My name is Daisy and I’m a French photographer here is NYC. I’m specialized in Portraiture of all kind, commercial, and I am also the owner of Littlegypsystudios.com. It’s a photographer agency that covers all aspects of photography services.
My background is French, Polish from my dad and Ivory Coast in Africa from my mom. I was born there and moved to France when I was 4 years old. Since my dad was still working there I used to spend all my vacation in Abidjan.
I’ve been a vegan for one year now and I absolutely love and embrace this lifestyle. It just happened to me, I never planned on becoming one. To be honest, more than a year ago, I didn’t even really pay attention to the fact that what I ate could harm animals or my health. I was like most people conditioned by what society told us.
I’m a huge animal lover and I live with two cats. I have also been meditating for 2 years! I sit in silence 20 minutes every morning. (I wonder sometimes if this didn’t lead me to realize that meat was not natural and good for me).
So a year ago (May 2015) after the Winter, my body didn't feel good and I had an urge to be more healthy. Indeed I was always ordering food like pizzas, burgers, or fries. I would rarely cook. That day, I decided to eat a salad so I prepared my own salad and added chicken.
It was the first time in my life, when I was eating that chicken, that I didn’t appreciate the taste of it. I left these pieces on the side and decided to go to the supermarket and pack my fridge with lots of fruits and vegetables. For three weeks I never ate or bought a piece of meat but was still eating fish every now and then. I was also making green smoothies with my brand new blender until I became very busy with work and couldn’t buy my fish for ten days. When I went back to the supermarket, a month had already passed where I ate no meat and didn't consume fish for ten days. In the aisle, while waiting to buy some fish, it was the FIRST time ever I looked at the display differently. For me it was not a product anymore, but dead food!! I never had this feeling before. So I went back home with just my veggies, rice, and beans and realized at that exact moment that I was becoming a vegan.
Since I didn’t know much about it I decided to look on the internet and get information on how to live healthy on this diet and IF it was healthy actually. I realized that yes it was even more healthy than a "regular" American diet. I also watched a lot of videos on Youtube until I found the documentary EARTHLINGS.
This was a shock and I cried all night long. I was traumatized by realizing the suffering of these poor animals just for our taste. That night I promised myself that I would never ever touch a piece of meat or any animal product.
It’s been a year now and I can say that I feel amazing. People around me noticed a change and keep saying how great I look and how my skin is glowing. I’m also more calm, happy and positive in my life.
As a photographer I made the decision that I would never photograph or promote any fur and I try to avoid leather. I tend to educate people in fashion and around me about veganism without making them feel like they are horrible people because I’ve noticed that this is not the best way to get them on our side. Instead I show them all the benefits of this lifestyle and I just let them observe how I am and how I feel. When I have the opportunity I give them some information or a documentary to watch. More and more people are listening and this makes me so happy. I also buy makeup and products that are cruelty free.
I wouldn't consider myself as an activist yet but I do what I can on my level. I photographed a march to end all the slaughterhouses last month while I was on vacation in LA. It was on Hollywood Blvd. Here's is a photo from it.
