On Friday I was lucky enough to have a shoot with local up-and-coming model Jude Wright, who I've been dying to set up a shoot with as soon as I spotted her a few months ago in a friend's images. We re-shot a few of the images I took a couple of a weeks ago, re-working them and playing with the lighting as well as working with several new dresses.

The first dress we shot with was the same Georgie Gilbert dress as the previous shoot. We revamped the photos by upping the brightness and creating a much more pastel background, whilst keeping Jude bright and sharp. I then used the texture of the dress to add a border to the photos, which works beautifully and really highlights the busy pattern of the dress.

The next dress we photographed was designed by NUCA fashion design student Lizzie Grant. Lizzie's dress was inspired by Japanese kimonos, visible through the beautiful drape of the fabric and loose-fitting, free-flowing arms. Lizzie's dress has taken the traditional perception of a kimono, however, and adapted it to a modern market - tight-fitting and skin-baring, the dress is both comfortable to wear as well as casting a gorgeous, feminine silhouette. We shot with lilac and pink gels on the lights, and again bordered the image using a texture from within the garment itself; this enhances the elegance of the garment, and adds an overall mood to the photograph - whilst the previous dress was busy with pattern, this dress is simple and dainty. 

The final dress we photographed was a 60's prom dress I managed to pick up from my local charity shop for £6. I've been wanting to photograph with it since I bought it, and finally had the opportunity in my shoot on Friday. On Halloween it acted as my 'zombie prom queen' outfit, so we decided to bring out the pouting moodiness once again and make a couple of quite melancholy - though beautiful - images.

Big thanks to Jude for this shoot, and to Becca Mitton for helping with (aka being in charge of) the lighting. I now have a series of works by around 4 fashion students, and so for the end of this short term I'm going to be working on a very small NUCA Fashion Design A/W 2012 Lookbook zine to display this work. Keep your eyes peeled! 

For my latest project I have decided to look at fashion photography, and using it as a tool to showcase the work of the designer specifically as opposed to an over-the-top set or the celebrity of the model. First up in this series is the work of 3 NUCA Fashion Design students, and their end-of-year work from their first year at university. After talking, discussing ideas and sharing inspiration over the summer we had very specific ideas for what we wanted to get out of the photoshoots, and from circus themes to a tie-dye background we spent the entire afternoon arranging lighting, posing models and battling 6-foot-tall pieces of polystyrene wrapped in reflective material. This is only the first of many photoshoots, however, and the images will become more refined as I practice my technique. 

For the first-year's end of year work they were given the brief of creating a collaboration between the work of a design house and that of a high-street brand, and to create a garment representing this. I began with the work of Jess Long, who had chosen to combine the work of 'quirky chic' designer label Miu Miu with the on-trend high street store River Island. Taking inspiration from clowns and the circus, Jess's dress takes elements of many of the recent summer trends; from bold polka-dots to heavily-contrasting colours, to a wide, ruffled collar, the dress is almost surreal in its nature. The material used to create the garment adds a softness to the photograph as a whole, despite the harsh blacks of the polkadots or the conflicting green and purple tones, and we chose to use soft lighting in the image both from the front and behind to add to this. 

Next was the work of Georgie Gilbert. Georgie's collaboration was between Mary katrantzou, who uses household objects as inspiration for her vibrant print designs, and Whistles, a high street store that caters for women seeking a feminine silhouette and classic cuts. Georgie took inspiration from the concept of afternoon tea and the structure of a teacup, and used these elements to create a soft and feminine floral dress that really compliments the wearer. For this photograph we used the soft, pastel colours in the dress and projected them onto the background to create a gradient that adds a dream-like nature to the image as a whole. 

Finally, we shot a simple test shot for designer Kristen Loveday. Kristen's project was based on a collaboration between a designer called Sybilla and the high street brand Coast, and she took inspiration from the work of painter Jack Vettriano. The work of Vettriano is filled with elegance, just as Kristen's dress is, but also contains an element of seduction. The deep v of the back reflects this seduction, as does the romantic and feminine drape of the material used. Kristen and I are currently in the process of setting up a location shoot to show off the retro vibe of the dress, and as such I should have more work to share on this blog very soon.

Catwalks at Graduate Fashion Week

Not only did my AAA pass at Graduate Fashion Week allow me to access a lot of areas that were out of bounds for the general public, it also meant that I could get into the catwalk shows as a member of the press, blag a front-row seat, and photograph away to my heart's content. The photos I took of the catwalks and the designs weren't going to be used on the official GFW blog, I knew that much, because there was already a designated photographer/writer team who were covering them. That meant that I could take as many photos as I wanted, but had to be careful; if I'd spent too much time away from my own designated tasks it would've looked like I was slacking off, and as a result I only went to 4 catwalk shows. Out of those 4 I only took photos at 3 - Salford, East London, and the university I was most impressed with design-wise and show-wise, UCA Rochester. These are my favourite photos from each show.

East London:

Salford:

  

UCA Rochester:

  

   

What I really liked about the work of the UCA Rochester students was the amazing diversity between all of the designers, and the amount of effort that appeared to have gone into not just the designs but the show itself. The catwalk show opened up in silence, with a faded milky light on the entrance to the catwalk. From the empty, sterile environment two figures emerged, dressed like scientists in white coats, and reached out for a row of coat hangers that had been suspended above the stage. Under the discerning gaze of the entire audience, they dressed the first model in his outfit, left the stage, and then - just like that - the music began, the lights intensified, and the models starting walking. Each set was something new, and brilliant. The decorations used to adorn the models was extremely imaginative, and every set of clothing had a perfectly apt song choice to accompany them down the catwalk. Not only that, the students had gone to the effort of creating a fashion magazine, which was placed on the seats of those in the front few rows, entitled Geist. I read through this magazine on the hour-long journey home, and was really impressed. From interesting case studies about unpaid interns, to androgynous fashion shoots, the magazine is well researched, well presented, and was very well received. It might have been because UCA Rochester was the last show I got to see before I came back to Norwich, but it really seemed like there was something special about the work I saw.

New Blog

This is my new photography blog, which is going to be updated with articles and pieces I've written about my work, projects and inspiration. I'll be updating with my first piece soon: I have two photoshoots tomorrow, one with the ever-wonderful Jessica Morfey who I have worked with once before but have been in contact with for around a year, and one with a first-time model Millie Farrant, who I scouted while taking photos at work. As well as this I attended the Norwich Lanes Fashion Night Out on Friday night, and am planning on writing a full article on the shops involved, featuring the images I shot. Several shops located down the Norwich Lanes were involved, with highlights including live tattooing, kitsch freebies, and new fashion lines being launched! Finally, I get my grades tomorrow for the last two projects completed for my university course, and, with this being the result of 3 months of hard work, I have my fingers crossed and will happily update as soon as I know how I've done. All I know is, whether the results are bad or good, I'm going to continue to strive for improvement.