Because fashion is certainly one way to satisfy our need for nostalgia…
Here’s how I ended up doing my first nostalgic fashion shoot in a seedy Queens, New York motel room dubbed the “Love Nest” and why there is more to fashion than just recycling trends.
It all happened so quickly that I did not get a chance to bring you along for the shoot (the room was crowded anyway) but I was able to record a few of those “you had to be there” bits in between quick changes, so that you could feel as though you were.
“Have you ever thought about photographing people?”
That is how the direct message read on my Instagram one day last year. The Creative Director of the French Fashion House Eva Ngierof was attracted to the nostalgia on my Instagram feed and contacted me about taking a few photos for a new line of clothes they were developing.
Eva Ngierof is a luxury fashion house founded in 2018 by French tailor Eva Ferron. Eva chooses to maintain a private life, while the brand’s Creative Director, Meta, is the driving force and face of the brand. If you are wondering about the brand’s name, it is all part of Eva’s wish to retain some semblance of anonymity. Her last name loosely resembles the word “Foreign” which spelled backwards is “Ngierof.”
In addition to breaking down and flipping around words, Eva Ngierof is also known for its deconstruction of clothing pieces, use of recycled fabrics and materials, and experimentation with past and currents trends. Eva Ngierof tears down the rules of the “traditional fashion system” and aims to operate within its own set of standards. Their goal is to provide distinct and limited-run items that can be collected like works of art.
One might say that a particular brand has a cutting-edge approach to vintage fashion…but I think it is the complete opposite with Eva Ngierof. I would say they have a vintage approach to cutting edge fashion and that is what drew me to this project.
I am not what you would call a “trendsetter” — or even follower for that matter. But I do love a good style and am attracted to beautiful fabrics and designs. Those that harken to days past are my favorite: the prints and prettiness of the 40s, the colorful flair of the 50s, the fabric and textures of the 60s, the hemlines and patterns of the 70s, the boldness (and of course denim) of the 80s, the grunge and moodiness of the 90s, and all of the recent reinterpretations of those eras.
Fashion encapsulates the best and worst of the decades that gave birth to it. It records it in a visual way that no other medium can. It is no surprise that, in 2018, Nostalgia was the most searched for keyword in fashion trends. And there I was, tasked with discovering and capturing nostalgia within this very modish realm — and I was shaking in my old (I think they were from like 10 seasons ago!) scuffed up boots.
I had not, up until this point, ever photographed people outside of my family and random strangers on the street. And even then I shied away from making them the subject of my photos.
I was used to shooting miniatures, landscapes, buildings, neon signs, and major attractions. But I was always hesitant with people. I never wanted to invade someone’s personal space. I was always too shy to ask for permission and to embarrassed to imagine what would happen if they caught me taking a picture of them on the sly.
Secretly though, as a storyteller and a nostalgic, I dreamed about it. Portraits open the door to a whole other world of storytelling. There are all these new people, places, and things, waiting to be discovered in the memories of others, if only we dare approach them.
I believe that memories are best understood when looking directly into the eyes of the people recalling those very personal moments of their lives. It is there that we discover empathy, sadness, joy, love, and all of those emotions that make us human and connect us to one another.
Aside from simply approaching them, there is one thing about photographing people that I was quite nervous about…they do not sit still. They move. You could take hours to shoot a neon sign or some old building and nothing would change. Well, maybe they might turn the lights off on you, but something like a landscape you can take your time with.
But people breathe, they itch, they cough, they sneeze, laugh at awkward moments, they get hungry and their stomachs growl, they get sleepy and they yawn, they get bored and their impatience begins to wear on their faces — all things which may not make for a fabulous fashion shoot.
The day of the shoot arrives and I am a nervous wreck. I drive several hours to the seedy Queens, New York motel where the shoot will take place. I will not mention which one on here as I do not want to be the one to blab about someone else’s reputation — I will leave that up to the local newspapers.
Let’s just say my biggest fear going in that day aside from the nagging Can I really do this? question of doubt in my head, was the possibility of bed bugs and pimps. While I will not share the name of the place, I can tell you the nostalgia in there was through the roof! That was the reason why Eva Ngierof chose this location for their shoot.
In preparing for this day, I researched the various definitions of “deconstruction.” With its use of non-traditional fabrics, asymmetric patterns and proportions, and exposed zippers and liners, this practice is the very core of Eva Ngierof’s work. One major thing I learned very quickly while on set…my “perfectionist ways,” as the Creative Director called it, and my attempts to make everything fit perfectly into a neat little frame and package, did not mesh well with the art of deconstruction.
Never-the-less, the photo shoot went well. I learned how to communicate with the models and how to collaborate on someone else’s creative vision, and most importantly, I learned that this process of breaking down, digging deep, and challenging the day-to-day norms does not only apply to Eva Ngierof’s clothes.
There comes a time when we must examine our lives. Our inner selves and our relation to time and space. The places we go, the people we meet, and even the clothes that we wear. To examine something is to take apart in order to reveal what something is made of. Its basis or composition. Often, it is there that we find the intention behind it all. We expose biases, flaws, and inconsistencies. We dig deep down to its rawest form. We break it down into its separate parts in order to understand its meaning, especially when this is different from how it was previously understood.
Maybe that is why we look back all the time. Maybe nostalgia is just our way of getting back to the basics…of breaking down moments and memories in an attempt to understand the present and plan for the future.
There is indeed a love affair between fashion and nostalgia and I was there to witness it. Perhaps it was the setting that gave off these film noir vibes or the clothes that felt like remnants from a 70s & 80s New York. The photo shoot felt voyeuristic in every sense of the word. From the location, to the things that were happening out in the hall and in other rooms, to those in our own room trying to angle out a creative space amongst the oversized and awkwardly placed furniture, and finally to myself…as a newbie to this whole experience. But I can say this one thing about my time in the Love Nest, I think I was bitten. Thankfully, not by a bed bug, but rather — the fashion bug! I have a long way to go before I am capable of throwing together an “in season” ensemble, but for now, I’m simply satisfied photographing one.
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