Annie Lennox inspired photo shoot

Annie Lennox inspired Photo shoot

The Back Story

Back in August of last year, on a very hot muggy evening, I was standing inside a small gallery off the square in downtown Mount Vernon. I was buzzed, due to cheap red wine and the fact that I had just won a small photography competition. Our small tight knit local Art League had just announced that the photo I entered, taken during one of the lowest point in my life, had just won Best of Show. As people came up to me and offered congratulations, to say I was uncomfortable would be a huge understatement. I was stunned, embarrassed and wanted to run away. After several minutes of hugs, pictures for the newspaper, and back slapping, I was ready to make my escape.

I found my friend Shane chatting with small group of people outside the gallery, while they were all having a smoke. I sat down on the bench, numb, half listening to the conversation. Words I heard were, Blah, blah, blah ... rolling your own cigs .... small talk about how many people came to gallery and more blah, blah, blah. Then finally they started talking about something interesting, art and music! Its at this point, I stood up and joined in the conversation. I introduced myself to group. We all talked about the photo show, artists we liked and music. Standing on the other side of this merry band of artists was a young woman named Mary. She had very short hair, sort of like a buzz cut and dyed red. Someone said she looked like Annie Lennox. We all started talking about the iconic photographs taken by Annie Lennox during the 80s and 90s. At this point, Mary stated that she would love to recreate the look and feel of one of those images. Shane chimed in with “well we need to find a good photographer.” Looking straight at me he added “Glenn, do you know where we could find a good photographer?” The group exploded in laughter as it was a well timed dig. But at that moment, I knew I had to take those images.

After that night, Mary and I became good friends. She helped Shane and I frame prints for his art show and my first photography show the following month. A few months ago, I told her I wanted to learn how to draw. A few days later, she knocked on my door with charcoal in hand and made me draw for hours. She is one of two people to really push me as a photographer and more importantly as an artist.

We talked about doing this Annie Lennox inspired shoot for six months. I knew she really wanted to get the look as close as possible to the inspiration images and that scared the crap out me. She sent me a few texts saying should she dye her hair orange yet, was I ready to do this shoot? I knew she had the look, wardrobe, and could do the makeup. But could I create the lighting and mood to pull this off? I was secretly glad she was a full time student and had a full time job. Between her work, school, and her boyfriend, her time this past fall was in short supply. I was glad because that gave me the time to think about how I was going to pull this off. I felt I was the weakest link in our project, but I never wanted to let her know that. I knew the lighting was fairly simple and I should be able to handle it.

I started to research several glamour style lighting techniques. The name Matthew Jordan Smith kept coming up in the blogs I was reading. Then Creative Live announced that Mr. Smith would be teaching a online workshop. That’s the best money I have ever spent on my photography. I learned so much about glamour and fashion photography, but more importantly how to look at light, and work with a team. I also learned that when creating an image, we are sharing the creation of a memory. I learned that sharing and doing what I love is far more important that the final image. I am now excited to share, to collaborate with other creatives and get off my ass and JUST DO IT!

If you made it this far in to this post, you get a gold star. You may want to know why I even shared this disjointed story. I share this story because every day we run in to people that can inspire us to chase our dreams. When normal everyday people, share there vision with me and want to create an image, I feel honored, challenged and passionate about helping them to create an image they can be proud of. I ask you, all four people that read this post, to follow your passion, to stand on a street and accept a challenge, and share the results. Don't sit around for six months worrying about results, take a chance. Put you phone, tablet, or laptop down, get off your ass, and follow your dream!