Make Believe It's the 90's

December 31, 2019

Remember when you used to play make believe as a kid? Cops and robbers was one of my favorites. And then there was, “the ground is hot lava.” Why did we stop pretending as adults? Lately, I’ve been trying get back into fiction by inventing narratives for a photo shoot, rather than first concentrating on a lighting technique. For this shoot, I created the story that I was an editorial photographer for an underground music publication in the 1990’s and I had an assignment to photograph a new and talented grunge musician while she was practicing and hanging out in her neighborhood. I approached Annika, a model who I’ve worked with a few times, to play the part of lead singer and guitarist for this scenario.

To create the look I was going for, I used quirky old film cameras I’d purchased on Craigslist for the entire shoot. I wanted the photos to look raw and not overly planned. This was only my second analog portrait shoot I’ve ever done, and to be blunt, film is definitely a labor of love. It takes F-ing forever compared to digital!

In the days after the shoot, I developed the black and white film myself. I biked 10 miles to my local lab to drop off and pick up the color film. After that, I scanned everything, which also takes forever and makes you insane, trust me. Finally, there was all the post production in Adobe Lightroom. Why did I go through all this? Because this was the type of gear and workflow photographers were using in the 90’s. Also, I don’t care what anyone says, you can’t replicate the look of analog film with an “app.” Same goes for a tube amp.

I told her to be “a bit annoyed” during this photo shoot in order to get into character. She had no trouble at all!

Inspiration

I was feeling pretty nostalgic this fall and was thinking a lot about a time when kids actually played guitar, rode their skateboards, and didn’t have phones to get rid of the boredom. I found myself listening to a lot of Nirvana and Alice in Chains and was just blown away all over again. Music that came out of the Northwest in the 90’s is very dear to my heart. And then there’s the 90’s grunge look. Flannel of course, Doc Martens, round sunglasses, and I could go on. To try and visualize this period of time, I put together a mood board that would help guide the shoot direction.

(Check out my Pinterest mood board if you’d like to see the inspiration for this shoot)

I chose images that displayed youthful angst, a bleak world view, loitering, and of course, rock ‘n roll, These were all themes I really tried to incorporate when shooting with Annika. I referenced this mood board often while shooting and felt like it really kept me focused on the story and the look of the shoot. I have a tendency to go on a tangent while shooting, so this was very helpful.

Delinquent Behavior

Annika did an amazing job of channeling the vibe for the shoot. Not only did she put together a great set of looks and styling, she also really got into character with her posing and attitude.

We spent about half the shoot indoors while she was “writing new material for an E.P. or something.” and then headed out for a short walk. Why? Maybe she had to go walk to 7-11 for some smokes during our shoot. I kept telling her that smoking is not a great idea if she is going to have a long singing career, but we went outside anyways.

We stumbled upon some newly painted street art and she didn’t hesitate to pick up the roller:

Fresh paint, a shirt that reads, “Pretty good at bad decisions,” and a lot of attitude. The shoot was coming together nicely.

Album Art

I wanted to end the shoot with some photos that were more like album art than editorial photos. You never know, as a low-paid photographer for a publication like Bleak Monthly, if a band uses your photo for a CD cover it could really pay some bills:

Double exposures never get old to me. I loved them then, and I love them now. I just hope the band uses my image for their E.P.

Conclusion

I’ve really been enjoying creating fictional stories for a shoot concept. It answers the question of “why are we shooting these photos?” even if it’s made up. As an analytical person, it feels more natural to start with the technical, like a lighting look. But that can lead to a technically good photo that isn’t really saying anything. Looking back at some of these photos, I can find many flaws. They aren’t Sony a7rukidding me sharp. But that doesn’t matter to me because they are all working together to tell my fictional story.

I’m excited to create more shoots like this in the coming year. Happy 2020!

-Chris