Locked doors in the last two years forced all of us to think outside the box. Most among us would arguably be able to work from home with our computers, but what happens when the prerequisite of your work is stepping out, choosing locations and studios, and mingling? In its issue for April 2020, Vogue Italia knocked out traditional photoshoots and displayed its revolution – the new normal – quarantine photography. The face of Vogue’s innovation was none other than supermodel Bella Hadid herself. The Bella Hadid Vogue Italia photoshoot created a phenomenon set to continue even as restrictions ease.
The team consisted of merely four individuals – photographer Brianna Capozzi, stylist Haley Woolens, model Bella Hadid and Hadid’s close friend Lauren Perez. While Hadid and Perez were together, the latter assisting the model with lighting, accessories and such, the photographer and the stylist connected with them via FaceTime. A day prior to the shoot, Capizzu and Woolens had called each other to figure out the poses; they then called Hadid for sizing.
Before the shoot began, Hadid, worthy of being called an MUA herself, did her own hair and subtle makeup. Perez arranged a ring light. The cheerful intimacy among the four, FaceTime and an iPhone resulted in what is now permanently etched in Vogue italia’s most historical moments. Hadid’s fans, inspired by the humble tools the group had used to create content for Vogue, started producing similar content, and the results were overwhelming.
Once this figment of imagination had found manifestation, the fashion industry saw a hike in quarantine photography, primarily FaceTime photography. Around the same time, 19 models, including Bella’s sister Gigi Hadid came together for i-D’s Safe+Sound project. Safe+Sound encouraged models to open up about how they were adjusting with the new norms, and the FaceTime concluded in a photoshoot.
Other fashion publications requested models to photograph themselves, securing top-notch results from them. Russian photographer Kamran Verdi crowd-sourced pictures, inviting people to model for him. Taking lockdown photography a step further, Verdi started superimposing the pictures to give a ghost-like impression, allowing the photos to speak for themselves.
While FaceTime photography was what had started this campaign, other photographers came forward to tap into the vast world of the web for pictures. Mert Alas, a renowned fashion photographer, is exemplary in this regard. When he had first requested his Instagram followers to click and send their pictures, he had expected selfies. But the prompt, which was to imagine oneself in a slow movie or dark romance, persuaded his audience to go one step further. What he was met with were over two thousand pictures of house-hold models. The work began. Alas filtered the pictures, edited them like an editorial. The motive here was not to simply photograph people, but to determine how much he could do with a picture. The results came out phenomenal and culminated into a project called the quarantine day.
Marie Claire and GQ also participated in this campaign. Work did not stop, it was only modified to accommodate the circumstance we were all facing.
Looking back today, as lockdown keeps being imposed in one part of the world or another, we can see how Bella Hadid’s Vogue Italia photoshoot prompted creativity to reach its finest. The picture quality that results from FaceTime and lockdown photoshoots might not be the best, but the team that works hard to continue working is, and that’s what matters at the end of the day.
Would photographers and models still continue FaceTime photoshoot and restraints reach their end in the major part of the world? We can’t be too sure of it. While shooting over FaceTime can be convenient for all the parties involved, modeling, designing, assisting and photography are professions that thrive in close proximity.
What we can say for sure is that the new leg of creativity the Bella Hadid Vogue Italia photoshoot has triggered will go down in the art and fashion history.
What are your thoughts about Hadid’s Vogue Italia fashion shoot springing a sensation in the world of photography and fashion? Share with us in the comments below.
Did you like reading abput the Bella Hadid Vogue Italia shoot? Read in detail about Kamran Verdi’s lockdown photography.
0 Comments