Shasta comes from Rwanda in Central Africa, a relatively small, landlocked country. She has strong family ties, and is proud of her origins. It was only by chance that I discovered her sedcard, and immediately found her fascinating. Photographing dark-skinned models in the Alps inevitably produces contrastrictic results, so we end up spending many hours in the mountains during a shoot.
Surprisingly, Shasta has exceptionally good hiking equipment, and that motivates her to hike to the top of mountains whose peaks may still be hidden in the clouds. Unfortunately, the temperatures can be extremely fresh up high, but Shasta is brave and always ready to pose, even when the temperature is sometimes under 10 °C! In addition to modelling, Shasta designs and handmakes clothing in the fabrics, patterns and colours typical of her home country, ingeniously combining traditional
African aesthetics with more modern, sensual styles. She doesn’t need a model to show off her outfits as she does it all herself with selfies, of which she is the leading proponent! Of course, her experience behind the camera can be
quite helpful when we’re posing in complicated, demanding settings. She also shows her African roots in her culinary skills, which are of a professional standard. Shasta can cook a range of African dishes over the open fire in the traditional way. You can also book her on a private basis; she supplies all the ingredients and comes to your house to cook and serve the meal. This service also features hand-sewn tablecloths, table mats and serviettes of her own creation! Of course, she also wears her own, traditional African clothes on these occasions. Now, what could make more sense than managing a small holding in order to produce the ingredients required for her cookery? For several years now, she has been cultivating a large field in her hometown, growing herbs and organic vegetables with the help of some other gardeners. The climate in Rwanda can make this very hard work, as often it is either too wet or too dry. Ripe, ready-to-eat vegetables mysteriously tend to disappear from the gardens very quickly, and mostly at night, which means they must be of excellent quality, and definitely taste better than the ones you can get at the supermarket!