Man of Structure Editorial in Fault Magazine
This editorial is all about compromise and going with the flow.
If you’ve read a lot of my blog posts, you know that I put a lot of planning into my shoots. I work with mood boards to communicate my vision to the create team. I decide on location before the shoot. We discuss any special effects or other requirements of the shoot. This shoot, however, was quite different than usual.
*You can see the images here on Fault Magazine‘s site with a list of all the credits to the designers.
My amazing stylist Lisa and I had done a shoot together a few days prior and we had some fantastic clothing that had not gotten used for that shoot (some were used, some didn’t end up fitting the theme, etc). So we decided to do another men’s editorial together, yet this one didn’t really have the planning I’m used to. I showed up with my creative team at her apartment in Harlem and walked around the vicinity to scout some cool locations. Harlem has many great locations with a lot of character. Streets, fences, churches, parks, stoops, etc. I liked all the locations, but nothing seemed to quite fit for me.
Our model, Conner, got in his first outfit and I photographed him heavily backlit near an interesting textured wall just down the street. The shot was good, but not great. It didn’t fit my style as much as I would like. To me, the image wouldn’t really jump off the page. As we were walking back, I noticed another building that Lisa had pointed out to me. It was a State Office building… a giant light colored structure with fascinating patterns of highlights and shadows. I saw it and my mouth dropped. I had to shoot there.
Of course, shooting in a State Office Building is not easy, especially without a permit. In order for the editorial to feel cohesive, the entier piece would have to be shot there. We decided to give it a shot anyway. I would stand far back from the structure (100ft sometimes) with a long lens (70-200mm 2.8) and isolate the subject against the background. In fact, in many images Conner didn’t even need to stand close to the structure because my long lens compressed the subject with the background. Eventually the security guard did see us, but seemed to have no problem with our presence so we kept on shooting!
The result, in my opinion, was striking. Its a men’s editorial that I always wanted to have in my portfolio. Its graphic. Its bold. Its eye-catching.
This editorial appeared in Fault Magazine. I have another editorial appearing in their Spring print issue that comes out in March, so I’ll be sure to update you then! I hate having to wait so long for shoots to come out, particularly because I love this one!
No comments:
Post a Comment