Transformation

People often ask me how I choose the models I want to work with. The answer is complex, but can basically be boiled down to one thing – gut instinct. I often see a model’s portfolio that has absolutely nothing worth looking at in it - cell phone photos, holiday snapshots, or just plain ol' bad shots by someone masquerading as a photographer (I once sent a message to a model that read, “You haven’t been properly photographed yet.” Never heard back from her…) but I’ll see some sort of a semblance of something there that I want to work with. Could be an innocence, a vulgarity, a willingness to transform, a “beauty” that appeals to my personal definition of beauty or just a great, expressive face. But my gut knows it. I’ve learned to try to not be seduced by other photographers’ interpretations when choosing a model. For instance, to fall in love with a model through a certain photograph denies the work the photographer/team/model did leading up to that particular moment. It also ignores the intervention of muse-like powers, supernatural spells and whatever the hell it is that makes “a perfect moment” perfect. That and the fact that I cannot do what that photographer did nor do I want to.

I like to take a model and transform her against type. I like to take a model who has never been properly attended to with make up, hair and styling and take her to that level and free her. Sometimes, the results can be amazing.

I worked with a young lady named Stoya the other evening who has a great, natural, beautiful face - one that doesn’t need any make-up, but BEGS you to experiment. My very good friend and patron, the extremely talented Martha Friedlander agreed to the task of doing three distinct looks for the shoot.

Martha and I know each other extremely well, and we certainly know each other’s idiosyncratic sensibilities. We know the code that we both speak. We also how to make each other’s work better.

So Martha asks me what I want and I say, “1st look – pretty. 2nd look – devil girl. 3rd look…” and she interrupts and says “smudgy mess” or something like that. Martha has just busted me. Am I that predictable? Yep…I have a series ongoing called “Smudge Girls” for god’s sake.

So she goes to work on “pretty,” calling me in when it’s appropriate for my input. When she calls me over the first time, Stoya is beautiful. The wardrobe in the first shot (a $944.00 Cerutti couture blouse) is a rich salmon color and Martha has shades of pinks and oranges on Stoya’s eyes and a perfectly matching shade of lip color applied. Her cheekbones pop, but in a perfectly natural way. It’s breathtaking.

I say, “Make it darker.” Martha looks at me sternly, but lovingly, and says that I need to learn to see things differently (or something). I shrug. She sighs and makes it all darker.

The end result is amazing. I take a couple of extreme close-ups for Martha and she is beaming.

I love a good healthy collaboration.

(Photo is of Martha transforming Stoya’s lovely face into “Devil Girl”)