Chemistry

Every collaboration begins with a conversation. Sometimes there’s a specific idea or inspiration, and other times, the concept grows as the people involved discuss wardrobe, location, aesthetics, and mood.

This shoot began with Sam.

She had been inspired by the clean lines, sculptural poses, and unapologetic confidence of modern fashion ads. While I’ve done studio portraits before, this style isn’t quite my normal wheelhouse. Much of my work features natural light and familiar spaces, where the story unfolds quietly over the course of the session. Sam’s idea needed different elements: a studio with a white cyclorama wall, hard light, bold posing, and an energy from the subjects in frame with no shadows in which to hide.

It also needed Courtney.

I’ve photographed both of them before, but never together. That changed the dynamic immediately. Portraiture is usually an intimate conversation between photographer and subject. Add a second person, and the photographs begin to revolve around interaction instead of introspection. Every glance, every shift in posture, every hand placed on a shoulder or wrapped around a waist becomes part of a dialogue between two people.

These photos aren’t about clothes, hair, or makeup. They’re about the chemistry between the two models.

Fashion editorials often ask models to embody an idea. Here, the idea was confidence: direct, unmistakable, and provocative. The styling borrowed from modern ad campaigns, but Courtney and Sam made it their own. One moment they’re statuesque and composed, the next they’re laughing between poses or leaning into each other’s space with an ease that can’t be choreographed. My job was to follow their lead and make sure each moment was captured with the strength and confidence they were bringing into the studio that day.

Watching their rhythm develop reminded me that on-camera collaboration is rarely about asking people to pretend to be someone else. It’s about creating an environment where the subjects bring out different sides of who they already are. The fashion influences gave us a visual language, but personality is what made the images memorable.

In many ways, this session is a departure from my usual work. The lighting is harder. The styling is more polished. The poses are more deliberate. And yet, the goal is no different from any other session. Whether I’m photographing someone alone in the quiet of their home or two collaborators sharing the spotlight, I’m still searching for the same thing: the moment when performance gives way to presence.

Sometimes that moment arrives in a sunlit bedroom. Sometimes it arrives beneath the unforgiving light of a studio flash.

Either way, it’s a moment that is unique in its presentation, and it’s a privilege to help create and capture it.