harajuku fairy 

model + stylist + Makeup: hope antonelli

creative directed and shot by maia feruzi

friday july 11th 2025 4pm

📍ping tom park, chicago, il

shot on canon eos rebel t3i 18-24mm, 70-300mm

concept

Hope was one of my first artistic muses in photography. Their energy, their style, and their willingness to get weird has always made them the perfect partner in creating interesting photoshoots. Despite moving out of Boston, that’s not something I will ever fully say goodbye to. So after a year and some change, the financial stars aligned and they were able to afford a trip to come visit me in Chicago. That of course meant, creating together. There was absolutely no solid plan or concept for this shoot. Before they came we facetimed and built an interesting outfit together from their vintage and thrifted closet. The style that emerged was very Harajuku girl aesthetic. When they got here I gave no direction for makeup, and the look they put together was whimsical, colorful, and beautiful.

I chose Ping Tom Park because I knew it had red bridges, greenery, and some Chinese style architecture that I thought would be a lovely contrast to their fit. That’s all the planning that took place. On the day of we rode the train down to Chinatown, found a spot we liked and got to work! Despite time passing our creative flow was better than ever. Like slipping on an old sweater and finding that it fits perfectly. We moved so fast I was amazed! Every other shot was THE shot and that’s something I rarely experience. It’s truly something beautiful to see when energies align.

If you’ve been following my photography for awhile then it’s pretty obvious I tend to like a darker and moodier edit for my photos. That dark academia aesthetic is a shadow on my work I usually love to have around, but lately it’s been feeling limiting to my creative visions and like a crutch for photos that aren’t well lit or crisp enough to be edited lightly. I really tried to escape from that shadow with this shoot and keep the photos light, bright, colorful, but still hitting that vintage film like quality I aim for all my photos. I warped the coloring for most of these leaning heavily into the greens and yellows and I think I achieved what I wanted. Light but still film like, and 100% Harajuku fashion aesthetic.