Cate and I planned something gentle that reflected the person she is. Nothing big, nothing produced, just her in a coffee shop on an afternoon where the light was doing its thing.

She's an artist and an environmental activist, and honestly this ended up being one of my favorite shoots to talk through, because a lot of it was genuine conversation.

We met at a warm little cafe in Chicago. Brick walls, soft pendant lights, americanos and espresso tonics on the menu, people tapping on laptops around us.

She told me about her work, the kind of activism that lives outside of hashtags, the type that asks more of you than it gives back. At some point we slipped into Spanish, because she's fluent in it from the months she spent traveling across South America.

That kind of travel changes a person, and you can see it in how she carries herself. She's grounded, curious and care about things that really matter.