I met with a model and a makeup artist for a shoot. We got together to experiment with a thing or two. We had sent each other some inspiration photos to make sure we were on the same page with the style of the shoot. We met at my warehouse studio, which sadly, I won’t have access to after Dec 31 so I’ll be on the hunt for a new space. I set up my stuff and the makeup artist, Catie Friel, got started making her magic.
I called this session “Descent into Madness” because even though we didn’t plan it this way, after looking at the photos, it was clear that there was an emotional transformation happening. Practically speaking, you always have a transformation during the session when it’s the first time you are working with a team as the model gets more comfortable with you and you as the photographer figure out what ways the model needs to be directed. But what was great about this model, Nikki Fontana, was that she truly embraced the makeup transformation and totally went with what we were asking her to do. After reflecting on the photos, it really seemed like a story:
Girl shows up looking lovely for a date with her boyfriend. Some back and forth and maybe some flirting and then boy dumps girl. Girl is distraught. Can’t understand what just happened. Starts looking at herself wondering what did I do and then, after a good deal of crying, smears her makeup across her face in a self-loathing kind of move. The last photo. She has calmed, remnants of her emotion still streaming across her face, but her look of reflection – looking up into the light – ready to get a hold of herself and move forward.
I know, a little over the top. But here’s the thing. Over the last few years I’ve seen a bunch of marriages fall apart around me. I’m 39 so I guess I’m at that age. This seems to be the pattern, from the female perspective I’ve seen. You wonder what happened, you blame yourself, you fall apart and then…you realize that you’ll survive and even thrive and you move forward. Even though I’m still happily married, I very much feel for the women going through this. I guess this is my little homage to those have been through it.
I shot this session with a Canon EOS 5D Mark II 21.1MP Full Frame CMOS Digital SLR Camera (Body Only)
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