Re-creating AI imagery (Part 2)

Following on from my previous blog (part 1) of “Remembering Venus” personal photo series, I knew when I had initially planned this series, the models I had envisioned to embody the looks and there’d be too many looks to try to create properly in one day. So we split it into two different days with a different model each session.

For Part 2, we sort of leaped off from the original AI imagery of @illusorybeauty that inspired me, to a deep undersea cavern. One where sea anemone, barnacles and silvery gelatinous creatures merge with the Venusian archetype.

The little hoarder that I am (because I can find beauty in everything), finally got to put to use items I had bought and stashed over 10 years ago, just knowing one day, I’d finally get incorporate them into the styling of a shoot. Being obsessed with coral and underwater creatures like sea anemone, but the difficulty in logistically shooting with such creatures, I had collected these squishy toys with colourful sea anemone-like tentacles, just knowing one day I’d turn them into a headpiece of sorts. This series was the perfect time to bring them out, together with barnacles I found on a beach one day, which we could hopefully emulate them growing from the model’s face. For my squishy toys, I needed to harmonise their colours, as they were a tad too bright and bold for the styling of this shoot. So I white washed them with some house paint, which toned down their colours, then sprayed glue and glitter for added texture, so they wouldn’t look so plastic. The trickiest part was affixing it to the head of the model. Again, we couldn’t really plan how this would look, so it was all about playing with it on the day and assembling it. Thankfully, Lindi is a very creatively resourceful makeup artist and hairstylist, that she managed to somehow use a combination of wire and hair pins pierced through the rubber pieces, to hold them in place, due to how heavy they are in actuality.

Again, no shoot day is like another. They each have their own unique challenges and we had many this rounds, in working with the materials that I had on hand. From the fragile barnacles crumbling under the pressure, to the length of time it took us to affix the squishy toys. I certainly felt a little stressed, when the clock was ticking and you still have so many ideas to try to execute. Your creative team makes a huge difference here, as you need your rock to keep you calm under the pressure and innovative at problem solving. It’s all hands on deck, as Georgie (model), Lindi (makeup artist) and my little assistant Zaria, had some creative hand at bring it all together successfully. However, we persevered through some struggles and the last look was a culmination of child-like fun, as we made one gooey, glittery mess, fortunately for Georgie it wasn’t on her real hair, but an old wig I could ruin.

Hopefully, what comes through the images, is the laughter, sweat and glittery goo that went into making this series. Georgie truly channeled an ethereal quality, adding to the element of fantasy in these photos. Another huge thanks to my amazing team:- to the beauty wizard Lindi Bester, the magical Georgie @ Tamblyn Models and Zaria, my handy assistant and extra pair of hands.

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