catalog model profile five & six

One day last spring, after Paige and I had met a handful of times to define the scope of our project, she called me. "I just did something I NEVER do...." She had been shopping at Target and had noticed 2 women in the shoe department that she described as "stunning" and because she never does this sort of thing, she had to circle the aisle where they were about 5 times before daring to approach them. She told them about our project, said she'd love to have them model for us, but to think about it and call her if they were up for it. There was a glimmer, of that adrenaline-rush that you get from putting yourself out there, present in Paige's voice even over the phone.

One thing led to another and Betsy and her grand-daughter Latilah became our second-round of models at the Walker shoot. I had never met them, but within minutes we were chatting-up a storm, as if I'd known them for years. Betsy told us stories of how the timing of this project fell in line with another recent spot of modeling. Latilah told us about her pregnancy and the baby-name she had picked-out. We laughed a lot and had so much fun!
Paige and I had previously decided that we'd try to change the scenery/feel of the this second shoot, particularly because we were at the same location. We had asked the models to bring a couple changes of clothing, but we ended-up using what they arrived in.

My stomach does flips when I see the Drape earrings in purple-heart wood next to Betsy's soft purple-checked dress.
And when I see her hair paired with the breath-taking concrete work at the Walker (this is the entrance to the underground parking garage) .....
And the rolling topography of my TOPO necklace with Latilah's belly and the rolling green grass.
All of these things are beautiful, subtle connections that we noticed and that Paige translated like magic - but the one thing that she captured, that cannot be mistaken, is the love between these two. The look in Latilah's eyes in this photograph captures the loving energy that bounced back and forth between them the entire time we were together. You can't make that up and often it is even hard to capture ... but there it is. Wow.