Here's what's happenin'.
First and foremost: I'M A FINALIST FOR THE PHOTOGRAPHER POSITION AT SHAMELESS!!!!! Yep, yep! I'm 1 of 5 who made it to the last round of interviews! It's another Skype interview, but this time I'll be talking to both of the ladies who run the company, and it'll be this Monday evening at 6:30. I'll make sure to let you know how it went as soon as I can! Wish me luck!
Secondly, some news on the photoshoot front. So I've been doing my best to learn from my mistakes from the first shoot, and this time I'm going with people I've either worked with before, or who have been recommended to me. The hair stylist from the last shoot said she's down, Dana's in too, but the makeup stylist from last time is trying to only do paid gigs now (a bummer, but I can't blame her), so I'll need to find someone else for that. As far as wardrobe goes, there's a girl who was actually recommended to me for the first shoot, but she was in it for the first couple of rounds of scheduling and postponing, and then she got busy and dropped out. From our email correspondences, she seems like a cool chick (and sane, so there's a plus), and her work is phenomenal. I've been following the shoots she's been on from Facebook, and I know that if I had her on my team, my work would definitely go up a level.
The issue I'm currently facing is that she has more professional experience and connections than I do, and since this isn't a paid gig, she's hoping for a little more than I'm able to deliver at this point. I do have great expectations for this shoot, and I have every intention of submitting some of the selects to magazines (the usual Vogue Italia and Popular Photography, plus some new additions including En Vie, Installation, 125, and Papercut). But after hearing that this shoot wasn't specifically for a publication, she asked if I would be able to get a pull letter from one of the magazines I want to submit to.
To understand what a pull letter is, you first have to understand what it is, exactly, that wardrobe stylists do. Besides having a keen eye for fashion, a wardrobe stylist needs to be able to form relationships with fashion houses and designers, and when they are hired for a shoot, they spend hours of research to find the best outfit and accessories for the concept, and then contact the designer's PR team directly for permission to "pull" those items for the shoot. So unlike us regular folk who would have to go out and buy the thing, only to return it later if we wanted to just use it once for a shoot, wardrobe stylists build a reputation within the fashion community and build trust so that they can have this agreement to take the items and use them for the shoot, provided that they return them on time and in the condition they were in when they took them. A pull letter, therefore, is an official letter from a publication (such as Vogue Italia or any other magazine) that a wardrobe stylist can submit to a fashion house which states in advance that the pictures from the shoot are intended for publication, and that ensures that the designer will be featured in it, provided that they allow the stylist to pull from their showroom.
So here's the problem. The only two publications that I have any history with are Vogue Italia and Popular Photography. The other magazines have no idea who I am (so it's very unlikely that they'd provide me with a pull letter). Popular Photography is not a fashion magazine, so even if they were willing/able to write one, it wouldn't hold much weight. And as for Vogue Italia... I've had 4 pictures published in PhotoVogue, which is cool, but Vogue Italia is a big fish, and I am way too small-time to expect them to write a pull letter for me. So the best I can do is compile all the details I possibly can on the shoot (this could include, but is not limited to inspiration shots, concept description, pictures of the models, location details, shoot date, wardrobe pieces we intend to use, makeup ideas, hair ideas, etc.), and basically send those along with a plea to all the magazines I intend to submit to, on the off chance that one of them even bothers to read through it all and gives us the benefit of the doubt. See, that's what's so hard about this industry--you have to have well established connections to get anything done, and you can't get well established connections without going through well established connections. It's a catch-22.
Anyway, I hope that the obvious fact that I'm a newbie doesn't deter her from working with me. I suppose I couldn't blame her if it did... but I really need this.
This turned out to be longer than I anticipated, but before I sign off, I'd just like to give you a little preview of what I have in mind for the shoot.
A lot of my work thus far has been very colorful and feminine, and this time I'd like to try something with more edge. I'll be working with Pam from H 0 L E S (remember those glasses from a few entries ago?), so those will be the focal point accessory, but the general look I'll be going for is high contrast, with a focus on shape and form. I'm hoping to be able to use Jonah's rooftop as our location because it's got a kind of industrial aesthetic with a fantastic view of the city. I'd like to have two models, and as for wardrobe, I want something all black and severe, with a high neck and long sleeves. Maybe something with bold shoulders (I always love bold shoulders). Something like a combination of these:
As for hair, this is going to be a little hard to describe, but there's a kind of shiny black latex tape that's 6-7 inches wide, and I'd like to get some of that and have it wrapped completely around the models' heads and necks (leaving their faces exposed, of course), with the hair pinned flat underneath so you just get the contour of the head. I couldn't find a picture that shows exactly what I have in mind, but this'll at least give you an idea of the material:
And for the makeup, that's a toughie, because the eyes will be covered with these most of the time:
But I was thinking of doing something along the lines of this:
So something strange and dramatic, with a nude lip and strong contouring.
So yeah, that's what I've got so far. I think this has the potential to be a really great shoot if I get the right team, but I'm going to face additional challenges when looking for models. Since the models will be nearly unrecognizable under all the costuming and the glasses and so forth, this isn't the kind of shoot that's good for your first time reaching out to a modeling agency because they'll want you to give them work that's actually useable for their book before you go crazy. But the fact that the faces will be largely hidden makes it all the more important to find models who know what they're doing, because if you don't have your face to rely on, you need to make sure you can go the extra step and really communicate with your body. That's not something that a newbie is likely to know how to do. It might be possible to kill two birds with one stone and attempt to do both the normal portfolio book portraits and the crazy stuff in one day, but you risk burning everyone out, and you also risk the possibility that you won't put enough into the regular portraits to make you memorable to the modeling agency (since that's mainly what you'll be submitting to them later anyway).
As usual, I'm overthinking things and getting too ambitious... I just hope it doesn't bite me in the butt this time. Cross your fingers.
Hookay, signing off now. Sorry for the false hope on the "short entry" thing. Goodnight, y'all.
