ACHE Magazine January 2014

JANUARY 2014

ACHE

JANUARY 2014

004 note from the editor

005 Rebekah Campbell

039 Amanda Leigh Smith

069 julia Trotti

089 “portrait of a girl” by dina dubrovskaya

099 Lauren Maccabee

121 Nicolette Iles

021 Style icon: Chris Nicholas

033 “electric shock” by Kara Kochalko

051 Feature: Colab eyewear

059 “Flowers of Little Ida” by Camille Richez

083 “Fleur de reve” by julin lee

111 “crossing concrete” by lindsay hamlyn

photography

Fashion

133 Feature: Christine Alcalay

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feature photographersAmanda Leigh SmithDina DubrovskayaJulia TrottiLauren MaccabeeNicolette IlesRebekah Campbell

cover photographed bychristopher morrisdirected by elke kramerstyling by katrina sheileshair by cameron rainsmakeup by nicole thompsoncurated by carl tindall andcarly buteux

editor-in-chiefJACKIE LUO

contributing photographersCamille Richez

Julin LeeKara KochalkoLindsay Hamlyn

(p. 001 and 002) photographed by JACKIE LUO

design (p. 002) byMARY ELIZABETH HEARD

hair and makeup by SARA EUDYmodel is SARA SKINNER

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welcome to issue #9 of ACHE magazine.is it too early to call new york my home? i’ve been living in this city for four months now, and it’s been a crazy, crazy time, with my first semester in college, my first new york fashion week, and a new internship at a modeling agency. a year ago, i couldn’t have imagined being in the same room as some of the people i’ve met in the last few months. while i grow accustomed to this city, though, every once in a while, i still feel a shock that i am here, that this is my life. i grew up in houston, texas, a large but decidedly suburban city, dreaming of the day that i would come to live in new york, this place in which (as cliché as it sounds) i vested so many of my hopes. there’s a quote by joan didion from her essay “goodbye to all that” that encapsulates everything i feel about this city—that i will never quite be a part of it, never quite be at home in it, because the new york that i am coming to know more and more each day as a real place will never be fully divorced from the new york that i have built up in my mind since childhood.

as flawed and overblown as it may be, there is still a magic to this city and the people within it, and i want to hold onto that for as long as i can.

“i am not sure that it is possible for anyone brought up in the east to appreciate entirely what new york, the idea of new york, means to those of us who came out of the west and the

south. to an eastern child, particularly a child who has always has an uncle on wall street and who has spent several hundred saturdays first at f.a.o. schwarz and being fitted for shoes at best’s and then waiting under the biltmore clock and dancing to lester lanin, new york is just a city, albeit the city, a plausible place for people to live. but to those of us who came

from places where no one had heard of lester lanin and grand central station was a saturday radio program, where wall street and fifth avenue and madison avenue were not places at

all but abstractions (‘money,’ and ‘high fashion,’ and ‘the hucksters’), new york was no mere city. it was instead an infinitely romantic notion, the mysterious nexus of all love and money

and power, the shining and perishable dream itself. to think of ‘living’ there was to reduce the miraculous to the mundane; one does not ‘live’ at xanadu.”

as always, ACHE is looking for submissions from artists, designers, photographers, writers, bloggers, musicians, and more. we’re open to adding writers, photographers, and editors to

our staff, so let us see your work!

to submit, send us your full name, age, city and state/country, and a link to an online website or portfolio, along with five to ten low-resolution samples of your work.

[email protected] living young, keep making art, and keep reading ACHE.

love,

jackie luoeditor-in-chief

REBEKAH CAMPBELL

Rebekah is a twenty-year-old photographer originally from a small town in middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma. She now spends her time between Savannah, Georgia, and New York, New York. she shoots both film and digital work and is currently finishing up her BFA in photography at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Rebekah loves dusty mornings drinking iced coffee from

the night before and gluing little jewels on her nails.

MODEL Sara SkinnerWardrobe Charm School Vintage

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ACHE Magazine: What do you try to convey through your work? Why do you photograph?

Rebekah Campbell: Femininity is such a fascinating subject for me. I love having girls as my subjects because it’s a way for me to define my thoughts. I think it just changes the way I approach things; it gives me a female gaze. I look for spontaneity and rawness in the people I photograph while still leaving a secret between me and my muses. I am inspired by melancholy, the dream state, femininity, and youth. I photograph to remember things about myself.

AM: How long have you been shooting? How has your photography changed since you started?

RC: I really started taking photos when I was fifteen. Since then, it’s definitely been a trail of getting better and getting more complicated. My work has changed a lot, but sometimes I think I complicate things way too much.

AM: Who or what inspires you?

RC: Abnormality and beauty at the same time. Friends from whom I’m near and far, music, old horror film stills (Rosemary’s Baby!), photographers and artists who make me think. Lately I’m obsessed with work by Lina Scheynius, Stephen Shore, Cass Bird, Tyrone Lebon, Alena Jascanka, and Milica Kolaric.

AM: Why do you use digital versus film?

RC: Honestly, if I could shoot film 24/7, I would. It’s a money issue most of the time. I also love shooting digital and seeing the image right when I take it, but I love waiting to see photos from my film camera. It’s confusing. I also love being able to take video on digital; I want to get into that more.

AM: Who is your favorite photographer, and how have you been influenced by his/her work?

RC: I honestly don’t have just one favorite. I already listed a few earlier, but one of my all-time favorites is Nan Goldin. She’s taught me to document everything, something I have to keep doing more. I’ve admired her use of color, her pull on your heart when you look at photos. It’s a pure, unadulterated tug at the emotions. I want people to have that when they look at mine.

AM: What, in your opinion, is art?

RC: Art is an autobiography and the element of risk. How are you going to make something no one has ever seen before if you don’t?

AM: How does fashion play into your work?

RC: It helps in my storytelling for my editorial work, but when I do personal shoots, it’s just clothing on a body.

AM: What mood do you love to capture in your work? Why?

RC: A dream state, a feeling of intimacy, and melancholy, youth-loving thoughts. That’s what my art is about right now.

AM: How do you create your images? Tell us about your process.

RC: It all depends on the project. But it involves deciding what I want the story to be, talking with my team, shooting (That means running around and getting as many shots as possible. If you’ve ever modeled for me, you know that I’m kind of spastic.), and then deciding what the final piece will look like.

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MODEL Sara SkinnerWardrobe Recollection VintageCollaborators Chelsea Peacock and Erica Joy

MODEL Sara SkinnerWardrobe Recollection VintageCollaborators Chelsea Peacock and Erica Joy

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MODELS August, Luz, and Mikal @ ToutSTYLING Kailee Heagney

MODEL Meghan @ ClickStyling Claire Buyens

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MODEL Madison @ JAGStyling Claire Buyens

MODEL Nikita M’BouroukoundaSTYLING Jillian Ricciardi

020view Rebekah’s website at Rebekahcampbell.net

MODEL Amalie @ The lions

ChrisNicholas

chris nicholas is a twenty-eight-year-old living in st. john’s, newfoundland, in canada, and we are newly obsessed with his clean-cut, sharp sense of style.

dive into his world with ACHE.

Glasses Warby ParkerShirt SpadariTie The Tie Bar

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ACHE Magazine: Describe your personal style.

Chris Nicholas: My personal style could be described as modern menswear with an intellectual/geek spin.

AM: Who has influenced your style the most? How?

CN: Me, from the early 90s. I was such a nerd. No, I used to read all the menswear magazines like GQ, but then I realized a lot of it was BS with all these arbitrary “rules” and items you “must have.” Don’t get me wrong; it’s great for someone who just wants a formula to follow, but I started to develop my own taste and slowly stopping reading that sort of stuff.

AM: What is your favorite magazine? Why?

CN: Wallpaper and Objekt are probably two of my favorite magazines. I really dig interior design and architecture, especially things with a clean, minimalist aesthetic.

AM: If you had to choose ONE must-have accessory to keep, what would it be, and why?

CN: Tie. Definitely a tie. There are so many to choose from, and I wear one more often than not.

AM: What is your favorite thing about the place in which you live? How has it affected you?

CN: The coastal scenery is breathtaking. You can drive across the province to Gros Morne National Park and mistake it for New Zealand. National Geographic rated Newfoundland as one of the top coastal destinations in 2010! And with the relatively small population, the people are so friendly.

AM: Where do you see life taking you?

CN: I like to think that I am taking my life somewhere rather than just hanging on for the ride. With that said, I see myself as a radiologist, as I’m currently completing my residency in that discipline.

AM: Tell us one interesting fact about you.

CN: I am into DIY home renovations and blog about it with my girl! You can check it out at http://www.theuncommonlaw.ca.

024Shirt SpadariShorts Calvin Klein

Shirt IndochinoTIE PenguinJeans Levi’s

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BEST ONLINE SHOPS

IndochinoTopman

The Tie BarMonoprice

BEST STREET SHOPS

Cole HaanIKEAH&M

CHRIS NICHOLAS’

TOP LISTS

TOP TRENDS

Colored lacesPatterned socks

Pants in every hueKnit and wool tiesColor in footwear

FAVORITE TV SHOWS

BREAKING BAD2005 to present

DEXTER1996 to present

THE WALKING DEAD2009 to present

HART OF DIXIE2009 to present

Yes, Hart of Dixie, “because I have a crush on Rachel Bilson.”

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Shirt Biased CutTIE DolbeauJeans Calvin KleinBelt Cole HaanShoes Johnston & MurphyBriefcase Cole Haan

Suit Indochino

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Glasses Warby ParkerPants Hawkings Mcgill

BElt Michael Kors

Tie Calvin KleinPants GapPortfolio Coach

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Tie THe Tie BarPants IndochinoShoes Cole Haan

view Chris’ Lookbook at Lookbook.nu/doleboy

electric

shockphotographed by Kara kochalko

styling by evan crothers

model is emma at Maggie

Blazer alice & OliviaBlouse VinceJeans rag & Bone

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Dress marc by Marc Jacobs

Dress Marc by Marc Jacobs

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Top H&MNecklace Stylist’s own

Pants Vince

Hat Urban OutfittersSweater Free peopleBoots Urban Outfitters

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Top H&MSHORTS Model’s Own

MODEL Danielle EakinsSTYLING Tashina HillHAIR LAUREN MCKILLION

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AMANDALEIGHSMITH

MODEL SYDNEY BABCOCKSTYLING CHLOE CHIPPENDALE AND TAMI SNODGRASSHAIR AND MAKEUP SHONTELLE VINCENT

MODEL Skye SengelmannSTYLING TAMI SNODGRASS

HAIR AND MAKEUP Danielle SolisASSISTant MARTINE LELIVRE

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amanda leigh smith is from cypress, texas, but moved to portland at the age of

nineteen after living in austin for a year. in high school, she was accepted into brooks institute of photography and dreamed of

working for national geographic, traveling the world, and being a photojournalist. after she realized college tuition was

out of her reach, she went to community college for a few years before getting her bachelor’s degree in political science, the

first in her family to graduate from college. amanda worked a social worker for the

past several years working with homeless youth but recently left that to work as a photographer, deciding that life was too

short to not follow her dreams.


Amanda Leigh Smith: I don’t know if I think much about what I want my work to convey, other than I want the shoots I’m doing to be fun and interesting in themselves. I want to have a good time, and I want everyone else involved to be having fun, too. I photograph to document moments, places, people, things that I think are interesting or beautiful.


ALS: I have been shooting ever since I can remember. We had a film camera growing up, and I used to take a lot of the photos on family vacations or when I was playing dress up with my sister and cousins. At age fourteen, I took photojournalism, and that is where I first used a darkroom, then became the photo editor for my high school’s newspaper. All throughout high school, I constantly took pictures of my friends with both film, Polaroids, and a crappy point-and-shoot digital, documenting our shenanigans. Moving to Oregon changed my style, and I became more intentional about what I was shooting. My best friend and I would take off on road trips throughout the state and photograph the insane and beautiful nature here in the Pacific Northwest. My photography and my motives for it have changed over the years from a way to have fun to documenting protests to documenting my friends at parties to shooting for apparel designers, products, and magazines.

AM: How would you describe yourself as a person and as a photographer?

ALS: I’m a dreamer, but I’m also organized. I like to dream and then figure out how to make it reality. I’m also often restless and try to find any excuse to go on an adventure. I’ve always felt like I was born in the wrong decade, even as a kid. Photography can be a way for me to time travel to a world I wish I lived in. Or a way to temporarily forget and escape all the bullshit that is happening in the world.


ALS: To be honest, I am inspired by pretty much everything. I am constantly amazed and excited by the world around me, whether it’s by nature, weather, music, fashion, art, architecture, history, friends, family, love. I feel like beauty can be found in just about anything, especially where we least expect it.

AM: Why do you shoot film?

ALS: Film just feels better when I’m shooting. I prefer how my film camera feels in my hands and the sounds it makes when I shoot. When I try to shoot digital, it feels cold, impersonal, and boring. I end up shooting unnecessary pictures and then have to waste more time on the computer editing through them. Film is simple, slower, and has more depth. I have to be more intentional when shooting because film is expensive, and I can’t afford to be wasteful.


ALS: Bill Owens was the first photographer who had a huge impression on me when I read his book Suburbia in high school. Helmut Newton is always a huge inspiration. I’m not sure how I have been influenced by their work, but I really appreciate and am drawn to their perspective. There are many more; I don’t think I could pick just one.


ALS: Art is anything you want it to be, whether you are the creator or the observer. It means something different to everyone, and that’s what makes it interesting and important.


ALS: I think mischievousness and playfulness might be my favorite. I’m not sure why, and I’m not sure if I intentionally plan it; it just ends up being that way.


ALS: I shoot with a 35mm manual 1960s Olympus OM-1. I use handheld special effect filters that I have randomly stumbled across after spending hours lurking in old camera shops in Portland over the last six years, digging through boxes of used equipment. I like to stage some things to a certain degree, but also like to let the shoot happen and do what feels right in the moment. I wish that I could develop my own film and hope that someday soon I am set up for that. I don’t spend much time post-processing, if any. I am pretty behind, technology-wise. Sometimes I like it that way, but sometimes it is frustrating to be a Luddite.

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MODEL Jessica Smith and Skye SengelmannSTYLING Sarah Baker AND TAMI SNODGRASSHAIR AND MAKEUP Sophia sandoval

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(left) MODEL Thalia KellySTYLING Tashina Hill

(bottom) MODEL Alexis MontoyaSTYLING TAMI SNODGRASSHAIR AND MAKEUP Danielle Solis

MODEL Mariah MakalapuaHAIR AND MAKEUP Danielle Solis

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MODEL Mariah MakalapuaHAIR AND MAKEUP Danielle Solis

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MODELS Amanda Woodruff, Lassen Davis, Sharon Copolon, Skye Sengelmann

Styling Tashina HillHAIR AND MAKEUP Kristina Raeleen

view Amanda’s website at ALEIGHSMITH.COM

COLAB EYEWEAR

PhotographY Petter KarlstrømStyling Leigh KarlstrømHair and Makeup Shelley LiaAssistant Mauricio De La RochaCuration Carl Tindall and Carly Buteux

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ACHE Magazine: What is the inspiration for this line?

COLAB Eyewear: This line includes and was in-spired by three of our collaborating artists. Chillwave musician Toro y Moi has encompassed his signature round-eye shape with beautiful mirrored lenses, director Daniel Askill’s vintage-style aviator was inspired by shooting in a remote Saudi desert, and Brosmind’s playful shape is plucked straight from one of their beloved illustrated characters.

AM: How did this concept for the company develop?

CE: In 2006 two masters of the eyewear industry were sick of seeing brands rehash the same rubbish season after season. So they challenged themselves to do something different. They jumped on planes and handed the controls over to some of the worlds most enviably talented artists, designers and creatives. The results were unique, limited edition and out of this world. COLAB was born and we haven’t looked back

AM: Who is your target customer? For whom do you design the pieces?

CE: We are pretty selfish about the artists we select. We don’t care if artist A is going to appeal to Gen Y or artist B to your nextdoor neighbour. We want to work with people that are doing cool stuff. We design the pieces for the artist we are collaborating with. If we can find people that want to wear them, that’s an added bonus.


CE: The beauty of COLAB is that we do not have a set style. We are inspired by creative minds and this forms the basis for each of our collaborations, whether a street artist, illustrator, musician or film director, each collaborator brings a fresh direction and inspiration. The collaborators can be inspired by anything from their heritage to tasty snacks, from politics to prostitutes. You name it, we’ve used it as a starting point.

AM: Where do you hope to take the line in the near future?

CE: We have some pretty amazing people in the pipeline for next year. But if I told you, I’d have to kill you. We are constantly instagraming the strange and infamous interactions we have with our upcoming collaborators. If you want to be ahead of the curve, jump on and follow our adventures through studios, samples, shoots and sunglasses.

colab eyewear is a line of sunglasses born through collaborations with street artists, illustrators,

musicians, and more. based in sydney, australia, colab has worked with toro y moi, daniel askill, and

brosmind, and each collaboration starts from scratch and is limited to a thousand pieces worldwide.

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Brosmind

ASkill Projects

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Toro Y Moi

Photography Christopher MorrisDirection Elke KramerStyling Katrina SheilesHair Cameron RainsMAKEUP Nicole ThompsonCuration Carl Tindall And Carly Buteux

058view Colab’s website at colab.COM.au

Top ECE SALICIDress Fifi ChachnilJacket Sandrine Philippe

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FLOWERSof

LITTLE IDAphotographed by camille richez

assisted by emma burletstyling by marie reveluthair by johnny bertin

makeup by mayela sepulvedamakeup assisted by elodie mansuy

model is sanna b. @ nathalie

Top ECE SALICISkirt Fifi ChachnilLeggings Augustin Teboul

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Top Sandrine PhilippeCombinaison Fifi Chachnil

Hat Augustin TeboulDress Sylvio Giardina

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Couture Bolero Defined MomentHotpants Sans Complexe

Bracelet PP Long Wy

Skirt (as top) Fifi ChachnilHOTPANTS Sans Complexe

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Top JOSEP FONT/pARISBUSTIER Fifi ChachnilSHOES MINNA PARIKKA

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(left) Top JOSEP FONT/pARISBUSTIER Fifi ChachnilSHOES MINNA PARIKKA

(bottom) Top Fifi ChachnilSkirt Fifi ChachnilShoes Minna Parikka

MODEL Mimi FlashiryStyling Lenni

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Julia

Trotti

julia trotti is a twenty-one-year-old fashion photographer from sydney, australia, who captures natural portraits of sun-kissed shoulders and windswept hair. her love

for photography started at a young age and has since blossomed into a growing business. she has been flown to

london to shoot campaigns, shot for well-known publications such as peppermint magazine and culture magazine, and

worked with popular fashion brands.

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Julia Trotti: For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in creating. I loved art, music, and everything between. When I first picked up a camera, it just felt natural to me. The more time I spent taking photos and playing around with photography and editing, the more I fell in love with it! Through my work, I like to convey emotion and stories. I love capturing fashion in a natural way—just me and my camera, no reflectors or complicated lighting—so it seems only natural to mirror that through the concepts and stories of my shoots.


JT: I have been taking photos for about five years. When I first picked up a camera, I loved to create conceptual pieces and relied a lot on Photoshop to create the effects in my photos. The more I photographed and learned how to use a camera though, the less I used Photoshop on my images. Now I’m at the point where all I do is color my photos and lightly retouch them. Over the years, I also believe my photography has become more personal. When I first picked up a camera, I was shy, and this resulted in images that looked quite distant. Now that I’m more experienced, I’m not afraid to ask my models to convey an emotion or a story through their posing, and I feel more comfortable getting up close and capturing just that.


JT: In person, I am quite shy and soft-spoken. With a camera in my hands, I feel like I can do anything.


JT: To put it simply, I’m inspired by everything. I am inspired by beautiful locations that I see and can’t forget. I start building shoots and concepts around those places. I’m also inspired by interesting faces and designers with a passion for their work.

AM: Why do you shoot digital?

JT: I love shooting in digital. I love how you can see the results in an instant; it’s convenient for the fast-paced work that I do, and I really enjoy editing digital files in Lightroom and Photoshop. In saying that, I do also love shooting film and do so every now and then.

For the opposite reasons: I love how you don’t know what you just captured, how it’s not as fast-paced as digital, how you have to be selective about what you photograph, and that you hardly ever need to edit your analog images!


JT: My favorite photographer has always been Tim Walker. I love his vision and how dreamy his work is, which is what has inspired my work quite a bit!


JT: Art is expression.

AM: How does fashion play into your work?

JT: Fashion photography gives me the ability to be endlessly creative with no limits to what I shoot and create.


JT: I love capturing freedom. Windswept hair, sunburnt shoulders, natural expressions, free-flowing movements—just people being themselves in all senses of the word.


JT: The first thing I do is come up with a concept or find a location to shoot. Once I have found something, I will put together a team of a model, makeup artist, and stylist. Sometimes I put mood boards together to show what my concept is, and sometimes I will just describe it and share images of the location so that my team can bring in their own vision to the shoot, too. Then we’ll head off to shoot, and I’ll come home with a handful of pictures. From there, I’ll select my favorite photos and edit them in Lightroom with my “Digital Film Actions” presets and retouch them lightly in Photoshop, and the shoot is complete! The final step of the process is to blog them.

MODEL Megan EmmettHair and Makeup Lisa Fahey @ Tussta Hair Kiama

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MODEL Tanya @ The AgencyMakeup Emmily BanksJewelry Alexandra Redmond

MODEL Erica EastHair and Makeup Lisa Fahey @ Tussta Hair Kiama

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MODEL Tara @ DebutStyling Jessie McnaughtMakeup Lidija Jevremovic

MODEL Auste KuzmickaiteMakeup Gaile Juknyte

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MODEL summer @ chadwicks

MODEL Megan EmmettMakeup Lisa Fahey @ Tussta Hair Kiama

082view Julia’s website at Juliatrotti.com

fleurde

revephotographed by julin lee

styling by tan tran

hair by natasha nadvorna

makeup by cris pompa

model is samantha @ seattle model management

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Dress Stylist’s ownSlip Photographer’s ownCollar Stylist’s own

Blouse TildonSkirt Baraschi

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Dress Robert Mcclintock

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Blouse VintagePants Stylist’s own

MODEL rita (14)

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portraitof a girl

in “teens portraits,” a series by dina dubrovskaya, female adolescence is explored. dina takes pictures of girls in their early teens and asks them their

stories, providing an unusually intimate glimpse into each girl’s life.

MODEL Lera (14)

“most of all, i like traveling. it is interesting. i haven’t been to many

places yet, but in the future i’m going to visit many cities and

countries.”

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MODEL Dasha (15)

MODEL Nastya (12)

“i like being photographed. it is exciting but sometimes difficult...

when i don’t have enough emotion.”

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MODEL Anya (14)

MODEL VIcka (13)

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MODEL Yana (13)

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“i want to be a diplomat. do you know where i should go

to become one?”

MODEL Katya (12)

view Dina’s Project at TEENSportraits.tumblr.com

MODEL Isabel Maccabee

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lauren

maccabeelauren maccabee is a young photographer in manchester, england,

studying photography at brighton university. she aims to gather

as much experience as she can in the realm of photography,

creating dreamy images with a tinge of nostalgia.


Lauren Maccabee: I tend not to think of my work as aiming to convey any particular style or mood. Instead, I try to capture the beauty that life presents to us—moments that move me and present a brief and fleeting image of natural wonder. For the most part, I shoot people and faces... particularly friends and relatives. This lends an intimacy to my work.


LM: I’ve been taking pictures for five years now. As a medium, photography is continually evolving, and, as a result, my work tends to synchronize with my influences. As a rule, the process has remained the same, but I’m continually trying to discover new ways of expressing the moods that I channel.


LM: I would describe myself as observant, both as an individual and photographer. I am easygoing and relaxed, and this is reflected in my photography. Quite often my work has no prior planning, and I work on the premise of spontaneity. I am aware of my surroundings, and I engage with them in order to create the work I do.


LM: People, places, colors, light, and landscapes are all driving forces behind the photos I produce. Many are taken outdoors; natural light plays a large part in my work, and I manipulate this to my advantage. Young contemporary photographers largely influence me, and it is inspiring to see such youthful creativity coming from people my own age. With the infinite possibilities offered to our generation by technology and the internet, I am able to find and share this work.


LM: I am fascinated by the way that photgrapher Ryan McGinley documents life. There is such a strong sense of youth, vibrant joy, and rebellious freedom that strikes me and ultimately resounds in my own outlook on life. My own work, I would hope, attempts to capture this same notion of youthfulness and the ever-present strands of hope and beauty associated with it.

AM: What have you achieved so far in your photography, and what would you like to achieve?

LM: Over the last two years, I’ve built up a portfolio of work I’m proud of and been able to hold and be featured in a number of exhibitions. I’m starting a degree in photography, which will hopefully further my creative understanding of the medium. I’ve set up a website and managed to gain some experience shooting weddings. I’d like to experiment with a broader range of conceptual ideas in the future and continue to build up my portfolio.


LM: I don’t often capture a specific mood in my photographs! The relationship I hold with the subject of the shoots tends to be reflected quite apparently, and this usually lends to the atmosphere.

AM: Where do you like to shoot most, and why?

LM: I like to shoot in my locality. As previously mentioned, the majority of my photos are of friends and relatives. I enjoy the capability of having a memory of a particular place ingrained in the photographs I’ve taken there. I repeatedly shoot locally in places with which I am familiar; I can compare and contrast, as well as watch my style develop.

AM: What are some of your favorite movies, books, and bands?

LM: Arguably, a few of my favorite films are Submarine, City of God, and We Need to Talk about Kevin. The books that have influenced me the most are The Kite Runner, Birdsong, A Sport and a Pastime, and Kes. These all pertain to relationships between humans and their surroundings, which bears a strong resemblance to the themes seen in my photography. With regards to music, I listen to a pretty wide variety. Anything that suits my mood is fine by me.

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MODEL Georgia Mcmahon

MODELs Georgia Mcmahon and Isabel Maccabee

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MODEL Sarah Prideaux

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MODEL Lauren Maccabee



108MODEL Isabel Maccabee



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HOMEThe house in this series represents the juxtaposition of security and transience

that we frequently see in our day-to-day lives: the house symbolizes solidity

and permanence. However, by placing the house in the context of an unknown

location, this element of security suddenly vanishes and is replaced by what

could be described as a sense of foreboding and perhaps even instability...

ultimately reflecting the notion of anxiety frequently seen in and associated

with the age in which we live.

view Lauren’s Website at laurenmaccabee.com

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CROSSING CONCRETE

photographed by lindsay hamylndesigns by alina asmus

hair and makeup by janina zaismodel is vanessa @ model management

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MODEL Jade @ Profile Model Management

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nicolette Ilesnicolette clara iles is a nineteen-year-old photographer from kent, england. she studies photography in college and hopes to eventually work full-time as a photographer. she loves the

sight of the world and people.


Nicolette Iles: I want to convey a feeling of wonder in my photographs. I want people to feel, when they see my photographs, the way that I feel when I see a beautiful sight. I photograph to capture beauty and life and everything in between.


NI: I’ve been into photography since I was little, tearing out photographs from magazines, but I have been shooting my own shoots since I was fifteen or sixteen. My photography has changed since I started in that I used to just capture things that I saw in daily life, such as a beautiful skyline or a self-portrait. But now I work with models and collaborate with other photographers, makeup artists, and agencies. My work is more structured in a way because I plan the shoots I do with an idea or a thought in mind.


NI: I would describe myself as a person as determined. I love doing shoots when I have a clear idea of the outcome and how I want it to be. As a photographer, this can be helpful, as I know what I want to shoot and how I want it to look. It can also be a problem when things don’t turn out exactly how i planned!


NI: My mother and my grandmother inspire me. My friend Katie inspires me... she’s a wonderful photographer. Life inspires me!


NI: My favorite photographer is probably Tim Walker. I’ve been influenced by his work by the sheer effort that goes into his shots. I feel dizzy when I see his work because I’m so amazed by it, and I want other people to feel like that one day when they see my pictures.

AM: What have you achieved so far in your photography, and what would you like to achieve?

NI: So far, I have achieved some of my ideas being captured with the camera the way I imagined. I have been featured in the Royal Photographic Society Journal, photographed for some of my favorite bands and musicians, and worked with beautiful models from some of London’s top agencies. I hope to achieve success in the form of being content with my work, and I hope for people to appreciate my work the way I appreciate other people’s work.


NI: There’s a syndrome called Florence Syndrome where people get so amazed by a piece of art or something in the world that they feel faint or dizzy. Although I don’t want people to feel quite that extreme, I would love for people to think, “How did she do that?,” or, “Wow, I will remember this picture forever.” I want people to feel about my photography how I feel about my favorite photographers.

AM: Where do you like to shoot most, and why?

NI: I love the outdoors. I like to shoot around nature and old arcitechure and things that have been in the world longer than I have. It’s a great feeling, and it’s more natural that way.

AM: What are some of your favorite movies, books, and bands?

NI: My favorite movies are Gummo and Picnic at Hanging Rock. My favorite book is The Bell Jar, and my favorite bands are Manchester Orchestra, Nirvana, and Brand New.

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MODEL Jade BigwoodMakeup Amber Scarlett

MODEL Francesca Jane ALlen

126MODEL Katie Eleanor

128MODELs luke @ amck and paige @ a1

130MODEL Katie Eleanor

132view Nicolette’s Website at Nicoletteclara.co.uk

(left) Model Nicolette Iles

(Top) Model Leah WardMakeup Natasha Williams

christinealcalay

meet christine alcalay, a brooklyn-based designer. we attended her s/s 2014 presentation in the fall and decided that we wanted to hear from her personally.

christine is unmistakably talented, creating an interesting interplay between femininity and masculinity

to evoke spring in her collection, but we also learned that she is strong, fearless, creative, charismatic, and in love with life. read her story and the ideas behind her

s/s 2014 collection, as told to editor-in-chief jackie luo.

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My family is from Vietnam, and when we first came to the country, my mom was a seamstress, became a patternmaker, was always into fashion. It’s like fashion and clothing are my mother tongue. I don’t see it as anything fantastical; it’s not that extraordinary. I just see it as who I am and what I do. It’s a language that I speak. Sometimes, when you see it on TV, these presentations and fashion shows become this glamorous thing. This is just the way that I live my life, what I do.

Anyway, when I was younger, there was a period when I waasn’t sure whether I wanted to be in fashion or in politics. There were so few Asian, female politicians, of course, and still are, and there came a point when I had to decide between Barnard and Parsons. But then I thought about what I really wanted, and the one thing I couldn’t live without was having a creative outlet.

I went to Paris to study for a while, interned with Christian Lacroix for a bit. I’ve always been really open to new experiences, and I would walk the streets of Paris, ready to love, ready to design, ready to live. I wanted to be in the moment. That’s how I’ve always done everything, and that’s where I met my husband.

Then, I came back and said, “I can design and make clothes,” but I just didn’t know much about

interacting with the customer. I was really interested in the psychology behind it—why women buy clothing, why it makes them feel beautiful, and whether it is just a physical thing or goes beyond the garment. I worked on Madison Avenue for a while for some really high-end boutiques. I met a lot of really interesting women, and I think in the industry you have to understand why clothes are so important. It is more than just something on the outside. I opened up my own store in Brooklyn eleven years ago, and I was really, really young. The store is contemporary, day-to-day clothing. It was great because I got to see what women wear every single day.

My collection is in-between—there are beautiful clothes that make you feel gorgeous, but you may wear pieces with your jeans, your jackets. It’s for when you want to say something. Women who have a lot of personality, are really self-secure, don’t always want to wear what everyone else is wearing. I know whenever I wear my clothing to an event or even just to a restaurant, I always feel really different. It’s not because the silhouettes or my fabrics are that different; it’s because when I design them, I ask what I want to feel, how to make the clothing comfortable and unusual in a room.

The season was based on that strong, feminine woman, with an edge, since I’m a New Yorker. I

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play with the feminine versus the masculine. The inspiration for the collection was spring, the season itself. It was a long winter, and I was really tired of the heavy, textured clothing, the layers of knits and wools. In my world, because I design it and then sell it and then buy it, it’s a really long season. By the time I got to spring, I couldn’t deal with winter clothes anymore and wanted to see new, vivacious, beautiful, light, flirty pieces.

Every spring is like falling in love all over again. I wake up and look around, and birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and it reminds me of the song by Nina Simone, “Wild is the Wind.” It’s a song that wasn’t written by her, but the song is really much about a woman in love and how she is, how wild love is. I just listened to that song and walked around the city. I went to the Botanical Gardens, went to look at vintage prints, and everywhere I went, I had this song in my ears. It was a mixture of the urban city and the fluidity of the wild, raw love. That’s how I married all of it. I would go to the Botanical Gardens and sketch flowers in pen and see how that’s different from painting flowers in watercolor. The ideas of light hitting sheer colors, bright pastels, and layering them with opaques.

I wanted my clothes to be really playful, too, so I brought in cotton oxford, which is usually a fabric for men. I love how it mixed with the sheer, soft silks. Every season, pants are really hard because there are so many things you can do with a blouse or top, but with pants, if it’s covered at the top, all you can really see is leg. I wanted to take something that was not considered “chic” or “sophisticated” and use it in the collection in a different way. As I went around the city, I’d see these boys who were wearing their pants really low, and some of them looked so, so refined. I took that idea and thought that I would make a pant out of a silk or a print that drapes beautifully, has that same drop-crotch, but you could take it somewhere. That was my pant of the season—it’s really urban and comfortable and forward. It’s not for everyone, but it’s not crazy or unwearable. It was all about finding the nuances to make the masculinity really feminine.

There are times when I ask myself, “Why are you doing this?” There are so many ways I could make a living if I wanted, but I invest my own time and money, and it has to be worth it. But the answer always comes down to, “This is all I ever want to do.” I won’t say that it hasn’t been hard work, and there’s a lot behind the scenes. It’s so weird to hear about all

of the blood, sweat, and tears that goes into my line in this industry where everything seems so beautiful and effortless. Even my friends look at what I do and think, “Wow, this is so great!” But I believe that a designer who wants to build something the way that I do really has to love it because you can burn out so quickly. You have to know why you want to do it, why it’s so important. That’s what I have to say to young designers, too. Don’t do it if you don’t need to do it because you have to immerse yourelf in it, even when it gets hard. That, and to follow the road less traveled. There’s often a way to do things, but everyone is different. Everyone gets to where they need to be in a different way. Just keep focus, keep on track, and don’t settle.

I see my collection as a long-term project. I look at myself and ask who I want to be and where I want to be, which is pretty parallel to the girl that I’m targeting. I’d love to open retail stores, and I want to be approachable for different markets. My market right now isn’t approachable for every person, but it’s at a price point where, if you really love something and want to save for it, you should be able to get it. It’s not unattainable. I’m excited about where the line is going now. I’m worked with Free People—designing a jacket exclusively for them—and Of a Kind. We all have the same mission, aiming to do something different. There’s such a community for it, which is wonderful.

In the end, it all comes down to the person I want to be and the girl I’m targeting. She’s a city girl but a romantic, and she loves to play, loves to eat, loves to go out. She’s not afraid of trends, but she’s not into them. She has a clear perspective on who she is and what she’s saying, and she’s very, very strong and well-spoken. My girl is cultured, intelligent, and doesn’t apologize for what she’s going to say, do, or wear. She has a joie de vivre—she loves life. When she walks down the block, people say, “There’s something about her. What’s her story?”

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ACHE Magazine January 2014