Collaboration.

Chelsea Ross is a photographer who I have been wanting to shoot with for months. We wanted to shoot back in May..but like most artists, time just flew away from us. The time finally came last weekend to have everyone schedule line up and we had our models, Jen Levi, who always shows up with hair and make up that is super versatile to flatter our models, and a location.

I guess it wasn't until the day I was packing up all the leather jackets that I'm thinking to myself...Huh! I guess it didn't occur to me that I'm asking my models to wear leather jackets..in August. It's actually a nice breezy day as I am walking to my car so no big deal...right?

Hair and make up is coming along nicely and we all set out for the journey to the south side of Chicago for our warehouse space Chelsea has found. Upon arrival..its locked. After a lot of detective thinking, we finally find a man who lets us in.

When we finally get to the 4th floor, we find there is little air circulation and the sun is streaming in making everything hotter. Its stuffy, and really...really hot.

Not wanting to lose the light in the space, we decide to just put the jackets on and go. Jen and myself, who are doing more styling work and not running around, are not sweating as much as Chelsea who is crouching in circles, capturing the most beautiful angles and lighting. And even Chelsea is not sweating as much as Teanna and Ryan, our models who are covered in leather.

We are shooting for hours, we use chairs, the pillars, the setting sun streaming in the glass blocks, and the depth of space that surrounds us. Its positively gorgeous.

Before the last of the golden sunlight was gone from outside, we decided to circle the building and see what we could find for the last shots. A pile of tires. A pile of tires?! Am I in heaven? Next to it, a huge trash heap. All under an overhang that is completely rusted. Yep, I am in heaven.

Near the end of the shoot we are running faster and faster to capture everything before we lose the light. It was like trying to remember all the details of your lover's face before they have to leave in mere minutes, for fear of never seeing them again. The beauty of this shoot was a lot like that.

After we left, feet aching, sweating, muscles exhausted and hungry...it was a wrap. There was not much we could do but just shake our heads and smile in disbelief of how amazing we all felt from what had just happened among us. The high of a collaboration, each person invested so deeply in creating something so beautiful...that's a lot of special energy.

I recently watched a talk given by Elizabeth Gilbert who wrote Eat, Pray, Love. It was called Nurturing Your Creativity. She talks about this African dancing that was performed hundreds of years ago, and when the dancer was dancing, sometimes he or she would clearly be out of body, and other worldly. When this happens the people around would start saying "Allah, Allah, Allah"..and call it what they see it. A glimpse of God. When they traveled into Spain and over time it translated to Olé, Olé, Olé" which is still heard in bull fighting or Flamenco dancing when someone has done something so beautiful, so incomprehensible.

That inspirational video I watched was something to aspire to when I saw it. But what she described was what I felt at this collaboration of artists.

Olé!


Thanks to all who were involved getting us in the space, Chelsea Ross, Jen Levi, Teanna Zarro, Ryan Jones, and as always...Louie Mendicino my love.