How I met Nina...
Last year, as I was mindlessly strolling through a flea market in Paris, I came across a worn, mid-century-style suitcase tucked in a dark, crowded antique shop. It was firmly closed, and from the look of it, no one had dared to force it open.
“It’s been sitting there for weeks,” the shop owner said. “People feel weird opening a stranger’s things.”
But curiosity got the best of me. I bought the suitcase (along with whatever secrets it held) for next to nothing and took it back to my hotel.
At first, I struggled with the rusty lock, half-expecting something strange to jump out. When I finally lifted the lid, I found old photographs, handwritten notes, journals, bookmarks… fragments of a life well lived.
Her name is Nina. And this is her story.
Wherever she goes, Nina keeps her camera, a book, and a journal close... along with her unshakable belief that a single photo and a well-told story can transport her to moments to remember and stories to imagine.
In 1958, When Nina walked away from her ad agency job on Madison Avenue to chase her dream of becoming an indie photographer, she had no idea it would lead to a life of adventure around the world. From New York to Paris to London (and a few secret places I am not ready to reveal just yet), Nina captures people and places that spark stories worth telling.
What she loves most about her life is the friendships she forms along the way with young women from all walks of life who share her passion for capturing the world as they see it.
After completing her Vintage Paris Polaroid collection, Nina didn’t keep it all to herself. She encouraged her new friends to create their own, and together, they’ve curated snapshots of stardust, jazz, and everyday charm. All four collections are on their way, and soon you’ll get to see Paris, Hollywood, New York and London through their eyes.
When Nina isn’t sipping a perfect martini with friends on Fifth Avenue or strolling through Montmartre in search of a one-of-a-kind piece of street art, she’s tucked away in charming bookshops, lost in stories that spark her imagination.
Ask her about the books she reads, and she’ll tell you how she holds her breath when Jane Eyre chooses herself, how she roots for the Count of Monte Cristo’s poetic revenge, and how she feels every bit of Margaret Hale’s love for John Thornton.
Some say she’s got her head in the clouds. Others call her an escapist. Nina calls it seeing the world through the lens of imagination. And somehow, that makes everything feel a little brighter.
As I continue to unpack Nina’s suitcase, this shop simply brings her world to you... retro Polaroids collections she curated, bookmarks inspired by those she slipped into each genre she read, and #POV notepads echoing the pages where she penned her bookish thoughts.
All created with care, all very much her.
Inass,
Chief Daydreaming Officer
PS: While Nina is imagined, her world is made of real photos, real feelings, and a very real passion for storytelling.