Text and photos by Pierre Dal Corso.
That was the second part of the day. The one I was waiting for.
Eva Jay. One of the few girls that stood out of the crowd. Nothing like the typical bird fallen from the nest. She was there.
First time I saw her was 6 years ago, she was walking in the middle of a lake. Literally. I was in the mud, next to her, trying to get the swans in the frame. I couldn’t get them all together at once. So Iris made me retouch the picture. I think that was the first picture I ever retouched. I had to duplicate swans. I had her face in front of me, on my screen for so many hours, I guess I felt like knowing her somehow. Like printed in my brain. Looking backwards, I did a pretty good shitty job there But bad gets into good sometimes.
This morning was boring. Not that boring of course, but not exciting. Not as it should be. Not the way I want to feel it. Everybody was there, working. I like workers. I respect that. I had to do this story for this magazine I had my first publication in. But wasn’t feeling totally right about it. Events would prove later me I was right.
I didn’t really follow her career. But saw her being on the cover of the most famous fashion magazines, being the first girl in the best shows, being shot by the most renowned photographers… and I was still feeling stuck in the mud somehow. She would always be strong, sensual, proud, playful and feminine… She was quite something! And I loved it.
I love my team as well. I trust them. I feel them being with me. I need them. I also want them to be proud of what we are doing. Doing shit is killing me. Even more when other people are involved. That’s still something I’m learning though. Not forgetting myself to please people but trying to stay true and find the right people to keep it like that.
I was ready. Ready to do what I love. She was there. She couldn’t stop moving. I couldn’t believe she was in front of me. She was playing. Playing naughty. Sending winks to Max behind his computer. Doing funny poses in front of Kamel to make him feel slightly uncomfortable. Exactly what I needed and wanted. She was perfect.
She was like a present to me, an opportunity. I was nobody and I got to shoot her. Her booker told me she needed some pictures because of a new haircut basically. I guess that’s how things are happening sometimes. It took me a few minutes to believe it. Still expecting everything to get cancelled last minute. It didn’t.
We got to shoot in this “about to be” studio. It would open 2 weeks later and the owner was kind enough to let us in for the day. Funny to find myself shooting in the middle of this organized mess. Workers had left their tools, cement bags and bricks lying around. Can’t remember if heating system was even on during the day and going to the toilets was a whole story… This surrounding brought something to the story I guess, the kind of twisted loose attitude I was looking for. It was nothing like a clean warm studio where you can easily have a coffee and a sofa to relax. This element brought us together somehow.
I had this idea of light, colour spots and flare. Something fresh, alive, innocent, almost abstract opposed to the very sensual explicit animal poses and attitudes. She was perfect to embody this character. She was very generous, sharing a lot, giving. I will always be thankful to her for that moment. Even more when doing post production. I discovered again our session. Going thru every pictures, one by one, remembering the atmosphere, the laughs and the music.
I have to love my models. At least during the shoot. I see it as an exchange, sharing this time going the same direction.
As much as I can , I love to prepare my shoots, gathering ideas, looking for references, thinking of the mood I want, the atmosphere; what make up and hair we should do. Super important for me to be ready once I get on set. The Shoot is only part of the story. Post production on this particular case was as important as the shoot. Getting the right colours and tones, the right amount of flare…
I loved the styling. Sandrine took care of it and got everything right. She found these flesh, beige, light and sexy pieces we needed. Nothing too outrageous colour wise. Sexy underwears, transparent tops and floating elements. A lot of things to play with!
Eva and Frank did a great job too. Eva managed to get this natural clean feminine look in the make up… difficult to see I know! Post production and lighting effects don’t really pay tribute to Eva’s make up work… But trust me it was great. Frank is an amazing hair dresser. With a vision of the whole story, not only focused on his part of the job. I felt guilty to start shooting with these messy hair look. Eva Jay would be moving non stop and go with her hands thru her hair and mess everything up. I would ask Frank to get the hair back in place every minute at the beginning but this would break the energy, the action. At one point, he told me to forget the hair and keep shooting. It looked much better messy and she was acting and playing with her hair naturally. He helped me to let the magic happen. Of course her hairs are most of the time all over her face but I love it!
We shot super fast. I loved it. I could have done that for ever. The day was getting long for everybody. Lot of work. Kisses and goodbye… But she stayed. We had a drink with the studio manager, my assistant, Eva Jay and me. Then she drove us home. How nice.
This is for these kind of experiences that I wouldn’t do anything else in life. I love these pictures. They re bringing back great memories and at the end , they are exactly what I had in mind. A kind of satisfied fantasy. I guess that’s what wakes me up in the morning and keep me up at night. Every project I’m working on is like a new adventure and I love happy endings.
Soundtrack of the day
“Party Day “ by Cosmo Vitelli
“You are my high” by Demon Vs Heartbreaker
“Striptease” by Cerrone
“I wanna be your dog” by Iggy Pop & the Stooges
“Daddy Cool” by Placebo
“Get Innocuous” Soulwax Remix by LCD Soundsystem
“Honey” Markus Kienzl Remix by Tosca
“Disco Science” by Mirwais
“Date with a night” by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
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