Nycka, the Nomad ©

This is a text with 8 reasons for you to get to know other religions besides the ones your family practices. I'm Nycka Nunes, digital and cultural nomad and I work as a visual artist, fine art photographer and stylist. As a stylist, I believe that personal style is linked to self-knowledge, personality and lifestyle, and therefore it is impossible to label a personal style and if someone imitates the appearance of another person, this goes against the grain of developing a strong personal style. A still widespread way of educating children is through reward and punishment. For everything there is a right option and all others are wrong. Like a multiple-choice test. (If you suffer from anxiety, a clue to the cause is here.) But life is not a multiple-choice test. So, for you to make smart choices, you need to evaluate different possibilities and take a critical look at them. Thus, it is important to know different religions to discover which path best suits your quest for personal...

Psychologists say that those who had traumatic experiences in childhood do not usually have hobbies . This text is about my childhood and how I dealt with the limitations that were imposed on me. I'm Nycka Nunes, digital and cultural nomad, and I work as a visual artist, fine art photographer and stylist, in addition to creating content on this blog and on social media. I graduated in advertising. I started working at 5 years old. I lived with my maternal grandmother for most of my childhood and adolescence. When I was very young I studied ballet, piano and flute. I lived opposite the music conservatory in my hometown at the time. I've been passionate about piano ever since, but even though they enrolled me in the course, my family never encouraged me and I didn't have a piano to practice with. And I was frustrated with the lack of evolution between one class and another. The other courses I don't even remember wanting. I still reject the flute. I now know that narci...

This is a text with a little bit about the person behind the stylist. I'm Nycka, a digital and cultural nomad, an advertising professional by training, and I currently work as a visual artist, fine art photographer and stylist. I've been working with fashion since I was a child and I'm the most experienced stylist from Brazil. A few years ago I had a horrible personal experience. You know when you trust a person your whole life and in the end he dies and leaves evidence that he was never trustworthy? My world collapsed there. I was able to realise all the “red flags” that I ignored my whole life for being a family member. Of course, it made me more aware of other people's behaviour. I had to rebuild myself, rediscover who I was amidst the wreckage, rediscover how to trust people again. This journey is pretty confusing. I have already stopped working as a stylist several times because if I started working with fashion as a child it was because that person who died forc...

I always try to make it clear that personal style has no name. Personal style is a language and to master it you have to study the way you study foreign languages. In this text I will break one of the most common stereotypes and help you understand the personal image as a language and a powerful non verbal communication tool. Many people, men and women, have tons of clothes in neutral colours and simple tailored cuts and call it the classic style. Style professionals who do not understand personal image as a non-verbal communication tool also tend to reinforce this belief. And it's a myth. Stereotyping is useful for journalists, but not for experienced style professionals. Classic tailoring designs with lots of straight lines reflect a conservative behaviour, which is enhanced by neutral colours. As the image is a non-verbal communication tool, I ask: are you an extremely conservative person? Do you believe in things like marrying a virgin and don't use innovative products (inc...

Below I list 9 signs that a company belongs to my universe, and that it could be interesting for it to hire my services and/or sponsor my work. The company has a final target audience with high purchasing power. The company sells an image of creativity or has clear differentials. The company and its leaders know that images with a white/monochromatic background, lookbook style, are ineffective in reaching an audience with high purchasing power or that consumes creative or innovative products and services. Images with a white/monochrome background do not generate connection with the brand and are a sign that the brand is playing cheap. The company and its leaders are aware that communication, including non-verbal communication, must be consistent with the brand image and the profile of the target audience. The company and its leaders know that the photographer's repertoire and training are important for the final result. The company and its leaders are aware that art is made...

Nobody is an island. We all depend on each other and because this network of collaboration exists, humanity persists in the world until today. Not everyone knows how to help someone without the person asking for help. Not everyone is comfortable asking for help. This text has several ideas for you to contribute to improving the day of other people, close or not, without much effort. The following suggestions cover a variety of contexts. Some can even be used to help strangers, while most are about helping people you know, like colleagues, friends, your partner, artists and self employed professionals you follow on the internet, etc. Avoid invalidating people's feelings. If the person fought with her boyfriend or hates her mother, for example, she certainly has reasons for that and invalidating what she feels, saying that every mother loves her children or that her boyfriend did what he did because he loves her are NOT ways of to help. It's ways of being inconvenient and pat...

A beautiful day is a day that is beautiful within us. It may be a day that we feel beautiful and value our beauty. A day that we take care of ourselves inside and out. A day that we feel happy with or without reason. A day that we can appreciate the little things that make our days more beautiful, like listening to our favourite songs, singing them without worrying about what others will think, having a positive experience when going to dinner at a different restaurant or traveling to a place where we've never been, receive photos from a photoshoot we did and see our beauty through different eyes, talk to someone who inspires us... A beautiful day is not about others, but it can be with others. It doesn’t depend on the weather, either. And when we create our beautiful days we may want to share that beauty around. In the form of art. In the form of words. In the form of smiles. In the form of clothes. Or anything we create on and off the job (excellence is about happiness). It...

Contrary to what some people think, a photographer is not someone who captures the moment . Amateur photographers capture the moment. I create images designed to make a certain impact. There is a whole production behind each photo shoot and each portrait produced by me nowadays. Amateur photographers also don't have much idea of ​​their costs, and before definitely deciding to go down this path I carefully analyzed mine. Fine art photography relies on the photographer's repertoire to construct unique and meaningful images. I look for beauty in all people and also in things and places that are not always appreciated by the majority. And if I worked for many years with style consultancy, it was to contribute, with my experience, for more people to reveal and value the beauty they have. And I also learned a lot about low self-esteem, and how people with this trait sabotage themselves. So I'm not shy about making clear things like my choice not to edit skin and hair to make the...

Those who follow my work know that I differentiate between fashion and clothing. In short, fashion is what innovators and early adopters wear. The rest is apparel. And fine art photography goes perfectly with fashion. It might work well for apparel brands too, but I would recommend apparel brands interested in my work to have a PR and social media team that knows how to deal with conflict and criticism in a mature and intelligent way. I don't like obvious photography, I don't like obvious things in general. And precisely for this reason, even in commercial photography, my identity as a fine art photographer is part of the job. And eventually this can shock groups used to lukewarm publicity, on the fence, trying not to bother people. I believe in strong brands that have strong positioning. Fashion, the most innovative, already flirts with art naturally, so the natural path is to opt for artistic photographs. As a consumer, I am innovative, especially in fashion. And that helps ...

This Christmas it will be twenty years since I last saw my father alive. He was my biggest emotional support. I decided to make a list of songs to deal with grief, or to listen to when we miss someone we love and has passed away. As in some parts of the world it is common to gather the family at Christmas, it can be more difficult to deal with losses during this period. Perhaps the list is useful to listen to in other situations of grief, of closing cycles as well, but I made it thinking about this type of grief. I believe that we should show love while we are alive and I try to do that. The list mixes a bit of what I listen to when I miss someone I'll never see again and songs written for situations of losing someone the composer loves. Love in the afternoon, by Legião Urbana. Letter to Dana from Sonata Arctica. Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton. Gostava tanto de você, de Tim Maia. Wake Me Up When September Ends by Green Day. Farewell, from Apocalyptica. The Loneliest, by M...

Let's talk about the World Cup. Once again. After the victory of the Brazilian team against South Korea, a former Irish player complained about the Brazilian players dancing after each goal. He said the dances were disrespectful to the opposing team. I've been following Brazilian football since the 90's. Goal celebrations vary from time to time and with the success of Tiktok, dancing is the newest trend. It's not just during the World Cup. In any game of the national or international championships, players from Brazilian teams celebrate in this way. So why criticise the national team for doing something they are used to doing and is harmful to nobody? Was it perhaps because of the former player's past of aggression on the field that he made the criticism? Could he be a macho man from the countryside who thinks that dancing is not a man's thing, and to play football one must demonstrate his masculinity by breaking an opponent's leg? The time for that kind of...

In the previous text I talked about men in high heels. In this one I talk about tall women and the impact of common sense on their choices. Actress Gwendoline Christie, Larissa Weems from the series Wednesday, is 1.91 m tall and has already said that when she decided to be a film actress people around her said it would be difficult due to her height. I also saw she said that in the series Wednesday is the first time that she thinks she is beautiful on screen, because in other roles her image tended to be masculinised, usually without makeup, that feature that so many women love. Many of us live in a society that is still very sexist and even women have sexist thoughts. And the beliefs we hold affect our choices. Including our style and career choices. Do not read this text thinking about the oppressor and the oppressed. It is a mistake. Think of individual responsibility. In what you do that reinforces your belief of being "oppressed", for example. I mentioned Gwendoline Chr...

The World Cup is taking place in Qatar and, in football, sometimes people say that a player is playing in high heels (I know they say that in Brazil, I don't know if there is an equivalent expression in other languages). This means that he thinks he is better than others and at the same time puts in less effort. Illuminate my ignorance and comment if there is an equivalent expression in your language and what it is. This text is about other ways of wearing heels, mainly by men. In addition, of course, to men who have a fetish for feminisation, for dressing like a woman, there are those who wear heels without looking for a feminine image. Back in the 80s, Tom Cruise wore heels to look taller in Top Gun. You didn't see it, but he wore it because he's much shorter than actress Kelly McGillis, who was his love interest in the movie. Robert de Niro wore high platform shoes to look taller than Al Pacino in "The Irishman". Robert Downey Jr., Brad Pitt, Vin Diesel, Ma...

So you've moved to a new city. Maybe a new country. Alone. And now you want to meet people, your neighbours. How to do it? If you move in with someone who already lives in the city, they usually already know the neighbours and you will naturally end up getting to know them too. If you've moved to live alone, this text has a few options for how to approach it. You need to evaluate the local culture and even the neighbourhood profile to see which options might work best. If you have dogs, the tendency is that, when walking your dogs, you will find other neighbours walking their dogs, and you can use these situations to start conversations. Compliments to the dog, or asking for a veterinarian's recommendation, brand of dog food (if you are in another country), etc are options for starting a conversation. Over time, you establish some connections with these neighbours and the topics of conversation are expanded. If you don't have dogs... eventually cat hair on your cloth...

Yesterday was musician's day in Brazil and today is jukebox day in the United States, so let's talk about music. Music is an important part of my lifestyle and today I'm going to list 15 covers that, in my opinion, are better than the originals or just as good, but with a different identity. Comment your opinion and suggest other covers that I should know (and maybe I really do). My criterion takes into account the cover bringing a new face to the song. In almost all cases I also like the original song. Blind Channel playing “Left outside alone”, originally by Anastacia. Sonata Arctica playing "Still Loving You", originally by Scorpions. Evergrey performing "I'm sorry", originally by Dilba. Måneskin playing "Beggin'", originally by Frankie Valli. Gotthard performing "Hush", originally by Deep Purple. Iisa singing “Kellot Kappelin”, originally by Samuli Putro. Blind Channel playing “Numb” by Linkin Park. In my opinion...

Are you influenced by other people when choosing what to wear? Although some tend to answer no, the reality is different. At birth, you didn't even have much ability to communicate your preferences, saying that this outfit is tight, that one is too hot and a third one is ugly. And even if you used the resources you had to communicate your dissatisfaction when you was a newborn, it is possible that your parents and caregivers would not understand. Some parents impose their preferences on their children, even when they can say what they like or dislike, and this can influence their choices in many ways. As we grow up, we dress trying to bring characteristics of those we admire to our appearance, or wear something similar to what the people we admire like. We also seek to distance ourselves from the way people we don't like or don't identify with dress. And, of course, the image that authoritarian parents imposed on us when we couldn't afford to buy our own clothes. Whe...

Let's talk about the fashion shows where the models, and especially the female models, have an exaggerated styling, which scares a lot of people. Those that many people wonder if there are those who wear those clothes off the catwalk, because “nobody” sees stylised people like the models on the streets. Those clothes usually go to stores and are sold. I'll explain why no one sees someone dressed like the models on the streets. This is a post about the fashion clothing that “nobody” wears . And “nobody” in quotes reminds me of Homer’s Odyssey (although Odysseus says his name was NoMan in the passage the expression reminded me of). What some call the fashion industry I separate into: Clothing industry, which encompasses basic apparel, cheap clothes and accessories, and fast fashion. Fashion industry, which is where the original, different creations are, the source from which the clothing industry often drinks, seeking to make cheap and simplified versions of pieces that can ...

Have you noticed that in many cities the options available at local restaurants are very limited? Several cities, especially those that do not give importance to tourism and are not capitals, economic centres, have little variety in terms of gastronomy, have few or no foreign cuisine restaurants, and creative or contemporary gastronomy options are even rarer. From what I observed in the places where I lived, in the trips and research I did, this happens for two main reasons: For accommodation of the local population. When people from a place do not usually travel and get used to the local cuisine as if it were the best in the world without knowing other options. No one in that environment is dedicated to studying cuisines from other parts of the world, let alone opening a restaurant that is different from the options that already exist in the local market, be it foreign cuisine or contemporary/creative cuisine with local ingredients. For not attracting immigrants linked to gastron...

Once you already have in mind where you want to live, it's time to start planning the move to know what needs to be done to make the dream come true. When planning to move to another city or country, it is important to research: Neighbourhoods in the city where you want to live that suit your needs and expectations. Anyone who is used to living in a neighbourhood where you can walk to the supermarket may not feel comfortable in a completely residential neighbourhood. If you have school-age children, having schools close to home can be important. If you know what your needs and expectations are, you know what characteristics the neighbourhoods you are going to consider living in should have. Property features that meet your needs and expectations. What are your needs and expectations regarding the property where you will live? Do you prefer furnished property or buy the furniture and decorate it yourself so the place reflects your identity? Do you prefer house or apartment? Need...

Planning to move to another city or country takes a few steps. In this text I will ask some questions that we must answer before turning the dream of moving to another city into a goal. Where do you want to go? (If you just want to get out of where you are, to almost anywhere, the chances of frustration are high). What reasons do you have to go? Remember the part of the Alice in Wonderland story where the cat explains to the girl that if she doesn't know where she wants to go, she just wants to get out of where she is, any path will lead her to the goal. Note that this does not mean that any path is good. Adult and emotionally mature people, as I assume you are, learn from mistakes and bad experiences and build their references from there. What do you already know about what you want and what you don't want in your life? What kind of life do you want to build in your next destination and how does it help you to build that life? If you are moving to another country for any ...