Mimi, my camera + me

A hypnotically beautiful creature. Her green eyes are disarming and utterly spellbinding. Welcoming Mimi Elashiry to the digital pages of Gemma Peanut Gallery. And believe it or not folks, she’s even more captivating in the flesh!

She may be young but 19 is just a number to Mimi. There’s an old soul hidden beneath that vivaciously youthful exterior. There’s an earthy worldliness in there and having spent time with her, I can confidently say she is as grounded and homely as humble pie. She oozes easy going, laid back confidence coupled with surprisingly strong views on her industry. I caught glimpses of deep concern for unhealthy habits she has witnessed first hand in the modelling scene. Something she is wary of, somewhat fearful of and adamantly refuses to fall victim to. (We need more role models like this in the world! Fashionably emaciated is never cool in my books!) .

Her Instagram asserts her strong messages of wholistic and healthy living. She truly believes there is more to life than just a pretty picture. And her near 700k strong followers eat up her authenticity for breakfast lunch and dinner. She epitomises that barefoot Aussie water baby, never comfortable with straying from the ocean for more than a week! Mimi told me she doesn’t feel normal away from mother ocean. It truly is her heart centre and that no matter the temperature or conditions, she will dive right in (even into a thick oceanic hedge of seaweed!).

It still shocks me that she’s only 19! I look back at my 19 year old self. I was just a Bambi with trembling fawn-like legs and a dependence on my mother. Entering into a semi adult stage of my life, I still had no idea who the heck I was as a person. But not Mimi. She knows exactly who she is, knows exactly what she stands for, lives freely in her truth and is totally unapologetic for it.

And boy do we love her for it!

What Mimi’s wearing…

With her obvious natural beauty there is always a temptation to shoot Mimi make up free, in an earthy setting with gentle honey warm sunlight as she frolics freely in mother nature’s offerings. I had to fight this urge. Believe me, it was hard, but I wanted to do something different. So I decided to style her in the fun and out there pizzazz that is DISCOUNT UNIVERSE! I’ve never experienced such joy going through racks of clothing. There were endless options of loud outfits to grab & pull. But I was disciplined, I limited myself to three looks, desaturated the photos and created a vibe that I believe is a little less typical of Miss Mimi. I hope you dig them as much as we enjoyed shooting them!

Love Peanut x