Over three intense days in mid-July, our team undertakes an extensive photoshoot on the third floor of an ageing industrial building. Each day begins with the meticulous preparation of costumes and masks, crafted from scraps of leather, metal, and papier-mâché. The setup is dynamic, filled with continuous testing and experimentation. Frequent, last-minute adjustments in both costume and lighting better capture the envisioned aesthetic. Amidst this creative chaos, the haunting melodies of Portishead fill the air, setting a rhythm that drives our movements and inspires our choices throughout the sessions. By the end of the second day, we have generated roughly 2,000 photos. The next day is spent poring over these images, selecting the top 20 that truly reflect the experimental and collaborative spirit of our makeshift studio. This selection aims to distill the essence of our intense, yet improvised, session into a cohesive visual narrative. The process is challenging, each creative collaborator brings their own vision and creative input, but finally, we agree on the 20 final photos now presented here.
As this final, fruitful discussion fades, the grand illusion unceremoniously fades too. I sit alone in the dim light of my South-East London apartment, the only sound being the relentless hum of my old computer. Here, in this sparse room where the reality of an industrial zone presses close against the walls, the images are born, not from a bustling photoshoot with models and music but from the solitude of my small and dark room. The masks, the scenes, the eerie atmosphere of collaboration, all are mere pixels on a screen, manifestations of late-night whims and digital renderings. The only truth in this narrative: an empty room, a computer, and a mind teeming with ideas, desperately filling the silence with the click of a mouse instead of a camera.