Nina Travels + Personalized Shoots

Nina Travels + Personalized Shoots

Before quarantine, I did a few shoots for a new series I was developing in which we based our concept on something specific to the models I worked with, hoping to show a truer side of them in front of the camera. We focused on either a favorite hobby or another profession, or simply including as many personal elements as possible.

For this shoot with Nina, for example, I wanted to incorporate her passion for traveling. She seems to always be either stepping onto or stepping off of a plane (hope you can get back out there traveling soon, Nina!), and so the concept for this shoot was based around travel outfits. I asked her to bring outfits that she might wear in different places/seasons in Europe, and we would take it from there.

The beauty of this type of shoot is that not only do we want it to be genuine, but it’s inherently collaborative. After agreeing on the initial concept, Nina ran with it and sent suggestions for props she could bring to the shoot that reminded her of her traveling, including so many pairs of sunglasses, which in turn reminded me of a John Lennon photo that we tried to recreate.

What I love best about the photos is that even without the specifics of our backstory, all the energy of our concept comes through in the photos. For the shots of Nina with all the clothes, which referenced the difficult packing process before trips, we didn’t have a suitcase we wanted, but I think the images work better without it. For one, they’re more widely applicable, leaving more room for interpretation, but also, there’s always the danger with props of being too on the nose and literal.

I hope to share more of this series, as well as get back to shooting new ones soon. Let me know if you dig these!