So, I usually reserve titling model posts with a first name when the individual in the question is a big name (Anja, Jourdan) or when it's someone whom I've photographed multiple times and have built up some amount of rapport with (Yumi, Manon), but I'm making an exception today. Actually, I'm making a couple of exceptions, because Nell Rebowe is that kind of person. I spotted her queuing up with a friend at a dessert truck in Soho. Initially I walked past her and commented to myself how perfectly put together she was—with her sleek, rangy limbs, the probability seemed high that she was a model, which is precisely what made me turn around and approach her for a portrait.
Quick tangent: I've been on the record about not typically photographing models outside of fashion week; it's just something I don't actively look to do… which is weird, right, because I live in New York and walk past 20 models a day downtown. In real life, they're running from one go-see (audition) to another, dress essentially the same (expensively down, but always with nice shoes) and flow the same; and since I'm only really ever interested in people and things that are different, their uniformity tends to blend out whatever unique qualities they may possess as individuals. Of course, I'm grossly generalising here, but hopefully you get my point.
Nell Rebowe on the other hand was on fire; the redhead model and Louisiana native was drop-dead gorgeous in person and her presence really blew me away. . And in case you're wondering: No, these are not compliments I bestow all of the models off duty whom I've photographed—proof. Nell really owned herself and didn't seem to answer under the influence of her friend being there (which tends to happen a lot for better or worse). She almost wouldn't let me take her photo until she saw my work, and when my phone decided to go on the fritz and take almost 90 seconds to load the page—thanks, refurb replacements!—she neither bailed nor consented out of impatience. She waited.