Jenna’s Archive: Justina Blakeney’s Jungalicious LA Home

*Justina Blakeney and family, at home in LA. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

I first met Justina in 2014 at an entertaining story photo shoot / party that I was producing. I was busy setting up, and glanced over to see this magnificent woman walking in wearing the most fabulous outfit I had ever seen - dashiki-esque, pattern on pattern, so much color and style and authenticity amidst a crowd wearing the standard fashion event neutral / black summer cocktail attire (self included, because I had yet to feel comfortable enough in my own skin to dress how I wanted to). I immediately asked my friend Desa who this woman was, because I needed to know her. After a brief introduction and some dinner conversation, Justina was officially on my radar. About a year later, I asked if I could photograph her office for MyDomaine (part of Clique Brands, where I was working in house at the time) and got to spend the day in her world. For the first time in my entire career, I knew I was shooting something that felt authentic to all the things I loved. The Jungalow brand was growing, and I was enamoured by the free, bohemian style, the colors, the textures, all of it. It was as if everything that was in my mind exploded onto Justina’s digital canvas. I fell in love with those photos, and they were one of my first proper tours I ever shot!

After I went freelance, we stayed in contact following each other on Instagram, orbiting indirectly in each other’s worlds, exchanging comments from time to time, maintaining the digital friendship so many of us are used to these days in our hyper connected world. I kept an eye on everything she was doing, admiring her ability to be authentically herself in everything she does, and found that every time I scrolled Instagram, I bookmarked something Jungalow. In my mind, she was my dream client, and I held out hope that we’d get to work together eventually, even though she was loyal to her photographer that she’d been working with for years. Fast forward to 2021, when she finally reached out to see if I would shoot her fall Target campaign, and we’ve been working together ever since - she is every bit the dream client I knew she would be, the entire Jungalow team is magic, and I’m grateful to call her a friend!

*Justina Blakeney’s Lanai. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

Now - onto our AD shoot - I began shooting regularly for Architectural Digest at the end of 2019, but was only shooting digital until the end of 2021, when I started shooting for print. One of my ultimate goals has always been to shoot the cover of AD, but I figured I’d need to pay my dues to get to that point so I wasn’t sure when it would happen. Then in early 2022 AD emailed me to see if I wanted to shoot Justina’s new home, and told me it was going to be a cover, and I’ve never been so excited! I got to pop my AD cover cherry with Justina!!!! Our shoot was scheduled for early April, to give Justina and her crew enough time to finish the remodel she’d been working on. Halfway through March, I got super sick, and my autoimmune flared up, and I was so worried I wasn’t going to be able to shoot the cover, but there was no way in hell I was going to let my autoimmune issues keep me from one of my life goals. I was so determined that I cancelled everything on my calendar until then, and actually learned how to properly rest and take care of myself for the first time in my life (rest is not my strong suit). Autoimmune can be a blessing in disguise - my boundaries surrounding my health are MUCH stronger now, and my body works much better now too! My sister flew out to help me, Jordan, my emotional / physical support assistant (who is more like family after working together through a pandemic) was on set with me, and Justina knew about what was going on with me physically at the time, so she reminded me to take breaks. And the rest, as they say, is history!

Unsurprisingly, this is hands down one of my favorite shoots. I could continue on a love letter to Justina, but I’ll just let the photos speak for themselves because Justina is a master and this home is so full of magic!

*Justina Blakeney’s entryway. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s office. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney at home in LA. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s primary bedroom. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s primary bathroom. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s dining room. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s powder bathroom. Wallpaper by Jungalow. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s bookshelves and wet bar. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s living room. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s family band. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

*Justina Blakeney’s kitchen. Photo by Jenna Ohnemus Peffley for Architectural Digest*

Fun fact: The morning of day one of the shoot, this kitchen wasn’t finished. Delays in permits and shipping pushed everything back on schedule. They were just plastering the hood, the appliances weren’t in, and nothing worked when we took these photos!! We were all a little nervous, but we made magic happen and I’ll always remember the way it came together at the last minute. Also, there’s a drip system to water the plants on top - one of the most genius things I’ve ever seen! Justina cares for her plant babies dearly.

Jenna’s Archive: Justina Blakeney’s Jungalicious LA Home

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