Some of the best photos are those taken when the model or actress is unaware that she's being photographed. They capture that "relaxed" state of mind—when the subject isn't "on." So why, I thought, don't we try to shoot the entire story that way. The challenge was, how do we make that happen. So I had an idea. I asked Darren Stone, our videographer, to shoot a fashion video of the models. He would direct them as he would any video while Robert Steinken (our hairstylist and very talented photographer) would be shooting stills—without the models knowing. My thought was that they would be relaxed most of the time and we'd be able to capture some cool images. It worked...well, sort of, Let me explain.
Our Jane Birkin and Francoise Hardy inspired shoot.
All of our glam team members were aware of our photoshoot behind the shoot. We had Cecilia Moreno on makeup. Robert was doing hair and then pulling out his camera to capture images. He was assisted by Jennifer Baker. The shoot was brilliantly styled by Hazel Pepper. Allison Burns was our manicurist for the day.
A great 'moment' photo from our Genlux shoot by Robert Steinken
But as the day progressed, Robert started to forget that he was "behind" the scenes and started to emerge as the photographer. The cover was blown but the shots still worked. I added some effects to the shots to bring that "film" quality we all love so much. Things like "grain" and double exposure and film edges.
One of my favorites from this shoot.
