We spent a night at the San Diego Fair shooting our SM Hat Collection with RAEN photographer, Jenavieve Belair…a night filled with cotton candy, ice-cold beer and carny rides that spin so fast you’ll see stars. There’s something undeniably summer about the county fair and a certain magic that comes out when the sun goes down and those bright colorful lights come up. An evening that is so quintessentially summertime…

#Throughtheeyes Interview of Jenavieve Belair

What inspires you?

I am inspired by our everyday life. The bad and ugly days as much as the sunny. I’m not trying to doll you up in makeup and tell you to pose. I want to capture you the way you really look, messy  hair and all.

Where’d you get our start?

I started shooting film when I was 14 years old on my dad’s old Canon AE1. I would bike to the local drug store in our middle america town to get my film developed.

Digital or film?

I shoot both, though my digital work always ends up emulating my film work.

What project are you working on?

Everyday is a new project to me. But currently in the works is a book called, “Love is Not a Town,” that my sister Erin Rose wrote and I photographed. I have also tapped into telling love stories and shooting weddings.

What’s your favorite pair of RAEN shades?

I could wear any pair of RAEN’s and feel like a million bucks, but the Arkin in Calico never seem to leave my side.