Monday, November 4, 2013

An Early Frost - Victorian mourning in a modern world



This particular fashion story is inspired by the beautiful and (to modern senses) eerie tradition of post-mortem portraiture, which was popular in the mid-1800's to early 1900's. At this time in history, photographs of loved ones were rare, or non-existent - a concept almost unthinkable today with cameras built into our everyday devices and "selfies" posted daily for all the world to see. At one time, a post-mortem portrait might be the only memento a family would have of a loved one.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-mortem_photography

With this thought in mind I wanted to create a modern wintery fashion story based on this concept: modern young people, casualties of an "early frost", beautifully dressed, groomed and posed "naturally" in settings where they would appear almost alive... but not quite. The colour palette and fogged glass in-camera effect also contributed to making the images dreamy and wintery, like a frosty morning, sunlit, but not really enough to warm you.

Thanks so much to Amanda and Amy at Liz Bell for trusting my vision (or just feeling sorry for me!) and helping with the almost overwhelming obstacle of casting so many models for one shoot over multiple days when they would only have one image (with eyes closed) published. And much thanks  to Anna at Nobasura for also coming through with more models to add to the beauty and diversity of the shoot.

And the models were fun! It was actually pretty social with moms and models and everyone playing dead, and great to visit with models we've worked with before, like Britt and Brittany, and a chance to meet some lovely new faces too.

And while I'm hijacking my own thread to thank people, thanks to Mia (and Stephanie) for styling such a diverse cast of models (over two very full days), and finally to Fred, for making my vision come true, and putting up with... everything. Before, during and after.

OK, I know I went a bit over, but I was pretty touched that so many people will help you explore your passions, if you just ask.














Photographer    Fred Fraser  www.fredfraser.com
Art director    Liz Dungate www.behance.net/lizdungate
Stylist         Mia Fiddis @ Judy Inc www.judyinc.com
Hair/Make-up      Liz Dungate using MAC www.lizdungate.com
Stylist Assistant    Stephanie Janyk
models     Angelica, Beket, Cole, Kelsey, Kirsten, Teanna and Theo  www.lizbellagency.com
                Britt, Brittany and Evy  www.getradkids.com