Nostalgic Reverie
Hallie Arden
For Hallie, photography is a dance between nostalgia and fantasy—a mood-laden exploration of femininity, storytelling, and visual allure. The intimate warmth of a grandmother’s retro living room or whimsical vignettes dripping in playful joie de vivre, her work evokes a timeless quality. A feeling of a memory you’ve never lived but ache to remember.
This life of her’s began in grade 10 at Etobicoke School of the Arts, where she first discovered the delicate art of lighting. Later, her passion progressed at Sheridan College, where she delved into the craft of set design, weaving her love of storytelling into every photograph. “I’ve always wanted to build an environment,” she muses, “to create a world and then shoot within it.”
She expressed that photography is not just an image; it is a visual story. Her work revels in the romantic and the relatable, bringing small, everyday moments to life with an elevated elegance. A girl preparing for the day in a wallpapered bathroom or a love story unfolding under the glow of retro poolside furniture, Hallie captures scenes imbued with douce mélancolie—a sweet melancholy that lingers. Inspirations often stem from a space, a texture, or a fleeting feeling. “A lot of times, I start with an environment—like my grandmother’s house, with its retro charm—or even just a piece of lawn furniture that sparks a story,” she explains. These spaces become stages for narratives, unfolding in warm, saturated tones that feel both intimate and cinematic.
One of the pillars of Hallie’s artistry lies in the celebration of women—their femininity, their playfulness, their insouciance. Her images are infused with a unique energy that is both delicate and vibrant, capturing moments of silliness, beauty, and quiet introspection. “I love creating little narratives for my models,” she says, “giving them characteristics, imagining why they’re in this moment, what brought them here.”
Her style is inspired by the past, drawing from pop culture, retro aesthetics, and the dreamlike photography & cinematography of artists like Sofia Coppola and Nadia Lee Cohen, with a special reference to “The Virgin Suicides”.
The other pillar of artful nostalgia captured in its most refined form is not just as a mere replication of the past but a romanticized elevation of it. Her use of warm, golden tones and vintage sets feels like a love letter to an era just out of reach. “It’s about familiarity,” she says, “that feeling of recognizing something—a texture, a colour, a mood—but experiencing it in a heightened, dreamy way.”
Hallie’s photography invites you to linger, to get lost in its quiet narratives and lush textures. It’s a place where femininity is celebrated, where ordinary moments are transformed into cinematic reveries, and where nostalgia whispers gently in your ear, saying, souviens-toi—remember. Her images don’t just tell stories; they invite you to dream, to feel, and to imagine.
@hallieardenford
