It’s been a while since I’ve done one of these posts, but since my shoots are getting quite elaborate again, I think it’s nice to explain some of my thought process behind this shoot, how the outfit, location and vision were chosen and created.
To start off, this shoot was based of an Elle Vietnam December 2015 shoot called Rebel Couture and it was shot on the streets of New York with a girl done up in punk hair and make-up in couture clothing. I loved the shoot and it’s been on my inspiration list for a few months so I was always going to be doing my own take on it. I knew I couldn’t and wouldn’t be going as heavy-duty on the hair and make-up as the original, so I toned it down and kept it a bit more street-style in nature.
Once the dress was chosen the rest of the outfit fell into place pretty easily. Most of the pieces I ended up using were old pieces already in my closet so it meant I didn’t have to research and find matching pieces. the fingerless gloves were an afterthought that were only chosen when I found an old image and realised I still had them. The shoes were a last-minute change to the planned outfit as biker boots are really hard to find in the summer. I could have gone with the Doc Martins like in the Elle Vietnam shoot, but to be honest my legs are too short to pull them off successfully.
For the location I wanted something architecturally strong and complex and because I liked the idea of doing a very urban shoot, I wanted to shoot it among skyscrapers and office buildings. While Elle Vietnam was shot on the street interacting with the everyday, I wanted my location to be impressive, full of steel and unusual shapes. That’s why the Lloyds building in the City of London was perfect with its cylinders, weird stairwells and lots of pipes running along the outside of the building. It also gave off such a strong blue tone in the shots it really contrasted well with the yellow of the street lights.
Ultimately what I ended up with was something completely different from the source material that inspired it, but a great shoot none the less. The shoot was after-all about the location and the ASOS dress, so much so that not much else was needed. I do think I should have done the punk hair for this shoot, but for whatever reason I just couldn’t get the right hair extensions needed for the shoot. I will definitely have to try it for a future shoot, because the hair in Elle Vietnam is amazing.
So that’s how we ended up with the shoot and the image below is a little behind-the-scenes of me putting on the heels for the shoot and showing way too much cleavage. 😛 Hope you liked this post.
