Down the Rabbit Hole: Escape to the World of Fashion Photography |
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| Written by Christopher Massardo |
| Wednesday, 19 August 2009 00:00 |
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I see it happen all the time on set when I style photo shoots. I meet a female model and at that moment she seems to be the nicest and most pleasant girl. Her soft blonde hair and wonderful frame and bone structure are inspiring to somebody like me because anything I put her in, she simply looks amazing. She's taken away for make-up and then re-appears "edged out" with shadowy eyes, teased hair, neutrally editorial lips -- and her eyes cut into you. Her posture, I notice, changes. By the way she walks, I can see she's already in character, and I still haven't styled her. She puts on the jeans, no shirt, just a leather jacket, four-inch black heels -- and she looks like she could go three rounds with your boyfriend, let alone kill it on a runway. That's the magic of fashion, turning a girl who minutes ago looked as sweet as your little sister into a woman who looks untouchable. So what precisely is it about the clothing, the make-up and the hair that transforms women (and men) into totally different people for that moment on the inside? I think that very idea brings attention to the fact that it's not as easy to be a model as most people imagine. Could you be a different person everyday? Have to please a different boss every job?
To a certain degree, non-fashion people do engage in some of this behaviour in a more everyday sense -- your attire changes who you are and how you act. When a woman wears her blouse and skirt to work, she acts much differently than when she's at home showing her significant other her newly purchased and, might I add, provocative lingerie. Small children do it in the most obvious sense, submitting to the compulsion to play dress-up. So -- the difference between a pleasant-looking girl and a total bitch could be her attire? Am I wrong? Maybe to some degree but not entirely. Now you can call me a total nerd for the following example -- that's fine, I accept who I am -- but what makes Bruce Wayne go from to the superhero Batman? It's his clothes, that fantastically tight, Alexander McQueen-esque bat suit, that makes him so dark and tortured looking. This example reminds me of a shoot I did, a test for a new model with a local agency. The young man seemed somewhat shy at first, he had the look of a younger Ralph Lauren model -- and at the time I couldn't see him really fitting any look outside of that. He didn't strike me right away as a natural kind of model and was not at all inspiring at first. I'm sure you noticed I said "at first" more than once -- and for good reason. Between myself, the art director and the make-up/hair artist, we decided to attempt a dark, sort of glam rocker look. At first I was hesitant to try this look on the model; I wasn't sure it would suit him. I was very quickly proven wrong. As the hair, make-up and clothes were selected, tried and decided on, I was awed by the transformation. We went to the set and the photographer positioned him, reiterated the concept and explained what we wanted for the final outcome. The photographer began clicking his camera and the model began to move. This young man, it turned out, could absolutely move for the camera and was a lot more natural and fluid than I had predicted. His attitude would change from brooding to cocky to mysterious with a glance and a movement of his body.
His body language suited the mood perfectly and then to find out this young man's age (which I won't reveal) struck a cord as his maturity and understanding of the task and concept at hand was different then a lot of the male models I had worked with before. I like being proven wrong at times because it can really help you as an artist. I saw this model and didn't think he could pull this look off; I was wrong and being wrong added some amazing work to my portfolio. Trusting the vision of others can really do something for you, especially in the business of fashion. Female Images Model: Laura K @ CoverModels Management Ottawa
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