"MARCH ON!" Bahamian Flag Inspired Beauty
Model: Tarea Sturrup
Working with a talented makeup artist is always an incredible experience for me. I get these really crazy ideas, and it is still great to know an artist who can help bring your ideas to life. I’ve known Italia of Eye Candy Makeup for some time now, and we’ve worked on epic projects before. We were both coming off a slump due to being quarantined, but when I gave her this idea to collaborate on a shoot where the theme would center around the colours of the Bahamian flag, she did not hesitate.
There was no one else that could do this besides Tarea Sturrup, the reigning Miss Universe Bahamas. We saw via Instagram that she had recently cut her hair too, so her look was perfect for the concept. Italia’s studio was perfect for doing everything. Our concept involved applying dramatic makeup to the model layered with various sizes of gold glitter. I watched her (Italia) like a kid at Disney World for the first time, my mouth hung, seeing her apply everything to the model. It was indeed about an hour and a half build-up that I could appreciate. We sometimes have no idea how much time goes into works of art but experiencing this in person was definitely an eye-opener.
For my lighting, I used a 3 light setup. (see photo) One strobe overhead the model fitted with a blue gel to cast the light over the model's torso while another strobe sits behind the model to her right fit with an orange/yellow gel as an edge light. Another strobe was placed behind me to give the model’s face some fill and what you see are the results are exactly what I wanted. Tarea put the modelling background to the test! I gave minimal direction. Once the flashes began to fire, she moved and danced, slithered and sauntered her head, shoulders, hands and eyes into mystical frames.
I did a BTS (behind the scenes video) of the set so that you guys could see the shoot in its entirety from application to shooting. Please enjoy the images and video. Feel free to leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what you think!
WATCH THE BTS VIDEO
Recreating the iconic model Grace Jones
I knew in 2019, one of the things I wanted to do more of as a photographer was to collaborate more with other creatives. I, like many others, constantly have these new ideas I want to reproduce and working with other experts in the field is always better than trying to produce them on your own. I always find that from doing collaborations, these creatives push me and my work further than the initial idea so when I knew I wanted to recreate the iconic Grace Jones, a collaboration was definitely a must.
“When the idea was presented to me that we are going to recreate Grace Jones it was exciting and I couldn’t wait. Now that I have seen the finish work it makes me feel like doing this again. It’s LIT!” - Lexx Brown
So when I told him about this idea, he immediately jumped on board. I didn't have to look far for an MUA either because I’d known of Krystal Major’s work for some time but again, it wasn't the right time for us to collaborate but when I reached out and proposed my thoughts on working together, she eagerly agreed. Even Ominique, after I reached out to her, said “yes,” with no hesitation.
We had an initial meeting where we put all our thoughts on paper, going back and forth almost like a fencing match until we all agreed on the final output. Lexx, our barber knew what he needed to do to achieve the right shape for her hair and Krystal and I studied the way Grace would apply her makeup and discussed how we could make it more modern while keeping close to what initially inspired the looks.
"It was an honor to have been chosen to channel iconic looks of the fashion legend Ms. Grace Jones! I'm always open to collaborating with other creative minds. Bringing the looks to life was loads of fun and I enjoyed working along with the entire team." - O Burrows
Style-wise, I just kept things simple with a few pieces I’d sourced from around town. The black gloves, big blazers, and sunglasses were all easy to obtain and were simple elements adapted from Grace Jones’ own style. I even added another element by working with Bahamian illustrator Niko Imbert who created his interpretation of the title image.
The day of the shoot was magical. The team and I set up the studio to shoot beauty but I wanted more dramatic lighting so we used two black flags to enhance the shadows on the models face. I also set up 1 large LED light with a deep parabolic umbrella for my main light. Because I’m shooting beauty I know I would want dramatic lighting on the models face and I typically don’t like cumbersome setups so I kept it simple. I was very satisfied with the results. Be sure to enjoy the images below and the behind the scenes video as well.
WATCH THE BEHIND THE SCENES VIDEO
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Beauty Photography In A Pool
I was the first photographer to take professional images of Candice, nearly 9 years ago! A lot has changed since then. We have both grown as individuals and as creatives. Candice, undeniably so has been photographed by nearly every photographer on the island so I knew my approach had to be different, simple, easy...you know, my style! I spoke to Candice and she agreed and she became elated because we hadn't shot in such a very long time.
I wanted to keep things simple. My lighting, styling and even the models hair and makeup I wanted to keep clean and light. I wanted to put the focus on her face because she has such interesting features. She has a timeless and classic beauty reminding me of an actress from the 60s. So using my homemade scrim and a circular reflector, I was able to control the light and get great frames while shooting.
Candice was great, she knew how to angle her face so that I got the looks I had envisioned. In post after retouching, I added some Lightroom magic and it really gave the images the finishing look they needed.
Photography + Styling: Scharad Lightbourne
MUA: T's Artistry
Grips: Tariq Cartwright + Malik Smith
Eve
I was nervous about this concept…at first. I wondered if I would go too far in getting a message across and if people wouldn’t relate or grasp what I was trying to say as a photographer. As a child I’d always seen the portrayal of “Eve” as a beautiful Caucasian woman so my imagination got the best of me and I decided to go against all the imagery I had previously seen in any biblical illustration.
I wanted to stay clean, within my style, conceptualizing elements that would add to my overall canvas. If Eve were a black woman, what would she look like? Would she be tall, short, skinny or fat? Would her hair be natural, straight, up or down? How would I show her creation, her temptation, her becoming more aware of herself and body?
To do this I put together a group of talented and visionary people in the industry that I felt would carry this concept like it was their own. Creative director, David Rolle pieced the looks together for Eve, orchestrating hair and makeup to follow.MUA, Mandisa Kerr worked her magic brush craftily added the right accents and contours to our models face. Hair stylist, Jameelah Thompson along with her assistant Lovena Magloire created amazing crowns of hair to place on our model that fit the theme.
As expected finding a model to play the role of Eve had its challenges. Because of the reptilian element, many models were skeptical about the representation or meaning behind a very recognizable prop. Selvinique Wright however was down the second I was finished explaining the concept to her. She was in and that was all. On set she moved her body and shaped her poses into works of soft and sultry sentences allowing David to form her into the character “Eve.”
Eidolon: The Alien Beauty
In ancient Greek literature, an eidolon (plural: eidola) (image, idol, double, apparition, phantom, ghost) is a spirit-image of a living or dead person; a shade or phantom look-alike of the human form. – Wikipedia
Combining efforts with a killer creative team, photographer Scharad Lightbourne explores a new concept titled “Eidolon” where he attempts to model Clarisse Pelanne into an unknown being. His inspirations coming from fantasy, extra terrestrial life theories and his love of sci-fi, he creates a unique twist on beauty photography. This alien-like beauty shoot is a conceptualization of that. Working along side MUA, Italia Williams of Eye Candy Makeup, Scharad attempts to bring you “Eidolon: We are not the same.”
The entire “alien beauty” concept came to mind literally overnight. But with weeks of research and multiple conversations and brainstorm session with the style team, these images came together beautifully. Initially showing an image to people, their first reaction was that the model appeared “unreal” however, they also commented that you were still able to see the beauty in them.