Wintertime is often a time of hibernation for me. The sun sets too early for natural light photo projects after work, my clothes feel heavy and bulky. It’s cold (well, usually). I mostly want to veg out on the couch and binge bad TV. But when my good pal Amy, whom I hadn’t seen in awhile, texted me on New Years Day morning and said, “Wyd today? Was thinking we should have a shoot,” I got my ass in gear.
The idea was three looks for both of us: one Amy outfit, one Lydia outfit, and one wildcard. Often when Amy and I get together for a shoot, we wing it. We each have photographic pursuits that are more intentional—Amy is a queen of conceptual photography and meaningful portraiture, and I tend to focus on documentarian series. I think we tend to see photoshoots with each other as a time to play. We pick some interesting wardrobe, a location, and then just see what happens.
This first set is of the “Lydia” look. Have you ever hung an item of clothing beside another garment, just to put it away, and thought, Oh I should wear those together? I had that revelation hanging a romantic, blousy top beside a pair of light pink hot pants (gifted to me by Amy, incidentally) one day, and had been meaning to photograph myself in it. Amy took her cue from this ensemble and went pastel romantic in her own pair of the same hot pants and a cheeky bow tie tube top. We met at her house, draped a swath of pink Swiss dot tulle over a lamp in her living room, and set to work.
The photos in this post are primarily of Amy—she took her own set of pictures of me. There are a couple at the top featuring both us, photos I took using the cable release I mentioned in my last post. I think it’s a little unusual for Amy to portray herself so softly in photos. She like a bold aesthetic; she likes strength, and color, and lines. Pretty romanticism is definitely a Lydia lane, and I love seeing how my friend interprets this piece of me. These are some of my favorite pictures I’ve ever taken of her, and I’ve taken a lot. I love the muted light, and the way Amy brings an element of mystery to a set that could otherwise read banal. She elevated my original idea, and made it her own, and made it better.
I’m really bad at notating what film stocks I shot because I use so many, and haven’t gotten the negatives back yet to check, but this was either a Kodak 200 or 400, Gold or Ultra Max. Thank you for reading, you’re beautiful.