edgy fashion Archives - Emily Gualdoni Photography

I recently had the opportunity to work with one of my oldest and best friends, Brittany on a collaborative project which was published in Dark Beauty Magazine. Brittany Bindrim is an extremely talented illustrator, together we wanted to make photographs using her drawings in a way where the two art mediums collided and became one. I absolutely loved how this creative fashion photoshoot turned out. We wanted to bring illustration to life while introducing a surreal imagination and dreamlike graphical fantasy to the reality of photography. The title came from the inspiration, the post-war sexist romance cartoons that Lichtenstein ironically used in his work. Drowning Girl, in particular, had the most influence. The talented models with the help of the creative team swim out of the tide to display a strong presence and feminine dominance throughout the images.

The day of the shoot was a long and busy one. Luckily, our team was on point all day and the final outcome really reflects the hard work that went into the shoot. There was a lot of testing involved, both for lighting and clothing. Brittany and I chose to be very selective with the clothing in order to make sure our models fit the theme, and the lighting had to be consistent no matter what the model was doing, just like in a drawing. There were a lot of adjustments made throughout the shoot, but each tweak was worth it.

The Defibrillator Gallery in Wicker Park included Lichtenstein’s Heroines in their Personal Project show. Brittany and I had decided to enter it before the series was even completed. We thought our combined passions joining into one work was a great match for the theme of the show. It was a roaring success! The place was packed, and we dominated an entire wall. We received countless compliments on the series that night, and almost the entire team came to see the finished installation. We all worked so hard on this, it was wonderful to celebrate its completion together in such a fun way (fueled by gallery wine of course).

Keep scrolling to see the images from Lichtenstein’s Heroines.

Title: Lichtenstein’s Heroines
Photography: Emily Gualdoni
Mural/Set: Brittany Bindrim
Art Direction: Emily Gualdoni & Brittany Bindrim
Makeup: Loni Hale
Hair: Liza Espinoza Achurra
Wardrobe Styling: Caitlin Eucker
Models: Juni Park, Selena, & Clara Rae
Photographer assistant – Kaitlyn Hope Polles

Brittany (the illustrator) and I at the Defibrillator Gallery

ransporting the mural to my studio was quite the challenge. We had to be so careful not rip or wrinkle it.

BTS from the day of the shoot. Photos taken by Kaitlyn Polles.

The full editorial that was published dark beauty magazine.

I absolutely loved photographing gorgeous and unique faced, Clara Rae in this futuristic/retro Chicago fashion editorial shoot. The whole creative team had such great chemistry and a strong vision. The end result was published in two well-known fashion magazines. Keep reading to find out about all the details.

Back in September I worked on a shoot that I designed to challenge myself into going farther than I normally do. My aesthetic goal was incorporate both retro and futuristic themes without them contradicting each other. The makeup, the hats, the hair, it all alludes to the 1920’s while rocketing the look into the future with the use of edgy color, heavily textured and metallic backgrounds, dynamic lighting, alternative shooting, all with an overall gist of beauty, darkness, and strength. My model for the shoot, Clara, emotionally expressed these themes flawlessly. It was the first time I worked with her, and the way she moves was so fitting. Towards the bottom of this post I have a video that was filmed that day to give you a look of what it was like to be there. You can see for yourself this way just how well the atmosphere came together.
This was also the first time I collaborated with a nail artist. Ashley Crowe aka “Astrowifey” went above and beyond my expectations. She designed the most beautiful nails on the spot that perfectly matched our theme. Sharp, holographic, and exploding out of the box. I think this was one of the details that really helped rocket the shoot further. This was also the first time I built as many extravagant sets as I did. Using primarily metal and plastic materials, I had a blast mounting, hanging, collaging, and putting together these tiny worlds. I made 6 sets in total.
One of the best parts of this shoot was how it all came together after it was over. I enjoyed the editing process on such a dynamic look. I used a lot of alternative shooting methods so almost all of the crazy things you see in the photos are actually done in person using only in-camera editing. The biggest challenge here was balancing the light sources from a projector and standard strobes. On top of that it was published by two magazines. Glassbook featured it as one of their online editorials and Ashley Crowe had it published in Tipsy Magazine, a nail art mag that gave it a huge spread. I can’t thank my team enough for making this one such a good experience.

Here’s my team for that day and their websites:
Photographer: Emily Gualdoni
Hair Stylist / Makeup Artist: Kat DeJesus
Manicurist / Nail Artist: Ashley Crowe
Wardrobe Stylist: Sararose Krenger
Wardrobe Designer: Stix and Roses
Accessory Designer: Rachel Frank (Hats were vintage)
Model: Clara Rae
Photographer assistants – Kaitlyn Hope Polles and Rio Wray

And here is the awesome behind the scenes video filmed by Brendan Leahy / Digital Skylight

Tag: edgy fashion

Published in Dark Beauty Magazine | Lichtenstein’s Heroines | Chicago Fashion Photographer

Steel Reserve | Futuristic/Retro Shoot | Chicago Fashion Editorial with Clara Rae