- Kimberly Douglas, an Instagram influencer, shares beautiful, artistic photos with her nearly 100,000 followers – and they’re all shot in her own home.
- The 23-year-old aspiring model builds stunning sets and outfits herself, then takes the photos using the self-timer on her camera.
- She also shares behind-the-scenes shots, revealing how much effort goes into each shoot.
- The Californian told Insider that she wants “to show people that you can create something dope even if you don’t have a huge budget or expensive equipment.”
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An Instagram influencer known for her artistic shots says she takes all her photos herself at home.
Kimberly Douglas, who has nearly 100,000 followers on Instagram, posts photos of herself often inspired by high-fashion campaigns – but she creates all the props and sets herself.
For the past three years, the 23-year-old has not only shared the stunning photos, but revealed how she created them.
“The ultimate goal is to get signed with a modeling agency, but I also like to show people that you can create something dope even if you don’t have a huge budget or expensive equipment,” she told Insider.
"I couldn't afford a photographer but wanted to get modeling experience and start building my portfolio, so I started taking my own photos, and it has kind of just taken a life of its own."
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While some shots are inspired by celebrity photos and magazine shoots, others are Douglas' own ideas.
"I look through Pinterest, watch loads of movies, go on drives around my neighborhood, pray a lot, and I'm always thinking about what I'm going to do next," said Douglas, who's based in Southern California.
"Once I have the concept in mind that I'm going to create, how and what angle to take the photo from comes along with it," Douglas said.
To make ends meet, she delivers food for Postmates and Door Dash and does other photography work, but the goal is to make a career out of modeling and set design.
Scroll down to see some of Douglas' best shots - and a behind-the-scenes look at how she created them.
This stunning rose-filled shot was inspired by a campaign Zendaya shot for Lancôme and Viktor & Rolf's Flowerbomb Enchanted Garden.
To create the image, Douglas bought a ton of pink roses on Amazon and poked them through foam boards by hand.
In the end, she didn't have big-enough boards, so she ended up lunging in her dress to fit in the shot.
This gorgeous photo was taken in Douglas' garage.
She created the long raffia skirt herself.
She climbed up a step ladder to create the illusion of being extra tall.
Douglas filled a whole room with balloons for this shot.
It was a huge challenge, however, because balloons kept popping.
This giant bubble shot is one of Douglas' more striking images.
But it was also one of her more challenging ones. "I got inside the ball, blew it up (brought a steak knife in there with me just in case things went sideways), air thing fell over, had to get out, set everything back up," she said. "I was throwing sheets, sweating, and I swear that lamp above me was swinging too much at one point."
Douglas created a human-sized kaleidoscope for this picture.
Douglas said it was one of the hardest shoots she'd ever done. "I had to figure out how to try and create different poses because of how small it was, and it was hot," she said.
This shot might look like Douglas lying down in a forest ...
... but actually she was standing in front of a rectangle of faux foliage.
Perhaps one of the most incredible things about Douglas' shots is that she takes all the photos herself.
She doesn't even use a tripod — she simply props up her camera, hits the self-timer, and poses up a storm.
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