Behind the Image - Fashion Victim

I thought I would share with you the story behind some of my award-winning photos. I first imagined this image back in the year 2000, when I was working with a photographer doing fashion shoots in San Francisco. I wanted to create an image that said something about the dangers of body image pressures on young women.

I finally shot the image in 2008 with Kate, our lovely babysitter who gallantly agreed to lie on our kitchen floor while I took photo after photo and asked her to place her limbs in some pretty uncomfortable positions!

This is the original capture. It took many many hours of Photoshopping to create the final tortured fashion victim that I had pre-visualised.

I added back in the make-up brushes that had been in an earlier shot and added a cool tone.

Then I changed the colour of the hairdryer and thinned my model, who, I am happy to say, was a healthy slim build rather than the emaciated girl I needed.

Finally, I decided to throw her head back further, and intensify the blue.

I see Photoshop as a powerful creative tool to help me communicate my message effectively. This image won silver at the NZIPP Iris Awards 2008, silver with distinction at the Australian APPA awards 2009, and was published in Her Magazine, Prodesign and the North Shore Times.

PS The nail polish did leave a nasty stain on the aged linoleum - but it was worth it.

ImageMe - Auckland portrait photography