fall '14 cultural preview

The October issue of ELLE Québec featured a fall cultural preview of the local scene.  I was invited to style the men in this project, who were three easy-going dudes who didn't mind wearing sweaters and jackets in July.  At the top: thespian Benoît McGinnis opened the portfolio wearing pieces from Diesel and John Varvatos (from Holt Renfrew).  Next we had musician Pierre Kwenders, looking regal in a smattering of patterns.  I layered him in pieces from Diesel, Matinique, G-Star Raw, DJAB from Simons, Breed Knitting, kicks from Aldo and specs from Céline.   Finally, the very charming screen actor Victor Andrés Trelles-Turgeon closed the portfolio layered in Diesel, Steven Alan and Michael Kors.

The photography was achieved with the wizardry of Marc Montplaisir and was definitely #nofilter.  Montplaisir has been perfecting his ambrotype photography for more than a decade, finding the balance between the exposure (controlled by the removal of a lens cap) and the chemicals at work in the darkroom.  Above, the exposed glass plates of Trelles-Turgeon and McGinnis sit in a rack to dry and reveal the ghostly images.  This was not a shoot of hundreds of clicks a day from a DSLR, more accurately, each photograph took about three to five plates, and we patiently waited while Montplaisir went to the darkroom to develop the image.

Our three subjects behind the camera

#slowphotography