Women That Inspire: Johanna Kahid Hassan.

Women That Inspire, is a new segment of this blog and it's dedicated to women that inspire me to continue being myself, by being themselves and doing so with grace.  These are women that impress me with their zest and passion for life and their dreams. I hope they can inspire you too.

Johanna Hassan. 22. Colombian.

Picture this. English 201, BMCC.  I can't remember if she came in late to class or I did. But, I remember seeing her because she stood out quite a bit. She was striking with these mesmerizing green eyes, deep analytic views on the class text and she seemed so cultured, "knowing" and most of all, cool. 

I knew I wanted to be her friend and four years later, she is my best friend. I've seen her go from a blonde haired giddy girl to a grown woman. Despite being her best friend, she is also amazingly talented.

What stroke me the most about her photography was the creative aspect of it. She has an eye for the abstract, breathing life and bringing out the beauty in the most simple of things. Every image tells a story, and leads you into her world, where imagination and creative runs free. She is often the canvas for her work, demonstrating the level of introspection characteristic of an artist and creator.

More after the jump..

 

I remember one day when I was hanging at her place, and we decided to take pictures. Johanna got the wild idea to cover my face in honey and salt, slather my eyebrows in blue paint and crown me with flowers. I remember looking at myself in the bathroom mirror and cracking up because, "I look like such an alien babe."

15 minutes later, and the magic happened.

 

Her ability to be so imaginative, is almost childlike, and in that sense, it is limitless and full of life. In the words of Pablo Picasso, "Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." As she grow and matures, she keeps that part of her intact and it shows in her work and her eye for the world.

Her Tumblr and Instagram paint a  portrait of New York City, capturing the passion, life, grittiness and at times, the despair of the city that never sleeps.





 

In her work, I have seen that the world is bursting with beauty, if you just slow down enough to appreciate it.

Wherever life takes her, I hope she never stops.

http://www.johannahassan.com/

Love & Light,

Rachel.