Kimberly Douglas is a 23-year-old all-in-one artist.
As a model, photographer and creative designer, she's pursuing her dream of becoming a signed model, using social media to take things up a notch with her unique DIY photo shoot sets.
(MORE: How 1 influencer is 'flipping the switch' on the beauty industry and building a brand)Douglas’ eccentric scenes have gained widespread attention on social media and she's becoming known for showing followers the behind-the-scenes process of creating distinctive sets from scratch.
Setting up a photo shoot at home instead of going to a studio has been something that Douglas has mastered. Her photos are shot with her own personal twist while saving hundreds of dollars on props and a professional photographer.
"Some of the ideas I come up with are really random," Douglas told "Good Morning America." "[A] majority of the time, I find a lot of stuff on Pinterest or recreate things and turn them into my own."
(MORE: Model and influencer with cerebral palsy inspires community with viral videos)Some of her experimental ideas involve using props that range from trampolines, to mirrors, to balloons. Douglas said that it can take anywhere from eight hours to an entire day to design and complete a set from ideation to execution, depending on the complexity of the shoot.
Douglas's social media modeling journey started when she was 18 years old when she decided to take her own photos after not having the budget to pay a photographer.
(MORE: Style influencer Camila Coelho shares her tips for getting the perfect Insta-ready vacation pics)"I’d reach out to photographers to get rates, do some test shoots and get a portfolio started," Douglas said. "Most of them never responded or flaked on me. I was also a broke college student, so I really couldn’t afford to pay photographers anyways."
As a result, she decided that she would build her portfolio by designing her own creative concepts, and operating both behind the camera and in front of it.
With social media becoming increasingly saturated with aspiring models, Douglas knew she had to come up with innovative and creative concepts to stand out and get noticed.
(MORE: Meet the 14-year-old boy who’s breaking barriers in the beauty industry: ‘There shouldn't be any boundaries’)"It all started last year on New Year’s with me deleting all my photos on Instagram and just kind of resetting," said Douglas. "One day, I taped my iPhone 7 to the ceiling, and took photos of myself and posted it on Twitter. Over the next couple days, it kind of went viral."
Last year some guy told me "If u want to take modeling seriously u need to work w/ photographers. The conventional way is the only way if u want it to look right."
— ig: @kihmberlie (@kihmberlie) January 15, 2019
I want to model SO BAD tht w/ zero money for test shoots I found another way. If tht aint serious idk what is 🤷🏾♀️ pic.twitter.com/BC7z37JdRz
The response overwhelmed her. Within a week, she'd gained nearly 10,000 new followers who admired her definitive method of shooting and editing photos. Since January 2019, she’s consistently posted on social media the behind-the scenes process of each shoot and averages thousands of likes on each. This consistency has grown her following from 9,000 followers in the beginning of January to almost 65,000 on Instagram.
As a result of her increased online presence, one brand has reached out to work with her and pay her to promote a product for them.
Douglas has created and modeled in 90 of her own original photo shoot sets. All of them are posted on Instagram, where she gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "shoot your shot."
(MORE: Instagram influencer inspires women to get real about loneliness, making friends)"The goal is to make a living out of this and get more brands to notice me eventually," said Douglas. "I do Postmates and Doordash to pay my bills, but it would be amazing if I could make this into a career, or got signed to an agency."
