Virtual Synergy 2
Over the past 4 months, during the pandemic, I have been making photographs using Zoom as my studio. The longer we spend in quarantine the more my photo portrait series grows, and the more I experiment with this new photo environment.
GISELA OCHOA
Photographing Gisela was easy and smooth, much like her personality. She has been my model for over 2 years, a part of all my experiments. When we started, like with everyone else, I had no specific plans for this photoshoot. I was open to her ideas and engaging with her environment. Right away she suggested using plants as props. Because of the dark background, her placement, modeling and colored filters, it really felt like I was photographing her in the wild. We played with different angles and backgrounds. Gisela was moving from her chair to underneath her table and jumped outside her window. It was surreal seeing her room become so different with each setting and see Gisela changing within it.
ROSHANI PISE
All previous models that I worked with during these zoom photoshoots I had captured with my camera in person in the past. Roshani Pise was my first trial in working with a model I had not worked with before — not really knowing how she would like to present herself and be seen through the camera. This was challenging for me — establishing trust between us through the screen. But Roshani surprised me with her approach, resulting in unexpected and intriguing shots. She was not really interested in close-up portraits. She posed offering full body shots and shots of just her hands. She also interacted with her dog Ceasar, challenging me to capture a still and clear moment between the two. She was happy with the shots and texted “Only you’re allowed to take pics of me,” once again making me feel grateful to be able to collaborate with such creative friends, who enjoy this process as much as I do.
JAHI LENDOR
One of the few daylight photoshoots happened with Jahi Lendor. We decided to take advantage of daylight and implement elements that would not work the same at night. I barely used any props for this photoshoot due to the already rich setup that Jahi created. I implemented a sheet of plastic for the first time, as a texture element, highlighting a feeling of separation in the pandemic. Black & yellow tapes were inspired by Jahi’s campaign “Black Boom, Black Bloom”. Throughout the process he was actively moving, changing, posing, coming up with different compositions and bringing in new props. It was one of the most dynamic photoshoots. I quickly found myself just pushing the shutter speed button to capture Jahi in action.
