If you've followed me on other forms of social media since April or May, you have seen my complaints about not working, not shooting, feeling as though I had wasted my time moving. I had assisted, my now good friend, and amazingly talented stylist, Ani on a few shoots. I also worked on and assisted shoots with my good friend, Lisbeth, another amazingly talented stylist. However, when you're used to being top dog and working on big projects, that's what you do and nothing less. After a while, a photographer I have worked with before, Tak (HT Pixels) contacted me to shoot two editorials. When he presented the concepts, I immediately dismissed one, it was a little boring for my taste. I love finery, beauty, glamour, and drama. One of the stories was quite the opposite.
Both stories were for Z!NK Magazine, I acquired the information through working with another photographer (another story for another day, but most likely in person).
The idea behind this particular story was inspired by an old Gucci campaign where they projected different vanities around the models in the scene. The story started off as just very simple wardrobe, by which I mean, flirty minimalist designed dresses, with maximalist ideas. For that inspiration, Tak sent over Dolce and Gabbana inspiration. However, one thing I'm know for is taking a look at a mood board, saying screw it, and doing what I want. I don't know if that's always the best thing, but that's been me all my life. Again, another story, but most likely we should talk about that in person.
My thought process after I saw the shoot, immediately shifted because I had seen The Great Gatsby. I had read the book prior to, but it had been a while. The movie reinvigorated my inspiration for the shoot because I was drawing a complete blank. I was immediately researching the glamour of Gatsby. I wanted to recreate the luxury and nonchalance of those society women, but mix it with a noir edge. I'm completely obsessed with all things sexy, maybe one of the reasons I count prostitutes as a source of inspiration.
When I began pulling I constructed a list of about 50 showrooms that I wanted to pull from, but only ended up pulling from 27, and ended up with around 34 different brands on my shoot. That was a world away from my last serious shooting, where I had pulled from maybe 5 or 6 designers and my racks weren't even full.
The outcome was a 6 page spread for the Fall Fashion Issue of Zink Magazine featuring brands that I've long admired. Here are a few of the images, you can always go to my website, http://raymondgee.com, and let me know what you think.
(Amanda in Helen Yarmak, Houghton Brandon Sun, and Emm Kuo)
[Clara(L) in Mathieu Mirano, Helen Yarmak, and Charlotte Olympia; Amanda (R) in Helen Yarmak, Brandon Sun, and United Nude]
I want to take a moment to thank my team. They were amazing, every last one of them, seeing that we did two shoots that day, and this was the latter shoot. They all worked extremely hard during this shoot and I feel that we had an amazing product, one that I'm quite proud to include in my portfolio.
Photography: HT Pixels
Hair: Kia Sterling
Makeup: Maria Ortega
Styling Assistants: Rachel Addison and Angelina Scantlebury
Models: Amanda @ Major & Clara @ Fenton Moon
