An orange backdrop, Black latex, raven black hair and confidence that will take you twice around the world are all the right ingredients for a series of fashion portraits of model Jolien that will make you go “Wauw!”. Jolien’s makeup was done by the lovely Beata and surely added to the final result.
These photos are just captivating and bring a whole new meaning to Orange Is The New Black.
From time to time I grow tired off shooting on white, grey or black backgrounds when working in my studio and then I go look for other possibilities. It turns out there are much more colors to life than just white, grey or black. All it takes is a big soft light, some shiny latex and the ever ravishing Shannety to turn my studio into a fiesta… And oh, maybe some orange and yellow backgrounds.
Back in the 80’s–the 1980’s that is–aerobics was a thing. And aerobics fashion was hot: pastel & neon colors, high-cut leotards, leg warmers, … When I came across this outfit from Blacklickorish, I knew I just had to shoot it. And, guess what: both Shannety and Jolien look damn hot in it.
And when they’re side-by-side in the studio, they look like sisters, very cute sisters!
My very 1st photo shoot with a model, Daria is her name, was way back in 2006. I met her on one of them platforms that brought models and photographers together; this was well before social media platforms like Instagram or Twitter even existed. It wasn’t always easy to find models back then. I remember it was a cold day in January when Daria and I did that shoot. And I also remember having a lot of fun that day. At the end of the day, I came home with a couple cool pics–like the one below–and thinking to myself that I should keep in touch with Daria, ’cause I would want to shoot again with her.
Unfortunately we lost touch until somewhere last summer when a mutual friend and photographer did a photoshoot with her and put me back in touch with her. It took us a little while to set a date for a new shoot, but 12 years after our 1st shoot, we found ourselves together in the studio for a new shoot. One that I hope is the 2nd of many.
Well, she’ll have to return to my studio, ’cause I promised her I would teach her to walk on ballet heels 😉
Well, that actually should say “Assisting a Friend” in the title of this article! ‘Cause my buddy Bart called a couple of days ago if I wanted assist him on a shoot he was putting together for an upcoming exhibition he was planning. We’re both experimenting with color gels. Isn’t every photographer doing that these days? Anyway, Bart and I bounced a couple of ideas back and forth, and we settle on a dark and moody themed shoot with color gels. Bart was gonna take care of finding a model and a make-up artist. I was gonna come up with outfit ideas.
Bart invited the lovely and talented Isabelle to the set as a model and he had make-up artist Michelle taking care of make-up. We did a couple of outfits and light setups and Bart & Isabelle were kind enough to let snap a couple of pics. Which do you prefer: green & orange or blue & orange?
I think I prefer the blue and orange setting…
As part of that shoot I had with Romi & Shannety early this year, I also shot some portraits of Romi in latex, leather and lingerie. She brought the leather and lace outfit, I added the black latex body suit from Catalyst Latex and the ballet heels from Kassiopeya from my own collection to the mix. Elem did an awesome job at the makeup. The red & blue color gels on my studio strobes did the rest.
I finished my photography year on a high with the shoot with Jolien. And I think I started 2018 on an even higher note with these 2: I am over the moon to have had Shannety and Romi in the studio together for a series of lingerie and latex duo shots. They’re back after the awesome reunion shoot of November last year. And we had just as much fun now as back in November.
Joined by the lovely makeup artist Elem, who did an awesome job btw, and with a clear vision for the latex pics, we worked until these rolled off the press. And we had a lot of fun in the process.
In case you’re wondering: the latex bodies are designed and manufactured by Catalyst Latex.
I’ve finished 2017 with a bang: working with the incredibly talented model Jolien is always a blast. It had been a while since we’ve seen each other and since we talked. So we had some catching up to do before, after and during the shoot. Worked all afternoon in a very relaxed atmosphere and turned out a couple of nice shots.
We did all that with the help of Shari, a very good make-up artist that Jolien brought on set. It was very nice to meet her and work with her. I’m hoping to collaborate with Shari some more in 2018. And with Jolien too, of course.
2017 was quite a good year for my photography. I decided to only work on TfP basis and only on projects I wanted to work on. It meant less photos, more time for fun, better planning, more learning and cooler photos. And I had the good fortune to meet a very talented make-up artist that I get along with very well.
The result is a 4 minute video reel with the highlights of my collaborations with model Shannety and make-up artist Elem. Well, actually, this video covers about a year and a half of working with these 2 lovely ladies. But who’s complaining?
And yup, I taught myself to basic video editing in Apple iMovie and Adobe Photoshop.
I would like to thank everyone who lent us a helping hand on our shoots.
Model: the amazing Shannety.
(Most) Makeup: the very talented Elem Durmaz.
Music: Cosmic Storm by A Himitsu.
All photography and editing by myself.
I picked up some latex lingerie from William Wilde at the autumn sale. Perfect for a quick shoot with Shannety. 2 outfits that mix and match with other stuff in my collection. They’ll come in handy on future projects.
