Featured Portfolio | Ari Touron

Ari has too many dreams for the future to write down. Above all, he wants to change the world. He has discovered his true calling in life as a writer – but he also wants to motivate others to chase their dreams, just as he has. He came into our studio for a photo shoot that captured his journey to discovering himself.

How Ari came to be was destiny. Both his parents moved to Melbourne at the age of two to create a better life. They somehow found each other, and Ari was born. He is half Filipino and half Uruguayan. His parents sacrificed, pushing through many struggles and hardships raising him in the Western suburbs of Melbourne. His Mum doted on him, giving him soft and affectionate love. In comparison, he describes his Dad as ‘fierce as nails’ who showed a lot of tough love. This balance has become fundamental to who Ari is, and is even represented through his tattoo sleeve, which represents balance and growth.

‘My tattoo sleeve represents my spiritual growth spurt as a human being’, Ari explains. ‘It’s about taking the good with the bad and learning how to take the positives out of the negatives’. The wolf with blue eyes and the bear with blue eyes both represents the good within him, the owl with red eyes and the eagle with red eyes represents the bad that is embedded in his soul, and the symbol on his shoulder is called ‘Om’, represents the soul and the universe. His sleeve took three years to finish, and a lot changed for Ari in those 3 years – he grew as a human being.

The saying ‘I am an individual with too much to say, so why not let my clothes do the talking?’ dictates Ari’s life. He says he was born to stand out and he uses his clothing to portray his individuality. He particularly loves vintage clothes because they make a statement about his attitude and are completely unique – just like Ari.

Ari wanted to use his photoshoot to show a side of himself that no one has known. His looks evolve from an edgy look, to a streetwear look, and finally to him revealing who he truly is – a writer. His portfolio stands out from the crowd because of his use of props. He poses with a skateboard, a chair, old-fashioned crates and a type writer. These props reveal aspects of who he is and creates movement and meaning in each photo. Ari explains, ‘the old school type writer further reinstates my theme as a writer. The other photos show little insights into my personal style and attitude.’

Ari finds inspiration to create from a wide array of sources; be it books, music, nature, the universe or the lyrics in the songs of his all-time favourite rapper, Biggie Smalls. Books and music have especially helped him discover who he is, as they open new perspectives of life to him and allow him to escape his reality. Ari’s discovery of self-love enabled him to create and inspire. When he learnt to love the ugly pieces of himself, the doors of creativity opened for him.

Find Ari on Instagram at @thoughtsbyari to follow his writing.