MAUI ✴︎ NEW YORK
PHOTOGRAPHERYou’ve carried others through thresholds.
Now it’s your turn to cross one.
Be seen by Soul Portrait, a ceremonial journey through the seasons of your becoming.
Soul Portrait is an intimate, mythopoetic experience for those at the edge of transformation, healers, visionaries, mothers, artists, mystics, who are walking through thresholds and want to be seen in the truth of their becoming.
Whether you are gestating a child or a vision…
Stepping into leadership…
Shedding an old self…
Returning to your wildness…
Or softening into a new rhythm of life…This is where we mark it.For muses, mothers, and leaders
of the new world.
As seen in:
Thais Aquino
Somatic Photographer and Educator
Author of Soul Portraits
I am Thais Aquino, somatic photographer and educator, author of Soul Portraits.
My work merges ancestral storytelling, somatic presence, and sacred witnessing to guide women through thresholds of visibility, self-expression, and leadership.
I am based on Maui, Hawai’i, and I travel to New York for selected shoots.
New York
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Maui
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New Mexico
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New York ⊹ Maui ⊹ New Mexico ⊹
NOW BOOKINGWORLDWIDE BY INVITATION
You have changed. Shapeshifted.
Something deep within you is ready to be seen.
3 ways to enter the Soul Portrait field.
Muse ⊹ Motherhood ⊹ Leadership
WHAT SEASON ARE YOU IN?
Soul Portrait Leadership
For those whose voice is called to be seen in the coherence of their sacred authority.
Soul Portrait
Muse
For those crossing an inner threshold, ready to be witnessed in the truth of their becoming.
Soul Portrait Motherhood
For the woman who births life and families, anchoring love as lineage and devotion.
Soul Portrait experiences are not for the spiritually curious. It’s for the ones already living a sacred life.
We are a lineage of vision holders and medicine keepers who midwife change. Healers and artists, muses and mothers, shaping culture through tenderness, sensitivity but also grit. Our voice and visibility are devotional, a living act of care and love.
As you can see, this is not simply a photoshoot.
“It is remembrance” clients say:
“ As soon as I saw Thais’ photos I longed to be seen through her eyes, but it wasn’t until I had actual experience with her behind the lens that I began to understand the powerful, playful, pleasurable magic of working with her. So much more than a photoshoot, these experiences with her are a ceremony, a co-creation, a dance. Photoshoots with Thais simply document the natural arising of awareness of the beauty of the world and the subject of her focus. I look forward to Thais making beautiful, timeless photos of every major rite of passage for the rest of my life, so that my children and all of their descendents can know me as their ancestor in a way that is infused with love and care and texture and feeling.” - Ganga Devi (Circle of Return Client)
"After a Soul Portraits session with Thais, I cannot imagine ever working with another photographer. She has clearly perfected her craft as a photographer, but what truly sets her work apart is of course, SOUL. Participating in the session felt like a mystical experience in and of itself. With her creative direction she brought out such emotion, aliveness, and authenticity in me and my partner, and has given us the best and most unique photos that have ever been taken of us. Thais is an awakened, tapped in person who merges ceremony with art to deliver you the most depth-full and beautiful reflection of yourself fathomable. So much respect and love for you Thais - I can't wait to work with you again!" - Mia and Azra
WOW! Working with Thais was a treat. What a beautiful soul. And to then see the final product!! Amazing. Thais, you have a beautiful gift of seeing the magnificent in the mundane. You capture the Divine Feminine in ways that can be felt via your images. We had so much fun during the experience. Your gentle nature allowed us to open up as a flower would in the presence of sunlight. Goddess bless. We are excited to share these images. Obrigada! - Brujas of Brooklyn
“Wow, I’ve never witnessed myself through the eyes of pure art, pure beauty, pure poetry, pure myth and pure mysticism. This is pure, primordial inspiration that I will forever cherish. Brilliant, spellbinding and deftly captured. An ode to the rebirth of my spirit. An honor and heart healing experience to be seen by you during this pivotal time. Immense gratitude, reverence and awe for the rare gift that you are Thais.” - Joan Dakeeni
"Oh my Goddess- I don’t even have words darling for how amazing these are & how healed and whole they make me feel! I cannot even begin to tell you the medicine of seeing myself in this way, it’s like the cloud of illness is wiped from my third eye and I can see clearly the vitality and healing that is alive and me and then I feel it shining and embodying me more. This is pure medicine! You are truly an alchemist!" - Marysia Miernowska
“I was drawn to working with Thais’s energy. She radiates peace yet is eternally on the hunt for universal truth. She captures the essence of life in her images – a magic, untouched but in front her lens momentarily held. She is an artful soul who brings her entire being into every project, meeting heart with heart.” - Cait
“Thais worked with me to take photos for my website as a yoga teacher. The process of working with her was amazing - I felt so supported to do my thing (yoga) and trust that the photos would represent me in a real and affecting way. She also came with inspiration of her own and worked with me to get creative and heart-full shots. The process of working with her was a wonderful experience in and of itself. And to top it off, when I received the photos, I was astounded by the absolute quality and soulfulness of the photographs. After 2.5 hours of shooting, I received 200+ high-quality photographs that I can use. Thais is incredible.” - Michael
“As a photographer myself, I know how photo sessions can be be vulnerable and exciting wrapped up in one. I still get nervous while on the other side of the camera, but Thais has a calming energy that allowed me to relax and open up during our maternity shoot. She created a safe space for this transformation to be celebrated, and artfully documented a wide variety of feelings that I'm in awe of! The final gallery is something I will treasure, and these photographs will be printed and held close to the heart.” - Cadence Feeley
“I am in awe of how so gently and powerfully you give of your gifts. It amazes me.... in my life these days... how abundantly the universe pours her blessings upon me... I feel so very loved, adored, cherished and celebrated at the moment. You are a huge part of this. Your Soul Portrait Blessing has been a HUGE part of this. You have captured SO MUCH more than me and my physical being... you have captured the energies of grace and flow and beauty and especially SURRENDER. This process with you was a huge part of my surrendering to LOVE.” - Lisa Beck
Thais has an unusual capacity of being extremely skilled as a photographer and deeply kind and empathic, almost one might say empty of self. This quality allows her to see and capture everyday magic. She photographed my daughters wedding, and also did a photo set for me personally. The photos exceeded my hopes and expectations, it is as though she perceived an essence in the environment as well as the subjects which was felt but is rarely captured. I have used my photographs in my business as a psychotherapist, and my clients are delighted by them, and my family both close and extended were thrilled at receiving. As she is is in the act of photographing a sense of presence, and love is tangible. It's a great joy to work with her and the value is outstanding. - Ram Jyoti
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Soul Portrait is a photographic ceremony for those standing at a threshold — the moment when the old images no longer fit.
It is for the healer launching new work, the leader stepping into deeper visibility, the mother entering a new season, and the woman simply ready to be seen as she truly is. Rooted in somatic wisdom and sacred witnessing, Soul Portrait rebuilds your visibility from the inside out, transforming image into remembrance, and seeing into devotion. Every image is guided, devotional, and alive with your story.
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Because beauty lives at the speed of trust. Most photographers are trained to direct, to pose, to perform. Somatic Photography is a trauma-informed approach that cares for the nervous system, and invites you to listen, to yield, to guide from the body rather than the brain.
This is not about shooting faster, or fixing body postures, it’s about creating sessions that attune, connect and regulate, instead of override. When you slow down, you attune. When you attune, you see truth. And when you see truth, healing happens.
A somatic approach rewires the rhythm of a session. It transforms the power of a photography experience. You stop capturing moments; you start holding thresholds of beauty.
Soul Portrait was never just about light. It has always been about the breath of life.
Welcome to the Soul Portrait Temple.
Welcome to the Soul Portrait Temple.
Soul Portrait is a photographic ceremony for women at thresholds, moments when the old images no longer fit. Rooted in somatic wisdom and sacred witnessing, this work rebuilds your visibility from the inside out.
RESONANCE IS REQUIRED.