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Two years ago I had the honor of being included in a collaboration between two incredible talents, Carolina as a model and Lunara as a designer of wearable art. We met in Los Angeles and then headed to the most magical El Mirage for our session.
Rarely have I had a designer with me, yet it felt natural. We were all on the same page and the clouds turned the sky into a beautiful canvas for our images. Initially I thought that time would be lost getting ready between outfits. Yet once again my thoughts were proven wrong when Lunara did more than her part to move the session along.
Then there was Carolina who took it upon herself to bring the designs to life. She did so without instruction and brought a high level of energy to the session. She constantly moved and never presented the same combination of expression and position to the lens.
Working with these two talents was quite the experience and I do hope that one day we could reunite at El Mirage!
www.halimina.com
Note: This frame was exposed with a Hasselblad 555 ELD/180 mm lens.
Lunara Love's designs could be found here:
www.lunaradesign.com
Here is an excerpt from her 'about' section:
"I am from West Siberia, Russia. The city where I grew up is not far from the biggest Siberian forest Taiga and beautiful Mountains of Altai which is where my influences have came from. Those places are famous for mystical, wild nature and Shamanic roots. Eight years ago I moved to NY, and it has been my home base since. I have traveled to the West coast a lot, and I have attended Burning Man for six years which has played a big role in my artistic expression. I have also attended a lot of beautiful Gatherings all over the world, and it has been my inspiration to create a line of Lunara Design hair accessories - danceable hair art."
Over 8 years ago happenstance brought me to the peerless Gysleda Virginia De La Barca Vega, and life in Cuba has never been the same for me. Her school for modeling is the place to be, as the most talented from the capital come together to learn from the master.
Her manner of teaching is sublime, as she teaches through example. While she does guide the young models through her verbal instructions, countless times she walks down the catwalk herself in supreme style.
Saturdays are our days in the school, and we visit with the hope of finding the newest of faces. She always welcomes us with open arms and a kiss. When we show interest in a few students, she informs the students and immediately they respond with enthusiasm... for Gysleda's word carries that much weight.
So on this day we welcomed the idea of photographing Gysleda in the countryside with the stylings of Yudel R. Contreras, a most talented and kind man. As we were getting ready for the session, a young man was walking down the path. She knew immediately that this was an opportunity to engage the community, and went along with the moment. The young man responded beautifully and we exposed a half roll with him alongside the master.
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Note: This image was made with a Sony RX100M3.
As defined by Wikipedia, fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. So what would happen when fashion meets the street?We thought this to be an interesting scenario. We then asked a well-known fashion designer to supply some pieces for the young girls in our portfolio. He was more than willing, and provided us with such within a day or so.The young girl in these images has been photographed over the past four years. Since the day we met in 2010, my fascination with her face has moved me to expose countless rolls of film. She is nothing short of miraculous, speaks very little normally but expresses herself without reserve through the lens.So when we presented the thought of the fashion designer to her, she thought it to be a magical opportunity to express herself more fully. We arranged for a morning and decided on the racquetball court near the beach as our studio. From the very first exposure it was clear to me that she was ready for this chance, and embraced the moment with enthusiasm.When asked about her hair, she told us that she visited a local hair stylist the evening before and treated herself in preparation for this morning. She was flawless, and moved from one position to another effortlessly.When the fashion designer saw the images, he was deeply impressed. He gave of himself without expecting anything in return, as kind a man as can be hoped for in my experience.He met her prior to these images and, while her natural beauty was more than evident, he never did imagine her as a model like those from his extensive experience. So when he saw the images he was truly floored. While the models normally gracing his pieces are certainly worthy of their professions, he recognized something special in this young girl, something undeniably pure.As my friend Alejandro told me, 'she was born for this.'www.halimina.orgNote: These images were made with a Sony RX100M2, edited for size and contrast only.
