Ageless Aesthetic: 1920s Inspired Shoot

First of all, I am so excited to finally share this project! I’ve been brainstorming doing a longer series and I’ve always wanted to pay homage to the creators of the previous century that have inspired me and so many others over the years. So the title of this project will be Ageless Aesthetic, and I’ll be curating a shoot for each decade from the 1920s on. I have a lot of things planned already and it is just an endless source of joy for me. I love getting organized and learning about each time period, reading up on inspirational figures and events and finally pulling together the setting and look for each shoot. 

Now, let’s get into the 1920s. The only decade with a nickname - the Roaring Twenties! Does anyone else just picture The Great Gatsby right away? I obviously do, and so much of my inspiration for this time period came from Gatby’s great parties. The flowing alcohol, the extravagant home, the wild band and the endless accessories. 

I mean really, truly endless. Think back to one of those party scenes. Not only were the outfits fully decked out with pearl necklaces, bracelets, dangly earrings, but the headpieces were unlike any other. My model Emma made her own unique headband by combining two others, and the outcome was beautiful. She has such a unique, timeless style and I highly recommend you check her out! (https://www.instagram.com/msemmahill/)

The looks for the shoot included two beaded and flowy tunic style dresses - perfect for dancing the night away. The first was black and beaded, paired with a pearl necklace, a fur coat, and long black gloves. The next dress was black with a golden feather print and for whatever reason, my mom had a bundle of fake peacock feathers that matched the dress! 

Now, let’s talk about the setting. I wanted to create a party themed backdrop, and our family dining room was perfect for this. They have a long, regal dining room table, a fancy glass cabinet, a beautiful curtain display, etc. I did need to block out the light coming from the windows in the room so I set up my backdrop stand there and used a sheet, coupled with the beige curtains to frame the shots. 

I wanted to shoot these indoors and use my new ring light instead of using flash mostly to play with my new toy, but also because I felt that flash wasn’t necessary to replicate the feel of 1920s images. External flashes create a style of image where the background is pretty blown out, and I didn’t want to lose that detail of our shoot. I’m really happy about this choice! You can watch my YouTube video about the shoot here: https://youtu.be/tLM8WebDlF4

My 2020

What a ride this year has been. At the end of 2019, I remember thinking that this year put me through the ringer. Doing the bulk of the work for my Masters, working nights at a gym, beginning my internship, and always going after photography. Life has since changed drastically (hello, quarantine!), so I wanted to do a recap of these past few months to introduce myself. 

January

My first thought upon scanning my folders from early this year - where are the masks??? I went on a few city shoots in the winter and I couldn’t stop romanticizing New York pre-pandemic. The freedom! The expressions! The breathability! 

Every year, I outline many goals for my work, and in January I set out to improve my frequency separation technique. I wanted to streamline my process to look and feel more natural. I have since increased my knowledge of the program dramatically, but achieving this goal early on definitely put me on a good pace for the rest of the year.

February

As always, my birthday month felt short and sweet. I spent time with family, in the city and in Colorado. I have the best memories of Dillon, Vail and all the tiny ski towns in between. I cannot wait to get back out there to explore more mountains, more ski trails, and more dispensaries. 

However, this is the same month that I seized the opportunity to start challenging myself in my creative work. After shooting portraits for many years, I knew I had to start doing things that I wasn’t familiar with. For this challenge, I wanted to create an entirely black and white set. At this time I hadn’t yet even posted a black and white photo to my instagram - shocking right? My friend Maddy and I planned this shoot to include textures, backdrops and poses that still resonated with my feed even without color. 

March

Life came to a grinding halt in mid-March. My boyfriend and I started working from home around the same time, and together we adjusted our lives to fit the new norms. Very quickly, we realized that commuting truly takes a toll on our time. I feel like we gained so much time, and I was so grateful we could finally take weekday hikes.

This month I challenged myself to play in photoshop even more, this time with my own self portraits. I was inspired by my beautiful friend @lovelyperks, who is the undisputed master of double exposures, to put my own spin on the idea. Looking back, I can see my own mistakes but they are just part of the learning process, and I’m still proud of my first composite. 

April

Didn’t April feel like a blip? I think lockdown really flew by because we had a schedule, and stuck to it most days. I was also finishing up classwork and my thesis, so I was living in the educational bubble that I was occasionally exiting to go for a hike. 

I actually had a real shoot this month (social-distance friendly!), and it was such a breath of fresh air to see @clarecirillo. Like so many others, she had escaped the city at the start of the pandemic. She has a plant-based blog (cravinggreensbyclare.com) that I would highly recommend looking into if you want to add more whole foods to your daily routine!

May 

Man.. things changed for me in May. I got inspired. It’s really that simple. I got excited about social media for the first time in a while and I started creating with a new energy. I took two of my favorite self portraits ever, and really put some time into practicing posing. 

Over the years I’ve always incorporated movement into my portraits because I love the look and feel of a true action. But there is something so special about capturing a simple gaze, it’s almost made to be captured. I experimented getting up close and personal by myself, and I can’t wait to do that with a model (when it’s safe). 

June 

I hit the ground running this month, and I went on a long productive streak. I got on top of my organization this month. I really started tailoring my feed to my personal style, and planning the perfect position of each post. I was never one to stick to a theme in the past, but now the curation of a composed feed is another step in my organizational plan. 

June was also an emotional and stressful month. I hope we always remember the fearlessness and dedication that so many put into the Black Lives Matter movement this month. 

July

These past few months have been the first of my full-time photography career. The educational system really bogged me down and changed my process, but since graduation I’ve loved every minute of the creative side of my brain waking up and taking over. I’ve poured my time into planning, editing, and exploring ideas and this has made me a better artist. I’m proud of how far I’ve come, but I’m wildly excited by what’s to come.

See you next time!

Nat