Faces Of New Bedford #136: Nelly Saraiva

Meet Nelly Saraiva, 43-year-old photographer.

Nelly’s interest in photography began when she worked for Amvona in Mansfield, which was a company that imported and sold backdrops, lighting, and other photography supplies. Her boss started a form of social media in 2006, before Facebook really picked up speed and encouraged their employees to create profiles and upload images. Nelly bought a camera and started photographing her kids.

This newly found passion developed over the next few years, as she started photographing families and working with other photographers as a second shooter on a few weddings. In 2008, she began photographing her own weddings and in 2010, she left her job to pursue her photography career full-time. During her first few years she focused on wedding, newborn and family photography, but as she got busier she started focusing more on just wedding and boudoir sessions.

Photography has become such a pivotal portion of Nelly’s life, as she finds it so satisfying to be able to capture the most precious moments in her clients’ lives. Whether it is a photograph of a family who may be going through something difficult or documenting a young woman’s struggle with breast cancer, she has been honored to capture those moments in time. She has even been involved with the Van Noy Valor Foundation recently, which seeks to help raise funds for foster families who might not have all of the necessary funds to pay for the child’s expenses, helping them photograph their events. She has also given her time to photograph for many other non-profits and gives away many sessions to families in need and to women who struggle with self-esteem.

See more of Nelly’s work on her website: itsjustnelly.com.

Faces of New Bedford is a project by Colton Simmons. If you are interested in booking a shoot or getting prints from the series email all inquiries to colton@coltonsimmons.com.

Read more of the Faces of New Bedford series here.