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Adwoa looks back over her bare shoulder, long golden braids falling across a black camisole
01 / 38 · SilverAdwoa · Studio Melo, Brooklyn

The Brooklyn Issue · Portraits · Vol. 01

New York · Photography · Creative Direction

Portraits, stories, and creative direction shaped in New York.

View selected workBook a session
Child with long braids and red sunglasses stands facing the camera in a grey cartoon t-shirt, jacket tied at her waist, against a mural wall

editorial · Williamsburg, Brooklyn · 2026

Unbreakable Thinking

A young subject framed against Brooklyn street art — confidence, individuality, color, and the language of self-belief.

Contact sheet

Child sits alone at a small white café table on a sidewalk beside a teal patterned mural and green planters

Unbreakable Thinking · Williamsburg

Child in orange-tinted sunglasses glances at the camera in front of a sunlit blue-and-white metal roll gate

Unbreakable Thinking · Williamsburg

Two children in hats and sunglasses walk up a cobblestone street with the Manhattan Bridge rising behind them

Color Between the Bridges · DUMBO

Two children dance on a city sidewalk, one bending forward under a straw sun hat while holding a lollipop

Color Between the Bridges · DUMBO

Woman leans back on an aged stone-and-plaster wall in bright sun, dark hair falling over an Aztec-print jacket

Sun on the Old Walls · Portugal

Close portrait of a woman with head tilted back against a sunlit plaster wall, holding sunglasses near her chin

Sun on the Old Walls · Portugal

Philosophy

People, framed by the character of New York.

Ways in

Three ways to work together

Signature session

New York Portrait Experience

A directed portrait session set against the neighborhoods, light, and texture of New York — planned around you, not a preset route.

  • — Pre-session direction call
  • — Location and route planning
  • — Directed shooting, unhurried pacing
  • — Curated, edited gallery

Beyond the frame

Creative Direction

Visual direction for shoots, brands, and small campaigns — concept, mood, casting sensibility, and design-literate execution.

  • — Concept development
  • — Visual references and treatment
  • — On-set direction
  • — Post supervision

For brands & creators

Content Sessions

Efficient, art-directed content days that produce a coherent set of imagery — not a camera roll of near-duplicates.

  • — Shot-list planning
  • — Multiple looks and setups
  • — Fast turnaround selects
  • — Format-aware crops

Couples, families, editorials, and creator sessions live within these paths — full service details.

Founders

Derek & Melody

Melo Collective is a husband-and-wife project. Derek and Melody are building it together, as two halves of one way of working.

  • Runs the shoot

    Derek

    Derek is behind the camera and the technology that holds a session together: the light, the set, the gear, the workflow. A photographer, creative director, and design engineer, he plans every session like a small production.

  • Curates the vibe

    Melody

    Melody is the marketing mind behind the scenes. She shapes what a session feels like before a single frame is made — the mood, the story, and how the finished work meets the world.

One sets the stage, the other captures it. Together that means direction that respects how people actually move, and imagery delivered with intention rather than volume.

Woman raises an Instax instant camera to her eye, photographing the photographer, before a hazy city overlook

Field note · In development

Studio Melo

Studio Melo is the developing creative house behind Melo Collective — a Brooklyn space for portraits, conversation, experimentation, and small productions, being built the same way the work is made: deliberately and by hand.

An evolving space for portraits, conversation, experimentation, and the exchange between subject and maker.

Inside Studio Melo
Two children sit on rainbow-painted steps holding oversized swirl lollipops, turned toward each other mid-laugh

family · DUMBO, Brooklyn · 2026

Color Between the Bridges

A candid portrait story of childhood energy, color, friendship, and movement beneath the Manhattan Bridge.

Let's make something worth remembering.

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