Dreams of the Sisters.
TALES OF IMAGERY #4
Welcome back to the Tales of Imagery series, and in this post I’ll be looking back at a photoshoot from 2012, titled Dreams of the Sisters.
While I was getting my footing in the world of fashion and portraiture, I worked predominantly with just one model at a time. It was usually more efficient, meaning that things could be more spontaneous, and allowed me to get a lot of shoots done with little preparation. This was a great way to learn on the job, so to speak, but as I became more invested in the craft, I wanted to push myself to create more interesting images, to put together more elaborate shoots, and to work with more people in the field, not only multiple models, but also hair stylists, make-up artists, clothing stylists, and designers. The first time this all came together for me was in August of 2012. I had been shooting for just over a year, and had a good bit of experience by then, but the prospect of setting up something bigger was still a daunting, especially as the photographer, who has to realise the vision of everyone involved. I had worked with make-up artists multiple times on shoots, and occasionally individual designers up to this point, but it was my first time working with a clothing stylist and a second model. As I say, a little daunting, but I was already familiar with half of the team, so that helped a lot.
For this shoot, I wanted to make use of a location that I’d had in mind for a long time. Not only had I shot there once before, but I had also visited many times - this being the Grange in the riverside town of Lewes. Much of my mothers side of the family grew up and lived in and around the area, so the town has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember, and it was lovely to create something there with part of the town as the backdrop. With the location in mind, I reached out to a stylist I had heard of in the hopes of setting up a collaboration, this being the very talented Maria. After suggesting some ideas and conveying the tone of images I wanted to create, she got to work sourcing several looks from various designers and brands. As she was busy with this, I got in touch with a fantastic make-up artist I had worked with previously called Angela. After getting her on board, it was just a case of finding a pair of models. I immediately knew I wanted to involve the wonderful Stephanie, who I had shot with three times prior to this, and it was her who suggested the lovely Layla, who I ended up working with several times after - most prominently on our Wayward Flame shoot a year later, which I have already written about here.
With everyone on board, and everything in place, we arranged a time and a day. It was August, as I have mentioned, and it was a particularly good summer, if I recall. The sun was shining, and everything seemed set for a great shoot - which worked out well, as it was the day before my birthday, so I inevitably spent it editing photos… which was a favourite pastime of mine back then (luckily). After getting off the train in Lewes mid morning, I walked up to the Grange and met with the others, and as they got hair, make-up, and clothing ready, I scouted about the place in order to find appropriate locations for each look. Quite often on shoots, the entire act is seen as some kind of public disturbance, and many times I've run into trouble with the police, passers by, homeowners, or just plain nosey people, each of whom think taking photos in a certain place is some kind of terrible crime. I was expecting some kind of altercation such as this, as just the week prior on another shoot I had been cautioned by the police for shooting in one of the Royal Parks in London. Amazingly however there were no such annoyances this time, and all I had to watch out for was sunburn and bees. Everything went well for the most part in the end, but one disappointment was that one of my cameras malfunctioned - this being my Bronica ETRSi. I eventually managed to get to use this camera on subsequent shoots, but it was a shame to miss out on the chance to use it with such a great set up. These things happen though, and that’s why it’s always a good idea to have more than one camera with you (I usually took at least three, and that might explain my occasional back aches). As luck would have it, my main camera remained functional - this being the Canon 5D Mk2, which was my primary camera for the majority of my time shooting fashion.
I often think back to these times and wonder how I would direct the models differently, or how I would change the framing or whatever, but at the time I was very proud of these images, and I really felt as though I had upped my game a bit. My photography improved over time, of course (I also took many, far worse photos), but looking back at these I'm still proud of them - I definitely think I could have gotten more out of the situation, especially with some of the latter looks of the day, for which I struggled a little to keep my creativity up. As I said though, I hadn’t been shooting all that long by then, and I had a lot to learn. Thinking about these kinds of shoots has me tempted to take up portraiture again though... maybe one day.
As I mentioned in my previous post, I always tried to get my work published somewhere. Each shoot was an opportunity to get new eyes on my work and to make connections with others in the field. All of that was with the hope of creating bigger and better photoshoots. More often than not I was very lucky with where the images ended up, and quite often the work was given a generous allotment of pages in whatever magazine I submitted. With this one though, it was a bit of a struggle to find a home for it at first, but it was eventually accepted for a magazine called Atlas in their winter of 2012 issue with a 10 page spread.
Here’s to the wonderful folk who brought this shoot together, Maria, Angela, Stephanie, and Layla, as well as those responsible for creating the garments we used, Nikita Karizma, Z-Mode, Tamzine Lillywhite, Marina Qureshi, American Apparel, and Mista. A bit more of my fashion portraiture can be seen over on my website, although in a bid to save a bit of money I’ve had to swap to a much reduced version of it - still worth a look though, and I might update it again at some point with more images.
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