ANDY

After talking concepts with Andy for a little while, I found myself drawn to one of his moodboards in particular - simply labelled “neon”, the collection of images all shared that dark, curious sense of fantasy in the night. It got me to thinking about a beautiful old coat I had sitting at the back of my wardrobe, just waiting for the right shoot to do it justice - a touch whimsical, but still mature and gracefully dominant. Combined with inspo from A$AP Rocky’s L$D video, we had a great concept on our hands. Red-light district and Chinatown themes came through in the images, and the shoot was able to inhibit a hidden nighttime energy of Melbourne's CBD.

We were lucky enough to have Melissa come along to work on hair and makeup for the shoot, despite her having to travel to and from Bendigo! In record time she and Sabrina whipped out this great look - glossy, dewy and strobe-y, and bronzed to the high heavens. Tousled wet hair helped make the look come alive, and the rough-and-tumble elegance was exactly what the look needed. Andy is a thoughtful kind of photographer and spoke about storytelling through his work, and it’s clear it paid off through the almost tangible narrative in these final shots.

Hopefully you enjoy these photos as much as we loved creating them!

WELCOME TO THE EMPIRE

I’m so excited to finally launch Illicit Empress!

Welcome to the empire; 

I wanted to create a virtual playground for thoughts, feelings and ideas to connect with people beyond my laptop screen. 

This is my public commitment to nourish my creative side on a continual basis.

The aim of this is also to encourage more collaboration, to connect with likeminded (or differently minded) individuals and create new dialogues and discourses in work together. Illicit Empress will shine the spotlight on creatives and innovators making waves in their field. I’m so thrilled to be able to launch this site with the wonderful talents of Melissa Cowan (photographer) and Chloe Rose (HMUA)!

Feel free to get in touch via ellie@illicitempress.com if you are interested in working with me, and I would love to chat about possible projects together.

 

Thanks for visiting!

Watch this space :)