At the beginning of the year, I was selected within my department to participate in a partnership with the fashion photography MFA students at SVA. We had a mixer at the beginning of the year (which was like a super awkward speed dating session for artists) where we paired up with a photographer.
I ended up with Irusha, and it was a match made in heaven.
To get to know each other, we decided to shoot my junior thesis.
I really had no idea where to shoot this collection, since I had already shot it and couldn't really see it going in any other direction. After weeks of brainstorming, I decided I wanted to shoot at a car garage in the neighborhood and have a pinup-y shoot, but when I found out the garage wasn't going to be open the day we wanted to shoot, I was back at square 1.
Then on my way home I stopped at the grocery store and realized how inspirational the perfectly stacked cans of soup were and how much potential the produce section had and decided it would be a guerrilla photo shoot in Pioneer grocery.
The morning of the shoot, Irusha pitched the idea to me that this girl was glamorous but a kleptomaniac- she's bedecked in jewels but she's smuggling frozen burritos.
The idea went over so well in our critique- both of the chairs of our departments were eating it up and I couldn't even talk about it, everyone was laughing so hard. I guess the work speaks for itself!
The shoot was so amazing- the people in the grocery store were loving it, the model was loving it, I was loving it, and we definitely made the day a lot more pleasurable for the guys who worked behind the meat counter.
I had so much fun doing this and I can't wait to shoot my senior thesis in the Spring!!
((clothes- Michaela Calotta//photos- Irusha))
