Echoes in Motion: Essence Sommers and the Language of Vulnerability

Creative Director Essence Sommers Photographer Joy Walsh Cinematographer Henry Merritt Production Assistant Colleen Shaw Wardrobe Gianni Willis

For director and visual storyteller Essence Sommers, creating has never been about spectacle alone. It’s about connection. At this stage in her practice, she is stepping away from the expectation of perfection, releasing the version of herself that believed everything had to appear okay in order to succeed. What’s replaced it is a more honest approach rooted in vulnerability, collaboration, and emotional presence.

That shift has redefined how she builds her work. Rather than centering herself, Sommers creates space for collective expression, where models and collaborators shape the energy of the piece alongside her. Directing becomes less about control and more about trust, allowing each person to contribute to a shared emotional language.

MArella Guirantes Devin Veras Nofy Iman Dominique LaVeau Khizer Abbas Nep2ne Anna Chibisova

This philosophy comes into focus in Echoes in Motion: Figures in Stillness, a project born from reflection on the quiet realities of mental health. Instead of dramatizing anxiety or depression, Sommers leans into restraint, capturing the subtle tension between internal struggle and the outward continuation of daily life. Small gestures, stillness, and slowed pacing carry the weight of the narrative, mirroring how these experiences often unfold beneath the surface.

Nature weaves through the work as an emotional counterpart, with elements like wind and water echoing the internal shifts of the figures. Movement and stillness exist simultaneously, reflecting a truth the project holds at its core: even when we feel paused, the world continues moving.

Completing the piece marked a turning point for Sommers. It led her toward deeper self awareness, therapy, and a commitment to becoming a healthier version of herself. In that process, vulnerability became not just a theme, but a practice, one that reshaped both her life and her work.

Within Issue 17, Echoes in Motion stands as a reflection of transition. It captures the quiet space between who we’ve been and who we’re becoming, reminding us that even in stillness, there is movement, and within vulnerability, there is strength.

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