I feel... inspired?

I'm not usually one to look at photo shoots in fashion magazines and feel the urge to seek out the photographer. I'm often inspired by the clothing, or the styling, and occasionally a single picture will stand out, but I've never had an entire shoot really stand out for me... until today.

I've been reading through a backlog of fashion magazines this month, and so I just got through March's Elle today. I was 90% through the magazine, flipping through, jealous of clothes I'd never be ale to afford, when this image stopped me in my tracks:

I had no idea who the model (actress Laura Ramsay) or designer was (Giles), and the location is nothing stunning on its own, yet something about this photo floored me. I immediately pored over the rest of the photos.

 

Jena Malone, Balenciaga gladiator boots, and Rodarte? I never would have combined these three, but it works here.

Who knew that a trailer park would make Junya Watanabe's designs look so wearable? And is anyone else getting a little Sienna vibe from this photo?

Now, I realize that a lot of the credit goes to both the stylist and prop stylist for this shoot. But I feel like the lighting really makes a lot of these shots. The clear desert lighting in the first two shots absolutely brings out how delicate the dresses are (petals on the Giles dress are made of rubber people... rubber!). Then the strand of Christmas lights in the back of the bottom photos really emphasizes the draping of the Junya dress.  Noticing details like that really requires an incredible eye.

The photographer for this shoot was Carter Smith. She's got a movie called The Ruins (starring the girls above) coming out soon, and I'll be interested to see if she can retain that eye behind a video lense as well. She also shot the cover shoot for April's Elle with Natalie Portman, so keep your eye out for that.