Overview
Thimmy Story is the portfolio of Thimmy, a photographer and videographer based in Bandung who has worked professionally since 2012. The site shows his prewedding, graduation and other work, and makes it easy for a potential client to get in touch.
The challenge
A photographer's site has a built-in tension. The work has to carry the page, so the design cannot compete with the photos. But a blank white gallery looks like every other photographer, and it says nothing about the person behind the camera.
And there is a business goal under the aesthetics. For a freelancer, a visit that does not end in an inquiry is a missed booking. The brief was a clean, editorial site that feels personal, keeps the attention on images and video, and turns visitors into conversations.
Approach
I treated the site like a magazine spread, not a gallery. The home page is split: a large black-and-white portrait of Thimmy on one side, and the "Thimmy Story" wordmark, tagline and portfolio entry on the other. Black and white keeps the portrait from fighting the color work inside, and leading with his face makes it personal from the first second.
The palette is light and minimal with a single purple accent. One accent color is enough to give the site an identity, and it stays quiet next to photos shot in every kind of light.
Motion is where the videographer side comes through. GSAP drives the page transitions and reveals, giving the site a cinematic rhythm. I kept it to movement between and around content, never on top of the photos themselves.
What I built
- An editorial home page with the split portrait-and-wordmark layout.
- Photo and Video sections, each with its own navigation.
- An About section with Thimmy's story, and email, WhatsApp and Instagram as large, clear calls to action.
- A photo gallery grouped into Prewedding, Graduation and Others, browsed with carousel arrows.
- A details block with specialty, availability, experience and location, plus a dedicated contact page.
Contact first
The decision I would defend hardest is where the contact links sit. On most portfolios they live in the footer. Here they sit right next to the About text, as big buttons. Someone who has just read Thimmy's story and liked it is at the exact moment they might reach out, so that is where WhatsApp should be.
Why React and GSAP
React kept the sections and gallery as clean, reusable components. GSAP is the most precise tool I know for timeline-based motion, and a videographer's site deserves motion that feels edited rather than defaulted.
Outcome
Thimmy has a site that looks like his work and sounds like him. The photos lead, the motion adds a filmmaker's touch, and every path through the site ends one tap away from a message.