Wild, Wild – a photo series

I mentioned in a previous post that a few of my friends and I get together on the weekends and produce content. This can be anything from "ey I need some pics for the gram" or "let's come up with a concept and create something". Roger (in the photos above) ran across a photo (see below) that inspired him with an idea for a shoot collab with his friend Joy. 

Roger's inspiration photo. Cred: IG @aminataflowers

After consulting with the council (aka our friend group), we set a date, found a location (Roger's place) and shot the photos. When it comes to getting stuff done I believe a lot of people overthink it. Some people may think "well I need *insert excuse here* to get the type of content I want" when in actuality all you need is a plan (and sometimes not even a full plan), friends/resources, and the willpower to do it.

To be honest we only had a vague idea of what we were going for, after arriving at Roger's place we literally put everything together there (at 6am in the morning). No major prior planning, no nothing. Leticia came through with the clothes and sourced the set from random objects in Roger's apt.  *Pro tip: use what you got to get what you want (and yes, I'm quoting the movie player's club). 

Changing subjects, I just started claiming photography which is extremely foreign to me (I even feel crazy writing this sentence). A few weeks ago I found photos on my hard drive ranging from 2009-2011 of concept fashion photos I've taken of friends for personal blogs (shoutout to Courtnee). At that point it hit me, LOW KEY been doing this type of work for a long time, I've just never taken myself serious and have always seen it more as a hobby or something to help out friends. Lately I've been shooting more and more and I can slowly see my aesthetic coming together. To be honest it scares me to deem myself a photographer. We live in a world where everybody and their mama is a hypenated creator on their IG bios. I follow a TON of photographers who's aesthetics I feel like I couldn't light a candle to but time after time again I've found myself drawn to this form of artistry. When I went to Paris in June a friend of mine told me that I have a great eye and should pursue it... actually he was like "girl you a photographer, get yo shit together" (thanks Darwin). If you've followed my blog you already know I do a lot of shit – from general design to illustration and now photography. In the past I've been told that I should focus on one thing but in my opinion all these skills help me become a better artist all around. Now, I'm not out here claiming to be the next Annie Leibovitz but I love having an idea and bringing it together through photography. 

Switching back to the shoot – I love how the photos turned out. One set of photos were taken inside an apartment and the second outside of Rogers place. Picking up a new skill takes practice and patience (and I have to shoutout my friends for being patient with me) every time I look at the photos I want to change something, or I see something I didn't do right that makes me more prepared for the next one. Pro tip #2: you do not need to know what you're doing, just do something, learn from it, and keep going. I'm excited to explore more with this, get ready to see more photography from ya girl. I'm starting to post randomly on Tumblr and VSCO so follow me if you use those platforms. For the creatives out there how do you feel about taking on multiple skillsets? and if any photographers want to share any tips my comments and email are fair game. 

ps. yes, the title is inspired by Wild Thoughts

Models: Roger Coleman + Joy

Styling: Leticia Hunt

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