We were lucky to catch up with Teresa Celeste recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Teresa thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.

In 2020 I created a photo series depicting women’s empowerment, which led to curating women’s circles in my community. This project was a profound healing experience, more so than I originally thought. Women have always been a supportive force in my journey and spoke life into me many times when I desperately needed it, so being given the opportunity to provide other women a safe space to gather was a very rewarding experience. Currently, I’ve been dedicated to an ongoing project centering body positivity. I want my portfolio to be as inclusive as possible. As photographers it’s our job to portray beauty, and I want to capture the full spectrum of beauty, conventional or not.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I got into my craft purely for my own pleasure and self discovery. I had tried to explore other outlets before photography, but nothing really stuck until I started shooting. It returned a joy to my life that I hadn’t felt since I was a child. I went to bed at night excited to get up each morning and continue creating. In turn, I’ve been able to share my passion with others and capture special moments in the lives of many clients, as well as help them to recognize their beauty and actualize ideas. I mainly shoot portraiture but also events.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I had to unlearn the fear of failure with creativity. In the past I would keep myself from even attempting to create because I was fearful that it wouldn’t be perceived in a positive way by others. I feel like a lot of people struggle with this but you have to start somewhere! It’s truly more about the pleasure of expression than anything else.

: Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

My mission as a creative is to keep connecting with others through art. My goal is to make my art more thought provoking and inclusive. I want people to feel seen and represented through my photos.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: marsdescendant