concept: september 2019 shoot

I’ve begun concepting my next shoot, and I’m thrilled for it to be a complete departure from the last one. I’ve been fascinated by various photo series of abandoned buildings for awhile now, be it Detroit, the abandoned malls and theme parks of America, Chernobyl (long before the Netflix series was a thing), or even the Smallpox Hospital on Roosevelt Island, which is very close to where I live in Midtown East and which I visit surprisingly often. I want to sneak inside it so badly, but I’m not trying to die or get arrested, yet. (That said, exploring a ghost town for a weekend sounds like a delightful date idea, if there ever was one.)

Anyway, since creepy abandoned building aren’t necessarily good branding for a fun, sexy experience, it took me a little while to figure out how to incorporate this concept. I think the answer is, as it often is, in romanticization. In close up shots, artistic layout, and black and white photography. I have a shoot scheduled with Black Lotus, who did my last shoot, and have also recently made a new friend in Columbia’s MFA program whose black and white film work is brilliant. Perhaps I’ll double shoot this one like I did last November.