There will be shoots where the magnificence of the scenery or the exoticness of the location will not be present to aid the overall concept, look, or impact of the resulting photographs. In these instances, we turn our attention more to being resourceful and creative, we must make use of every possible scrap of prop or idea to turn something so typical into something exceptional. It’s like creating an indie-film – may not be the highest of budgets but everyone’s in there for the love the of it, the chance to do something significant, and most importantly, for the story.
In this shoot, the story is the concept. We are shooting in the realm of vintage China – think old Hongkong or old Shanghai, think of the movie In The Mood for Love. It was really welcomed that we didn’t have to travel far to shoot but it would be difficult to comprehend the complexity and the amount of time invested in scouting the locations, in getting permits for the location, and in preparing the props and in shooting itself. I deeply appreciate everyone who was involved in making this possible because it was really like making a movie – from the sets up to the use of live extras, nothing was left to chance.
Last year we did a Cuban theme shoot (see here) which was a first of its kind and we thought we’d up the ante this time around. And as you will see in the following photographs, it was as challenging to the couple as it was to the people that prepared for it. Lenni and Jerico’s ‘stunts’ in climbing the roof of the pagoda and the century-old fire escape were nerve-wracking but again like actors in indie films, they are in it for the accomplishment more than anything and I must say that accomplish did they – no one could have pulled off such a high-risk and high-drama executions more than them. It is easy to want to do a shoot like this, but everything must go-together to execute it in the highest quality possible. Please enjoy.
Special thanks for Mike Lavarez for the creative production, to Gery Penaso for Lenni’s make-up, and to the team of Christine One-Te for securing all the permits.
