The assignment was to shoot lingerie. I create a fair amount of boudoir and pinup photography, so this was familiar territory. I was excited to be working with stylist Joey Hewell (one of my favorite artistic collaborators), who got the wardrobe from EMartini, a South Park-area boutique for women's frilly underthings and sleepwear.
Assured of the clothes' elegance and knowing I wanted to shoot photos that women would want to look at (not just men), I decided to forego the Maxim Magazine approach in favor of a softer look and feel. I wanted the shoot to have a sense of having taken place in the past, a feeling of nostalgia, full of longing, and just a touch of melancholy.
To place this series of photographs in an indistinct part of the first half of the last century, I first looked at several historic properties around Mecklenburg County and Lake Wylie. Eventually, I settled on the historic Dunhill Hotel in Uptown. It's one of my favorite buildings in the area and I've shot there several times for weddings and private parties. I knew the elegant penthouse, with it's wonderful art-deco balcony, would give me the look I wanted. The spacious bathroom let hair artist, Stewart Hough, do his incredible work while Joey did makeup.
Generally, I had the models avert their gaze from the camera. They are alone and not posing for the visual consumption of a male viewer--not seducing through the lens. I told the models they are waiting for the return of their lover, perhaps from "the war," and they've made themselves as pretty as possible to welcome him. Only he hasn't yet arrived. Perhaps he's been delayed (no cell phones in the past), maybe something has happened. Eventually, one woman falls asleep waiting. Will she be wakened any moment by her returning hero's knock on the door, or will the sunrise greet her alone? I hope the former. As I said, hope and nostalgia mixed with the smallest dash of melancholy. It's not a literal story told in the photos--but a mood I wanted in the mix. Women are constantly making themselves beautiful for men, struggling to plan and pick just the right outfits to be seductive, hopeful and looking forward to reunions, only to wait for us to get home from the office. We hope they forgive our tardiness and don't let a romantic night be ruined.
To strengthen the mood, I lit the scenes using only one or, at most, two lights mixed with available window lights. I wanted soft, shadowy, and QUIET. Often I scream with my lights--this was a time to whisper.
The final photos are processed to have an aged feel. Faded and soft like memory. They aren't quite black and white and aren't quite color. Then there was the problem of modern bank buildings and parking decks in some of the shots--check out the mag to see how we dealt with those issues.
I called the series "Mayfair." Because I liked the way it felt as word--like a far away old English manor. It's also a nod to the original name of the hotel--an inside joke for my historian friends.
Be sure to pick up the February issue of Elevate Lifestyle Magazine for a look at the final pics after it hits stands early next month. I have to say they are some of my favorite work to date.
Best,
Ryan Sumner
Creative Director
Fenix Fotography
Thanks to Sidney Robertson for the photos of me. Obviously, I cant easily shoot myself working.
