Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots

This is part one (of two) of my latest behind-the-camera venture with the ever gorgeous Emma. Now, I'm not going to even attempt to try to describe how long it took me to choose which photos to post! Let's just say a large amount of my evening has been devoted to whittling down images.
For this shoot, I went to Emma's house - she lives even more rurally than me! It was perfect, surrounded by moody woods and buttercup fields (which you'll see in part two.) There was no theme as such, but a colour scheme of blues, greens, browns and creams. These colours all work well on Emma, and I enjoyed styling and putting the outfits together!

The first ensemble is made up of a forties green dress with an altered hemline (it was too long) layered under a vintage thermal vest. I always like it when dresses come with the matching fabric coloured belts, so I put it to good use here! I love the bow detail at the neck, and a very subtle pattern that reminds me of Van Gogh's brush strokes. The necklace belonged to a family member, and any of my more long time readers will recognize the boots. 'Why does Roz own a pair of size three seventies boots when her feet are size seven?' One might indeed ask. I'm keeping them, under the guise of 'using them for design inspiration' in later life, but really I just love looking at them too much to part with them just yet. Emma has been coveting them since she first saw them (and wore them - they fit her well, I would say like a glove, but a perfectly fitting boot is more appropriate), but they're staying in my room - sorry Emma!

The second outfit was my favourite of the five I subsequently shot. I bought this sixties mini dress in a vintage charity shop in Edinburgh (try Grassmarket for amazing clothes, especially 'Armstrongs' which is Scotlands equivalent of Beyond Retro!) The blouse underneath was my great-grandma's and the boots have been described at length above! All the vintage watches are from different family sources - I find the concept of these watches ticking on (albeit, not at the correct times!) long after their owners have gone quite thought provoking. The vintage suitcases are also from various sources. I have a little pile of said suitcases in my room - I want to be able to travel with vanity cases and trunks to store my clothes.. (Apart from the obvious transportation issues.) Who needs generic suitcases dahhling?

In the first set of photos I wanted to focus on the slightly eerie side of the forest, so a general lack of sunlight helped no end! (And this was before the rain later in the day.. I do not recommend trying to take photos while simultaneously attempting to hold an umbrella!) It was almost as though she was lost: the 'Little Red (or should that be green?) Riding Hood' aesthetic, like one who has strayed too far from the path.. I made poor Emma jump so many times to get that first shot - having been inspired by the classic Richard Avedon photo.
The second selection of images ended up being very sixties influenced. I told Emma to imagine she was waiting for someone, treating the abandoned trailer as though it was a train station. And as she commented, there "was a watch for every time zone".

I enjoyed taking these photos immensely, and I'm very grateful to Emma for being such a great model again!

The title is taken from the poem 'Blackberry-Picking' by Seamus Heaney. This is one of my absolute favourites of his poems as it so evocatively sums up the joy of picking wild fruit on a summers day.

In other news, I recently nominated the photographer Saga Sig and designer Charlotte Taylor for the Studio East  2011 awards. This is a fantastic initiative for those starting out in the creative business, and has given many individuals the publicity and funds needed to further their work. I would suggest you visit their website to nominate any 'up and coming' people in a creative industry you know of...

I also want to thank everyone who commented on my bloggiversary post, you're all such lovely people and it was much appreciated!

Where briars scratched and wet grass bleached our boots 2010-06-29T12:54:00-07:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Unknown