Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (11) - Check!

Yes, I had wet feet this morning when I removed the fresh snow from my car, yes, they were cold as I walked in the snow... But hey, it can't always be hiking boots! Checks & fur on the day before Christmas, what else? Happy holidays everybody!

Ralph Lauren Polo Jeans fur trimmed hoodie, cable knit sweater, A-line skirt from See by Chloe & Belstaff boots

VP shoot: Samira

Before the snowstorms started (it was even colder then), I shot the first series of the VP flyer shoots. This is Samira:

 

 

I just can't help it...

I had to go out in the snow, in the sun, with a camera.
Like so many other people, I find it fascinating. Snow transforms it all, in this case, a rather grey and dull office building park into a winter 'wonderland'.

But once I was out, I realized there wasn't much to be done. It all looks breathtaking, but it's still an office building park. And suddenly I was taken back to my student years where the assignment was to 'go out and take pictures'. It's a challenge, to look past the obvious. Try to change the angle, get on your knees, shoot 'from the hip'... It's easy of course, breathtaking places bring the most amazing landscape pictures. But try and look at what you have, close to you and try to make it amazing/surprising/new...

With the limited time and space I had, I only found this branch from a plant bathing in the sun, and loved it's shadow. Not original, I know, but I guess I was just feeling like that plant, cold but enjoying the warmth of the sun.

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (10) - Oh no way

Oh no, not going out with nice clothes and shoes today. Ice all over, snow, salt and cold. So I'm on strike, for this number 10. If I had stayed in today, I would have spent the day under a blanket!
But I made my way to work, with hiking boots (not heeled :-), woolly gloves and thick sweaters, not fashion but warm, safe & cosy! Enjoy the week-end

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (9) - (Faux) Fur

Polar temperatures outside, so today's Fashion Photo Booth is a mix of furs & knit. I love these checkered pants from 5th Avenue Shoe Repair, great brand but hard to find (in Belgium).

Faux fur gilet by Topshop, high heel hiker brown boots from Aldo, 5th Avenue Shoe Repair pants
& Fay white fur handbag

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (8) - A biker jacket

Plans for this weekend? A saturday with friends and a double photo shoot on sunday... Packed but fun!

Morgan leather biker jacket, grey and gold Alexander McQueen sweater, black satin shorts, a white shirt and Belstaff boots

Snubbing Lanvin for H&M

What kind of person buys the Designer for H&M range? And don't tell me it's people interested in fashion but with not enough money to afford the real stuff... Cause I don't believe that.
If you're interested in fashion and you have taste, you can find your style at any price. Don't waste your money on these collections, be resourceful, be imaginative and please, don't be a sheep.

Last weekend, I've been looking online for an evening dress (I have this special evening in December) And yes, OK, I can spend a bit of money on it. But one thing is for sure, I will not spend 200 euros on a Lanvin for H&M dress.
Look at alternatives, they'll usually have a better quality, better cuts and will be more original. And you won't be remembered as "the girl with the Lanvin for H&M dress anno 2010". And don't get me started over the shoes :-)

Above all, it's not worth being stabbed for (New York, last Saturday).

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (7) - Hooded

According to the french Belgian blog The Fashionalists, being 'hooded' is one of the big trends of this winter... So I tried it for this FFFPB but I couldn't help feel like a) an Easter bunny and also b) the virgin Mary. For some advice on knots and such, make sure to check out Liberty (of London) and their great videos The Liberty Way To Tie A Scarf.

Belstaff boots, leggings, Superdry sweater, black satin jacket and my mom's very old checkered scarf

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (6) - Marc Jacobs

This is a very special dress to me, I think it's the only dress I own with a not-cinched waist. Despite that, it's amazing in any circumstance. In this case, casual, at the office...

Marc by Marc Jacobs black and blue checkered dress with clasps, MiuMiu wedges
and blue thights, Ise Miyake bracelet

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (5) - It's like summer...

17°C during the day, 14°C at night: it's incredibly soft weather for Belgium this time of year. So I'm still enjoying short sleeves for a bit...

Skinny jeans, McQ waistcoat, short sleeves checkered shirt by Polo Jeans, Ellen Verbeek shoes and the must have of last summer (and a few summers before that too) a white watch
(in this case, Ice Watch)

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (4) - A hint of aviation

Heading into a long week-end and I'm wearing a mix of fabrics, with two key seasonal themes: aviation & navy.

Black satin jacket with pilot's wings brooch, skinny jeans, chunky hoody from Superdry, striped scarf and Marc by Marc Jacobs boots

Visual analogy database

Call me lazy, but instead of doing the thinking,  I'd love to be able to type the name of an object in a database, hit enter and be served with a list of things of a similar shape.

Rope would get your these results: snake, wire, hair, hose, ... and so on.
Maybe this could be a user-managed database since each object would be defined compared to another one (and not only to a trait).

What for? Visual analogy is one of the methods used in advertisement. Finding those never-seen before combos requires not to think logically but purely by association of shape, use, effect...

Delifrance, Ready to bake at home

I found a rather interesting document: "A Computational Model for Visual Metaphors" from German and Indians researchers and I quote:  

"Perceptual similarity seems to play a major role in the generation and interpretation of visual metaphors: Two conceptually different objects are associated with each other due to their similar appearance. Based on this new alignment, conceptual properties of the source can be transferred and applied to the target, which enables a completely new, metaphoric interpretation of the target. In this paper, we suggest a formal framework to analyze metaphorical relations: HDTP (Heuristic-Driven Theory Projection) computes an interpretation via a mapping based on common facts describing the visual appearance. Afterwards it transfers conceptual properties."

Now I need to find out what came out of that...
To be continued.

Blissfully shielded...

When I look for images for professional communications, I usually look on stock photography sites like Getty Images, Corbis, even Shutterstock (for anything but portraits). But you know, today, I searched in Google images again and it wasn't pretty. When looking for a "team of workers" (yes, I know) I found so many wrong, dubious, completely irrelevant images. A picture of naked team workers (posing to boost morale of the team), one of Mr T, a french pit bull with hair extensions...

If however I would find a suitable image on via Google Images, I'm not sure I'd be able to use it because of copyrights. How do you find the owner of an image posted on the web (loose from any personal Facebook/Flickr/DeviantART/... account)? I have been contacting people in the past years about the use of their images. Most of the time, people are very happy to allow you to use them for a token amount of money. With the prices of the big stock photography site, you shouldn't hesitate if it's the image you really want.

On the other side, it made me wish Corbis and the likes had a 'snapshot' library for those day to day, good but not that great images. Badly framed, underlit/overlit, wrong composition, wrong people...  Ok, Flickr might be a better place to find those but their search engine is nowhere compared to that of Getty for example (search on viewpoint, number of people, location, ...)

To find what I want, I might have to go shoot those snapshots myself. Ah well.
There's worse things in the world, like some spam e-mail claiming I shouldn't waist time at University... I wonder why.

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (3) - Back to black

I've worn loads of black in the past. And I've thrown away loads of black clothes but this black leather pleated skirt, I could never bring myself to get rid of it. Boy, am I glad! And since leather is at the top of the must-have fabrics this winter... How to do black (again)

Black leather pleated skirt, Belstaff boots, black turtle neck sweater, Vivienne Westwood red trench, chunky wool snood & leopard print fingerless mittens from TopShop

On empathy & photography

I've seen a lot of different people in front of my lens. Lately, due to the type of work I'm doing, they're not experienced, therefore not confident.
I can guess that for other photographers, it's a source of bother but I'm really enjoying this. It requires a lot of empathy and it seems to come as a second nature to me when I'm behind the camera. I love how you need to guide them, show them, bring them over to the fun side of it. Oh, I know it's not easy. I wouldn't want to stand on that side of the lens either. Maybe what I say to my models is what I would tell myself if I was in their place. Or what I wish the photographer would say to make me feel better.

When I see them get into it, it's a glorious feeling of achievement, and I know that the picture will be worth it because the model is enjoying being there and feels at ease.

I've heard horrible stories from models, about having hours long shoots and having to do all kinds of ridiculous things for a result of... one good photograph. Come on. When you see the sparkle go out of your model's eyes, you know you should have quit already.

So this is it. Read your models, feel what they feel and put yourself in their shoes. I believe it works better than the Hollywood stereotype of the "impatient fashion photographer who shouts at everybody on the set". Of course, if it's an expensive experienced model who can't do her job and wastes everybody's time: I might be like that too.

Whatever works for you of course, for me, I think empathy is a must.

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (2) - Summer's back?

Today, 22°. Amazing weather for an 8th of October. So it kinda felt like a last chance at wearing summer-like clothes so there you go!

Sarah Pacini beige thin sweater with TopShop military brooch (bringing in a bit of Fall trends here), McQ harem pants & MiuMiu wedges (will miss them during winter)

Petit Gateau's amazing creations

These were taken at Petit Gateau's stand last week-end at a bridal fair in Antwerp. I worked with Petit Gateau for my latest project "Let her eat cake" 

 

Petit Gateau:  http://www.petitgateau.be/

Today on my desk - Vogue 90 ans d'exces

Ok, better late than never. I know you lot had it when it was still warm from the presses... And yes, alright, I confess, I'm an Elle girl so I didn't :-)

But I couldn't miss the Vogue anniversary edition could I? Well, I can't tell you much about it though.  Save that I've waded through the first 50 pages of ads and that's all the time I had then.

Must add reading Vogue to my to-do list.

Louise Night 30/09

Last night I was at the Louise Night for an evening of shopping in the fanciest neighborhood of Brussels. I would have loved to be at the Fashion Night Out in London in September, but this kind of satisfied my need for fashion & bubbles!
As my tweet said yesterday "#TodayImWearing Gap beige military roll up cotton pants, brown heeled hiker boots, white shirt and @Burberry aviator jacket ♥" and so I was.

What I loved about it was the atmosphere in every shop, people talked, shop assistant to customer, customer to customer, very relaxed, no rush, no push. Chanel was brilliant, got nails done there and grabbed one of the limited edition "Khaki brun" polish, perfect fit with the aviator jacket. I also got a darkblue Mayfair Hackett tie for my boyfriend who sadly couldn't be present. I also visited the brand new Burberry shop, it has a nicer collection than the one in Antwerp but still pales in comparison with those in London.

I've not been in every shop/venue. There were about three hundred locations and that was a bit much for a few hours. Especially if you're having a drink in every shop (make a mental note for the next edition: rent a room at the Sofitel, have champagne in every shop and have midnight food in the Crystal Lounge)

Great initiative, we want more!

Today on my desk - Moo cards

Being a photographer and an Art Director is not always a good thing.
I've been toying with an idea for new business cards for months: choice of paper, choice of font, brand style, minimalistic, perforated, cut, drilled, metallic inks... I couldn't choose.
And on top of that, I was confronted with the costs too, let's be reasonable here: I was gonna hand out cards at 3 euros a pop!

So in the end, I asked myself what I wanted people to remember me by. I think my work can be described as very varied, and I think that's a plus. Is a 3 euro minimalistic business card really reflecting that? I didn't think so.

I found Moo by accident, but loved their site, tone of voice and products (I found out later that they also have a great customer service).
Moo allows you to print business cards where one side remains constant, while on the other side, you choose how many different images you want. It's a great idea for a photographer since you can display your work, and let your customer choose their favorite. I'll be updating my cards on a regular basis, as my portfolio changes.

So today on my desk: my Moo business cards!

 

Moo http://uk.moo.com/

Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth (1) - Winter is coming

Welcome to the first Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth post!
From this friday onwards, and every friday that follows you'll get a glimpse of my Friday outfit. Enjoy!

Pepe Jeans brown dress with bow detail, Topshop Faux-Fur bodywarmer,
Aldo brown heeled hiker boots & beloved C'n'C suede handbag

Fashion Photo Booth - Vivienne Westwood

I've been toying with the idea of taking snapshots of my outfits but being a photographer, I wanted it to be a concept in itself... I thought of putting a camera in the lift, taking a snap everytime you go in but I think the neighboors wouldn't have been too happy. Standing in front of my own camera just isn't for me either... Long live Apple for doing fun products like Photo booth.

This is a test, but starting Friday, expect Fraikin's Friday Fashion Photo Booth, to come every Friday (!) to Twitter, Facebook and other social networks around yours.

Vivienne Westwood Prince de Galles skirt (part of a 2-piece suit but today's weather turned out too good for a jacket) and Marc by Marc Jacobs t-shirt. Shoes are from Chie Mihara

Burberry show - front seat

I'm not (yet) on any list, I don't (yet) get the fancy invitations made of amazing materials & colors, I'm not (yet) in London and so, sadly, I couldn't attend the Fashion shows during London Fashion Week.

Today though, I was sitting at the front seat at Burberry's. Watching it being streamed live, I felt like I was part of the buzz. And with the comments from others, I also felt as if I was sitting next to 'the girls' fawning all over the new collection. Well that was fun.

Well, of course, it's not the same. But after seeing a week worth of Tweets about this show and that, it was getting depressing! And that's not counting New York fashion week the week before, and Milan coming next.

About the collection itself? Very nice, as usual. It seems Burberry keeps on reinventing their trench, it's their signature item (together with the checkered pattern) but somehow they always find ways to make it exciting again each year. I love their colored clutches (lime green, cyan...). Not too fond of the silver leggings. And yeah, couldn't miss the biker jacket in all it's shapes, fabric, colors...
The added bonus being that you can now order coats and bags from the runway... Well you can try, it might already be sold out by now.

The sun did shine today, and it suddenly felt like summer again. Watching the SS11 collection was inspiring. But I'd like the temperature to drop now because I'm really looking forward to wear my Burberry shearling aviator jacket!

Hexad

MUA Daisy Vermandel & Obskur.
Models from left to right  Elvire, Inge, Maria, Caroline, Lynn & Sabina

Hexad. The 6. Women, mythologie & symbols have given shape to this serie, together with countless hours to determine the personnaes, the clothing, the location, the models and so many more hours to coordinate it all.

Two shoots were planned, and the weather couldn't have been more opposite. For the first, the temperature went over the 30° while the rain threatened to pour on the second! I suffered bug bites on the first (note to self, no shorts when going in the wild), on the second I drenched my jeans and shoes to shoot Lynn in the pond (thank you Lynn for going in first)... I had fun with old friends and enjoyed the company of new ones...

I really enjoyed taking these, so enjoy watching them!

 

  

  

  

  

Thank you Daisy, Elvire, Inge, Maria, Obskur MUA, Caroline, Lynn, Sabina & Erna. 

Let her eat cake!

I noticed that lack of sleep usually puts me either in a lethargic state, or in a crazy adrenaline driven mode. Unfortunately, I can't tell when which will happen so it's down to luck really.
Thursday was one of those insanely busy yet brilliant days. And good for me, adrenaline driven.

There was the early wake-up call, the mad dash for the cake (over cobbled roads), the preservation of said cake (we've had a terrible weather so far but Thursday the sun decided to shine so I spent the drive back with the air co turned up to the max)... 
And then the shoot. Great fun girls! Sanne did a wonderful job on the make-up and styling and Floriane was so enthusiastic about munching on the cake I thought she hadn't eaten for days.

And of course, thank you Petit Gateau for this masterwork!
Here are my two favorite images from the shoot, more will follow on www.stephaniefraikin.com.
 

Petit Gateau

Do you remember I was looking for a cake-artist the other day? Well, I found it!
I'll be working together with Petit Gateau: an Antwerp based company specialized in all sorts of cakes (weddings, birthdays...).
They do an amazing work!
Why would you go to a (boring) local baker when you can have these for an afternoon High Tea?

So thanks to this collaboration, and if all goes well and the cake survives the car trip: the shoot will take place on Thursday with Floriane as model & Sanne de Wolf as MUA.
Keep posted, I'll show the final image here in a few days...

Petit Gateau:  http://www.petitgateau.be/
Sanne de Wolf: http://www.sdw-stylingandmodeling.be/

Foodprint publication

This Belgian publication (Foodprint) gives an overview of all food related topics and showcases a selection of Belgian top photographers.
For last year's edition, I invited Ellen for a night-time picnic, where as a Russian princess she indulged, with a bit of guilt, in a few precious strawberries.

This year, I have something else in mind.
Keep an eye on all channels, by the end of next week I should be able to show you something: it's gonna be finger licking good.

More about Foodprint: http://www.foodprint.be

It's all about the details

London, day 2.

The charms of the english country side in the city? On Sloane Street? Hackett, of course.
My boyfriend, Thomas, is a huge fan of this extremely british brand (men only) and what can I say, he has great taste! When we got to the Hackett shop, we raised some eyebrows... I guess it was partly due to the fact that unlike most couples, I'm not the one selecting the clothes.
That and the fact that we're both very attentive to details which made the shop attendant curious (he thought we were designers or merchants, checking Hackett out... Maybe we should be mystery shoppers?).
The only shame about it though, is that just like other brands, their 'slim fit' shirts aren't really slim... As we already knew, American brands (Brooks Brothers, Ralph Lauren...) don't do slim fits. So why not, Hackett? After all, you provide for the rowing team, aren't they eager to wear slim fits?

I'll spare you the details of the afternoon, we visited more shops, and more shops... Ah, London!

As we had reservation for Bentley's at 8, we thought about getting a quick aperitif before hand. I had found Dirty Martini online and it seemed like a good moment to try it out. Well, it didn't work as planned: I guess the happy hour combined with a table of 8 ordering cocktails didn't help us, but soon, it was 5 to 8 and we had to rush, without martini's! So sorry about that, Dirty Martini, we'll come back.

Bentley's was once again, a perfect experience. We love to sit at the bar, watch the waiters fight the oysters... The food was delicious: grilled squid with hummous and of course lobster linguini. We finished off with a shared dessert, lemon curd-like mixture with rasperry and shortbread: amazing!

But more disappointment followed from the Gaucho, not allowing us to have drinks on their terrace anymore (but we could stay seated if we wanted to?).
For a friday evening, London was quick to go to bed... we followed and retired to our room in the St Martin's lane, happy and exhausted

On a side note, I'm nicely surprised by how friendly all shop attendants are in London. They help you with a smile, they ask about you, where you come from, they give you a personalized card so you can contact them regarding your purchase... It never happens in Belgium. In most case, you feel like you're lucky to be allowed in the shop. Beware shop attendants, if I'm not feeling welcome, I won't give you my money. There.

The A/W 2010 jacket

London, day 1.

Since end of July, I have been drooling all over any ad, catwalk photo or edit featuring this amazing shearling aviator jacket by Burberry Prorsum.
So when we got to London, one of the first things we did was checking out all Burberry stores in the center (Regent Street, Bond Street): no luck.

Then we headed to Liberty's where I try on a nice Rick Owens jacket and a terrible Acne version of the Shearling aviator jacket, it's not looking good, it's big, it's shapeless... But I secretly hope that 'the one' will be different.

Since the jacket I'm looking for sold out on net-a-porter in a few days,  I couldn't believe my luck when I saw it hanging in the Burberry store in Selfridges!

I'm afraid to try it on, and I'm right to be: it fits like a glove and it looks awesome (the over-sized collar is wow, the materials are gorgeous and the model is cinched at the waist making the aviator jacket more feminine than ever). Last one in my size in the whole of England, oh my. All I need is the "Just get it" from my approving boyfriend's lips and I do. 

I remember Coraline (the friendly french girl at Burberry's) saying something like "You can bring it back in the 14 days if you change your mind" and the boyfriend thinking "oh, no, not gonna happen".

This jacket is mine!
Waiting for the temperature to drop under 15°C, surely, it's ok to wear shearling then.

The IT(able) bag

Having completed my previous personal project (it's a secret for now, but I will tell you more in September), I've started brainstorming about the next. I have an image in my mind but in order to make it, I need a cake artist (is that how you call them?).

Basically, a cook, a baker with a creative itch who could make me a cake shaped like... a fashionable handbag! The complete picture (with fashionable model) will be published in a book about food so exposure for the artist is sure to follow.

It doesn't necessarily need to be pink, but it does need to be real size. If you know a "cake artist", don't hesitate to contact me via www.stephaniefraikin.com

Hedgren - This bag is mine

For this assignment, the aim was to create a special serie of images for the back to school collection of Hedgren. We planned the shoot in June, thinking the weather to be mild: it was freezing!
Despite the cold, I loved the atmosphere, the enthusiasm of the models (Lynn and Ellen) and the constant bouncing on/off ideas with Gunther, AD for Hedgren and former colleague.

As the two girls started fighting for the bags, the concept of the shoot came to life: This bag is mine.

MUA Sanne de Wolf

Models Lynn Vandenbroeck, Ellen Deckx

Hedgren bags and travelgear http://www.hedgren.com
Make-up artist Sanne de Wolf http://www.sdw-stylingandmodeling.be/

Eté des portraits - Bourbon-Lancy

L'été des portraits is a great initiative. For the whole summer, more than 1500 photographic portraits are being displayed in the streets and buildings of a small french town: Bourbon-Lancy.

I have selected these 3 portraits this year. It was not an easy choice, especially when combining images that are not originally part of a serie. The ballerina is one of my favourite images of last year and the two others complement perfectly its ethereal aspect.

MUA Daisy Vermandel

Models Kathleen, Nini, Puck

If you happen to be in the neighborhood, make a small detour, it's worth it!
Eté des portraits