BEING CALLED HOME

Blue hour, just after the sun sets. The air is cool and nostalgic of a time when you were younger and held less conviction; the streets rough on the smooth curve of your feet. ‘Being Called Home’ is a near-monochromatic happy accident that occurred because of a pause in movement, luck of location, and pure fucking coincidence.

THE IDEA:

When Danny and I first talked about shooting together, I had a singular portrait photo in mind. It involved a martini glass, some olives, and an androgynous face. Since chopping off my hair, creating art has been more fun for me than it ever has. The shapes I can make with my body and a given space is fucking incredible. Now that exposed neck and jaw line are tools in my belt, I’ve been itching to use them in a more dynamic, simple-yet-punch-to-the-face kind of way. As I was packing for the shoot, I decided to curate a few outfits that made sense, and some that were a bit of a stretch. This happened to be a stretch, because…

THE OUTFIT:

The sweater doesn’t fit. Well, it does, but the turtleneck is fucking insanely tight and ruins any effort you put into your makeup or hair as it makes it’s way up or down your body. And, to tell the whole truth, it’s kind of a bland top when it’s all the way on — it’s itchy, hot, and didn’t make a convenient prop in the middle of Florida Summer.

But the color practically married that of the pants, so I thought, “what if it isn’t meant to go all the way on?”. The dynamic movement of putting on a too-tight shirt was already something interesting that I have played with in the past, and would be able to easily make art out of again. This sweater had been thrifted with the sole intention of using it for a shoot, and this happened to be it’s shining debut. To match the undressed energy, going shoeless seemed like the way to go.

The pants: teal trousers from H&M, purchased for the candy store shoot I did with Kyle (@queencuck) and Nijah (@nijahstevens) months prior. The amount of times that these have been thrown in my ‘donate’ pile is embarrassing. But the color! The color of them was too good to ever part with. Fun fact: these pants are like, two sizes too big, so throughout both shoots I tied together the back belt loops with an old sock. To pose with it, I made sure my hand was on my far hip in any back-exposed shots.

THE STYLING:

I kept my makeup generally the same as my day-to-day, but added a bit more shadow to my lids than normal. I wanted to be perceived as both ‘beautiful’ and ‘handsome’, depending on what angle you were seeing me at. A bit more furrow in my brow, and no jewelry.

Earlier in the day, I had already coincidentally scheduled a hair trim with Amanda (@stylistamandaelaine), who is also a local creative, photographer, and artist. To achieve the ‘slicked back’ style, I asked her to give me an almost nineties-androgynous look versus the typical end-of-cut blow out. Amanda broke down the look on her most recent Instagram post:

I used @amika bombshell blowout spray saturated into her hair for tactile but not hard grip and a Denman brush to smooth hair back from wet to mostly dry. Then I used Got Grit dry shampoo paste for lift and texture, and detailed using my fingers and Headstrong hairspray for a sleek but not slick or fussy finish.

No other elements were needed to sell the style — since I wanted to focus on creating movement with my body, I needed hair and makeup that was forgiving and also held it’s space. Through three outfits and hours of shoot prep, this style held strong with little to no movement.

THE SHOT:

Like I said: this set was an accident. While I was sitting waiting for Nijah to get some lighting set up on Danny’s front porch, I realized that the colors of my outfit, the time of day, and the house across the street were all the dancing in the same color. I asked Danny if she’d be willing to shoot in the street, and she was totally game! Aside from having to move every few poses to let a car pass, I was successfully able to move through my flow without a single nip slip (a point in my book).

A pointer for fellow models trying to embody a fluid, less traditional posing flow: don’t stop. If it’s movement you’re trying to capture in a shot, you should be moving. Move through the flow you want to catch shapes of (in this case, putting on a shirt). Your movements should be slower than realistic, but exaggerated enough that the poses you’re making are dynamic and diverse. Push your elbows out far. Really pay attention to how you’re grabbing parts of the fabric. And don’t just do it once — put the shirt on, take it off. Put it on, take it off. Each time you move through your flow, your shapes will be different. Be aware of what parts of you are in frame, and be mindful of what every part of your body is doing. My biggest problem with posing shoeless is that I inherited a tendency to cross my toes when I stand (if you look at some of my older work, and even pieces now, you’ll notice it!). If I don’t do a full body scan mentally as I pose, I leave little things like that out.

A pointer to photographers: if your model has their posing flow down, focus on framing the shot really well. One of my biggest pet peeves is when my limbs are cut out of a shot unnecessarily. On top of that, feel free to give additive advice to their pose! “That pose is great, but pull your elbows wider and put more of a curve in your upper back.” We can’t see what we look like, especially when the poses are less structured. I would much rather have a photographer correct me, down to the smallest details, rather than get photos back and be thinking, “damn. if only I would have arched my back more / sucked in, lifted my chin.”

Even though this wasn’t planned, I was extremely happy with how these turned out. Danny did a fantastic job capturing the nostalgic and monochromatic mood with her edits. I’m grateful for Nijah for assisting on set and teaching Danny a few things with his 24 - 70 mm lens. It was a day of collaboration and good vibes — I was thrilled to add these to my portfolio.

What piece do you want me to deconstruct next? Let me know!