Photographing the "Saint Lolita" runway collection!

Ugh, man. This day. I’m sort of reeling from the Philando Castile news and the implications of that on my city, and our country. I just got home from the Capitol protest and march, and I’m mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted. I need some distance from all that, so rather than just run away from those feelings, I decided to get back at my desk and work. Work is therapeutic for me. Nothing balances my serotonin like productivity. 

I’m riffling through some work I’ve been wanting to share and came across this collections of images from a fashion event held in Minneapolis a couple of years ago. The Steemit tie in here is that the entire event and collection was designed by Teaser by Yuli, the designer I collaborated with for years and talked about at length in my previous post, “Reflecting on my first editorial fashion shoot w/ Teaser by Yuli”. One of the models in this collection is Trisha Lynn, recently featured in my post “A collection of photos w/ Trisha Lynn!”, and the handsome fella at the bottom is our very own @bryanpolitte.

This runway show was for Yuli’s “Saint Lolita” collection. She asked me to photograph the event and although this isn’t my specialty, I was excited to try and capture the best images I could. Yuli and I had a special relationship at the time. We were collaborators on so many projects that shook up the fashion industry in Minneapolis, and we managed to do so from outside the “agency world”. We had a deep mutual respect for one another as creative forces and I’d seen this collection coming together for an entire year before the event.

It was exceptional. Nothing short of awe inspiring, showing off more than two dozen dresses, and entire collection of mens wear, and packed house of hundreds at the Amsterdam bar in St. Paul. Everything was thought out to the smallest detail. The bags for VIP guests sitting on their chairs with their names and a flower from the Lolita collection. It was brilliant. All the traits that I came to love and admire of Yuli’s production. If it wasn’t perfect, she wouldn’t put her name on it. 

From a photography point of view, this was a challenge. It was dark and the models moved fast and bold. I used as slow of a shutter release as I could safely manage and a 1600ISO at ƒ/1.4 with a 50mm lens. It worked for the most part, although I ended up with far more missed exposures than print worthy photos. Yuli did give me the perfect place to shoot, right at the end of the runway with the best lighting the venue could offer.

This was a much needed break so thank you for reading and giving me a chance to share this story and work. I post daily so for more photography, art, illustration and thoughts on life, follow me @kommienezuspadt!