Before She “Knew It All”
In the fall of 2014, I was introduced to a then 18-year-old Alessia Cara. All I knew at the time was that she was a young Canadian girl, known for her YouTube videos, singing in her bedroom & that she had recently been signed to Def Jam. She & her father were going to be in New York for a few weeks recording & I had the opportunity to tag along, take some portraits on the Lower East Side as well as the studio in New Jersey.
She was so sweet & down to earth & in certain ways, reminded me of myself at that age - a little bit shy & awkward, still figuring out how to style my curly hair & just generally obsessed with music. I always loved singing, but knew by her age that I didn't have it in me to perform or record & actually take it seriously.
But Alessia had a comfortable ease about her when she stepped in the booth & was fearlessly ready for the next steps…
The shoot wasn't a full on production by any means - no stylist or hair & makeup. In fact, she ended up wearing the black zip up shirt I had on that day for a few of the photos just so we had some more variety! She wasn't regularly wearing makeup at that time, so she was completely fresh-faced & natural throughout the whole shoot, which felt like the appropriate way to capture that stage of her career that was just about to take off.
One year later in 2015, she released her debut album "Know It All" & it's been exciting to watch her success ever since!