With regards to the proposal submitted for the Live Brief I believe I successfully managed to complete it and obtain a series of images which represents the concept I was aiming for. Promoting the rockabilly culture and the pin-up attitude were my main points of focus.
The series of images was published on the rockabilly.ro website and I am glad that I was able to contribute to that by means of my photographs.
Completing such a project meant that I needed to put a team together. There was no way I could have achieved these results without collaborating with other artists, models and brilliant people. Ana Maria Oana, president of the Rockabilly Romania Association was the co-ordinator of the project because she could provide me with an essential connection to Romania. I planned the entire thing whilst being in the United Kingdom and only went back home for the actual shoots.
I also had two designers on board, who provided us with some of the outfits. They are both amazing artists and I wish to thank them for their help. One professional make-up artist also joined the crew and provided the make-up for the first shoot, which took place on 16th February. The other 3 models were in charge of their own make-up and hair styles. On the days of the shoot, they all looked perfect. Thank you ladies! It was a pleasure working with you.
I did not have access to a studio in Bucharest which meant that I had to get in contact with someone who ownes such a creative space in order to get the work done. I found a person who is also a freelance photographer, owner of an excellent studio. I asked him if I could use his studio along with the backdrops and lighting kits and he allowed me to do so.
On the days of the shoot everything went smoothly. There were of course some moments of increased stress and tension but in the end, it was alright. I also had a person assisting me on the two days and he did an excellent job helping me with anything I needed. From changing the backdrops, to testing the light and playing around with the different light sources.
I have realised how essential the role of an assistant is. He/she makes everything so much easier when the sufficient amount of experience is gained.
This shoots have by far been the most complex ones I have organized untill now. It was a brilliant experience and I would do it all over again if I had the chance to do so because it was all worth it. I met awesome people, collaborated with talented artists and practitioners and last but not least, managed to create some connections which will hopefully help me in the future with my career.
Were there things I wish I had done differently? Of course! There is always room for better. The first one concerns myself as a practitioner and my ability to connect with the model in front of my camera. At one point I was so focused on getting the exposure, framing and lighting right that I forgot to pay attention to the model and how she was posing. I only realised my mistake when post editing the images and by that time, nothing could be done. The consequence was that I couldn't use some of the images in my portfolio because of the unnatural feeling created by the model's pose.
The other aspect would be planning and telling the models what time they should attend the shoot. On the second shoot I had three models and I asked them to come to the studio all at the same time. Looking back, I should have done things differently. Allowing myself 1 hour between the shoots would have been a wise thing to do. The reason I say that is beacuse one of the models ended up waiting about 20 minutes, all dressed up and ready to pose. That happened due to the other two models being photographed. The solution to this problem was finishing half of the shoot with the first two models, then photographing the third model in her two outfits in order to avoid keeping her waiting. After that she was free to go and attend the other appoitments she had in her schedule.
To sum up, I would say that this live brief has brushed up my skills, developed my sense of planning and organizing shoots, dealing with under pressure situations and last but not least, learing how to a successful creative practitioner. I intend to continue experimenting with pin-up photography because it is a subject matter worth exploring. The final images were used by the models, make-up artist and myself in portfolios and by the co-ordinator on the rockabilly.ro website. I retain the copyright for the photographs and therefore, I am able to used them however I see apropriate. Two of the images produced were submitted to 2 competitions (Adobe Awards and Duggal B&W contest).
I'd also like to state that my target was reached and my mission of creating images with a 1950's feeling was accomplished.
