vanina
One of my first ever model tests. Shot in my friend studio in a railway arch, hidden on a cobbled path behind Cambridge Heath station. In fact the next arch along was a scooter repair business, but the open secret was that it was the destination for a lot of the phone snatchers. If you’ve lived in London, that’ll make sense. Not really sure if its true or not but it seemed believable.
Vanina was an experienced model who I think took pity on the young photographer in front of her. I hadn’t learnt to plan very far ahead at this point in my career. I didn’t really understand styling at this point so I had just asked her to bring some clothes, which she duly did but all creased. Luckily there was a steamer so I spent the first 30 mins steaming her clothes while we talked.
I wanted really natural feeling, airy lighting, which I almost achieved. Looking at them now, the light is a little bit too motivated and therefore artificial, but its not a bad effort. What added to the airy feeling was the use of the fan to blow the tassels of her shirt. Probably the first time I noticed that you can imply a feeling emotional in photography I reckon.
I do remember that one of my oldest friends was in London this day so he came to watch me shoot and give me a hand. When we went home everyone couldn’t believe he’d been on an actual photoshoot and seen an actual live model. It felt good to feel like what I did was cool and interesting
