PHOTOGRAPHY AND WORDS VALHERIA ROCHA
Colombian-born, Atlanta-based photographer and unashamed dog-lover Valheria Rocha takes us into an exciting and dazzling adventure into her own world where she introduces us to some of her best buddies whose personalities and style make the youth scene in Atlanta, Georgia one to be admired and enjoyed dearly. The young photographer has captured some of the most beautiful souls who make this American city one of the most diverse and interesting scenarios where youth is represented at its best. Travelling through dreams and emotions, this two part series see a burst of color not only in Atlanta but in Indio, California as Valheria captures some of the most interesting and beautiful creatures at Coachella 2018.
Maggie is my friend from my high school theater days. We don’t get to see each other often because she goes to school in Boston. When she’s home I always try to shoot with her because she’s wonderful and beautiful and we always have a good time. These are a few shots from one afternoon when we hung out in my room and just talked and hung out and played with the light. She had just shaved her head in honor of her Grandma who passed away. I also put Glossier lip gloss on her eyelids because why not? Maggie’s a cool dude, check her out.
[Check out Maggie on Instagram: @wakeupmaggiedoodle]
These are also all from a different bedroom session, where I hung out with my friends Mark and Lyncoln. We hung out all day and my friend McKenzie played around with some makeup looks we’d been wanting to try. Mark actually goes to school with my brother and we had no idea. Atlanta’s a big city, but it’s also very small… I’m always making connections between different friend groups and people I know. Lyncoln is actually friends with Grace and I and that is another coincidence we didn’t even know either, I met him and Mark both through Instagram. I’ve actually met a lot of my friends through Instagram.
[Check out Lyncoln, Mark and McKenzie on Instagram: @lyncolnpresley @markrayvon @mckenziemann.mua]
Shannon is one of my best-EST friends. We met 2 years ago when she came into my life because of her being a model and me being a photographer. We just connected really well and she helped me get over a shitty breakup and both of my longest time best friends moving out of state simultaneously. Shannon is obviously a model, her mom is Dutch and also beautiful, but before being a beautiful model, Shannon is simply an amazing friend with a beautiful soul. She’s one of my favorite people to photograph and I call her my muse.
[Check out Shannon on Instagram: @shannon_elyse_fogerty]
This is my friend Neila. Neila is "Alien" spelled backward and Alien is also her brand. Neila is a musician and I met her a while back because I photographed her for the cover of a magazine called MIM Magazine. She has the absolute coolest team of women working with her and photographing her was probably one of my favorite shooting experiences. We stayed in touch and so during the making of this diary, I used it as an excuse to hang out even more with people I don’t get to see so often. This was one morning on top of her building and then an afternoon at a cute little French bakery all the Atlanta locals love. They have a Mona Lisa made of spoons there.
[Check out Neila on Instagram: @neilaofficial]
This is my friend Kenzie who has just moved into the most incredible apartment in a town outside of Atlanta called, Marietta. She has a claw-foot tub, a bunch of vintage movie posters, and a refrigerator the old tenant has yet to pick up on her back porch. Also, she’d like to tell all the kids, that smoking kills and you really shouldn’t even fall in the habit.
[Check out Kenzie on Instagram: @kungfukenzie]
These are some of my pictures from Coachella! My brother Daniel and I went last year and decided to establish this ridiculously expensive tradition! We had to get on a payment plan to afford this trip (laughs), seriously, it’s expensive to have so much fun.
[Check out Daniel Rocha on Instagram: @raniel_docha]
