By 16-years-old, most of us had put our dreams on the backburner in favor of eyeliner, boys, alcopops and rara skirts, but Sophia Destrée is no ordinary teen. She’s keeping the dream alive, taking sun-kissed portraits of her friends and family. The Amsterdam native got her first camera for her 10th birthday and has been fine-tuning her skills ever since, although her work only recently came to light when she started the Instagram account @portraitsbysoof (oh the power of social media).
“I have always been interested in people with a distinct look, things that make them different,” Sophia explains of her subjects. “I photograph unique people who don’t necessarily conform to the standard idea of beauty, and try to convey to others that they are beautiful.” In that she has certainly succeeded. We asked her to tell us the stories behind some of her fave photographs…
“This is my neighbor, Max. He is the same age as me and is in the 5th year of high school. His red, dead-straight hair and freckles are something that immediately stood out. He is really tall and imposing and makes me think of a character in a comic book. He is distinct. He is also really sweet and you see that in the photos.”
“This is my littlest sister Olivia. She is a real little rascal. She is seven now, but this was taken 18 months ago. It’s hard to get a good photo of the real Olivia because she is always pulling faces, this is one of her many!”
“Ella is my other sister. She is 13 now, but this was taken when she was just 12. She has a really unusual face but I think she’s magnificent. She has a beautiful smile but she won’t show it at the moment because she has braces.”
“I noticed Thijs not for his good looks, but for his charisma. He is a little reserved, he is tall and broad for his age, and he has a very calm way about him. He’s not at all occupied with his looks, which I find great when I’m shooting someone.”
“This is Madeline, she’s in my class at school. She was someone I couldn’t help noticing. She has an old world look about her, a sort of young Ingrid Bergman; her eyebrows, the turned up nose and the mouth… She couldn’t care less about how she looks. That’s what I love about her.”
“This is Violetta, my cousin from Australia. She lived in Germany last year and I went there with my other cousin to visit her. She also loves photography so together we took lots of photos!”
Credits
Text Channa Brunt
Photography Sophia Destrée