When I visited New York in early 2019, I knew I had to squeeze in a couple of photoshoots. One of these was with a young talent called Bo Ale, a fashion model and actor from Puerto Rico. After shooting a lot of caucasian models in Italian style in Europe, I wanted to do something completely different! So I needed a latino model in a classic suit with a bow tie, smoking cigars in one of the most iconic part of the city Greenwich Village. Next to some of the worlds best jazz clubs and underground bars that helped to form multiple generations of artists from Hancock to Hendrix. Let me tell you about this Men’s Fashion shoot in New York!
When I’m shooting for myself, I like to do another, completely different look. So we waited until dark, then teleported from New York City to Gotham. Photographing in the dark city was inspired by movies we grew up with. Private eye stories, goverment agents, scenes from the Matrix. Then we ended up exhausted on Times Square where we concluded our tour.
” New York has a bluish tint that you cannot measure, still you feel it.”
You can use the same coffee beans in the same type of an espresso machine anywhere else in the world, and you won’t even get near the one you get in Italy. The same goes for the lights in New York. You can use the same camera in the same weather anywhere else, and you won’t get that special color of light that you experience there. New York has a bluish tint that you cannot measure, still you feel it.
Bo is an awsome talent. He stars in films, adverts and regularly does fashion shoots in studio and outdoors as well. Photo only models may know a lot of poses, but they just don’t have the facial expressions an actor has. A good actor can not only convey a message, but tell a story with body language alone that can really add to the value of the production.
Some geeky stuf of this Men’s Fashion shoot in New York ..
For the first image in the series I used a 600W strobe on the street with a 72cm octa, but then I left it in the hotel as I knew I was going to visit a lot of locations, so I needed to keep my grear light.
I used my trusty Nikon D750 and the 85mm f1.8 to get these shots. For the wider shots I used the Samyang 14mm f2.8, that worked like a charm despite being a manual focus lens.
I just can’t wait to be back in the Big Apple once again. There are just so many locations that are waiting for me still. It would really take a lifetime to really live the experience, so I leave it to others, travelling to other fabulous places as well.