t think there is any way I could have executed it as well. I love the feeling that I’ve captured a precise sliver of time in the universe. Even better when there’s a surrealist element (unknowingly) thrown into the mix.