Humbled by the fact that I was one of the few chosen for this concept photo shoot by my friend Milton Washington, I searched for outfits and looks that would match his vision.
Impressed by his amazing eye and work that is totally different than my usual natural hairstyle photo shoots, I knew I had to bring something else but what?
Full body shots, although I did a few, are something else. 99% of my photos are headshots taken by myself with sweat pants and slippers underneath a nice top, styled tresses and accessories that pop. Now, I had to think completely different and bring something new.
Fashionable & Grown Black Folks with Style
This was a photo shoot for Fashionable & Grown Black Folks with Style in New York. One of the great things about New York is that people are not afraid to stand out. Milton wanted attitude!
I realized that my Surinamese-Dutch culture is still deeply rooted in me when I thought about the attitude and standing out part. In Holland they have a saying 'Act normal that is crazy enough' which basically comes down to tone it down please, don't even try to stand out.
Funny enough, this reminded me of friends who told me that I dress nice but still quite reserved and that I am holding back. This photo shoot offered an opportunity to deal with all of that.
It took a me minute to get out of my comfortable zone but I have to say Milton was a great help. The first outfits were basically a no or met with 'What else you got?'
The outfit
Luckily I still had an outfit from one of our vendors that needed to be added to the WhatNaturalsLove.com marketplace. It was this striking green reversible top with bat wing sleeves and a matching skirt.
Milton immediately loved it. The design was certainly unique and definitely had room to add attitude. Now all I had to do was accessorize.
The photo shoot
The shoot in SoHo, Manhattan was an amazing experience. Where I normally smile and do different poses every couple of seconds, I could not smile, had to hold still for minutes in a row with a look somewhere in the New York distance.
I felt like a mime sometimes and you know what was interesting? It was calming. Almost like I slowly got into a zone.
I learned to stand strong, keep my legs firm while pulling my chest up, belly in, eyes open and chin leveled. And I tell you what, the attitude came out! Not only that, it was fun! Fun, fun, fun!
With music on his iPhone we started dancing in the middle of shooting and time lapse rolling on his Mac book pro.
The photos
The photos are still in the works but Milton is happy and to me that is all that counts. These are only a few. I hope you enjoy them at least as much as I enjoyed the shoot.
The Reversible top and skirt
The top and skirt are now available in the store. I only had one look for this photo shoot but the set allows you at least 5 different looks. Check it out Reversible top with bat sleeves and matching skirt.
To keep up with Milton's Project visit Slickyboy Studios
